diff --git a/config/default.js b/config/default.js
index acd1f53d..e36936b2 100755
--- a/config/default.js
+++ b/config/default.js
@@ -339,6 +339,7 @@ module.exports = {
 	},
 	proxy: {
 		enable: false,
+		test: 'https://api.ipify.org?format=json',
 		host: '',
 		port: 8888,
 		hostnames: [],
diff --git a/src/app.js b/src/app.js
index 88bf87b6..aae58dec 100755
--- a/src/app.js
+++ b/src/app.js
@@ -112,6 +112,16 @@ async function startMemorySample(snapshotTriggers = []) {
 	}, config.memorySampling.sampleDuration);
 }
 
+async function testProxy() {
+	if (config.proxy.enable && argv.testProxy) {
+		const res = await unprint.get(argv.testProxy);
+
+		if (!res.ok) {
+			throw new Error(`Proxy is offline (${res.status})`);
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 async function init() {
 	try {
 		await redis.connect();
@@ -186,6 +196,8 @@ async function init() {
 			console.log(res.status, res.body);
 		}
 
+		await testProxy();
+
 		const actorsFromFile = argv.actorsFile && await getFileEntries(argv.actorsFile);
 		const actorNames = (argv.actors || []).concat(actorsFromFile || []);
 
diff --git a/src/argv.js b/src/argv.js
index c49982f8..9ca22ff0 100755
--- a/src/argv.js
+++ b/src/argv.js
@@ -40,6 +40,11 @@ const { argv } = yargs
 		type: 'boolean',
 		alias: 'web',
 	})
+	.option('test-proxy', {
+		describe: 'Test URL to ensure proxy is online',
+		type: 'string',
+		default: config.proxy.test,
+	})
 	.option('include-networks', {
 		describe: 'Network to scrape all channels from (overrides configuration)',
 		type: 'array',