diff --git a/src/autoscaler/integration/components_test.go b/src/autoscaler/integration/components_test.go
index 03169c6900..29fd282560 100644
--- a/src/autoscaler/integration/components_test.go
+++ b/src/autoscaler/integration/components_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	opConfig "code.cloudfoundry.org/app-autoscaler/src/autoscaler/operator/config"
 	"code.cloudfoundry.org/app-autoscaler/src/autoscaler/routes"
 	seConfig "code.cloudfoundry.org/app-autoscaler/src/autoscaler/scalingengine/config"
+	"github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql"
 
 	"fmt"
 	"net/url"
@@ -21,7 +22,6 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
 	"github.com/tedsuo/ifrit/ginkgomon_v2"
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ server.ssl.ciphers=TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA2
 
 server.port=%d
 # Health Server
-scheduler.healthserver.port=0
+scheduler.healthserver.port=7000
 scheduler.healthserver.username=test-user
 scheduler.healthserver.password=test-password
 client.httpClientTimeout=%d
diff --git a/src/scheduler/src/main/java/org/cloudfoundry/autoscaler/scheduler/conf/EmbeddedTomcatConfiguration.java b/src/scheduler/src/main/java/org/cloudfoundry/autoscaler/scheduler/conf/EmbeddedTomcatConfiguration.java
index 21c3fea605..cb4c8643cb 100644
--- a/src/scheduler/src/main/java/org/cloudfoundry/autoscaler/scheduler/conf/EmbeddedTomcatConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/scheduler/src/main/java/org/cloudfoundry/autoscaler/scheduler/conf/EmbeddedTomcatConfiguration.java
@@ -27,13 +27,11 @@ public TomcatServletWebServerFactory servletContainer() {
   }
 
   private Connector[] additionalConnector() {
-    if (healthServerConfig.getPort() == 0) {
-      return new Connector[0];
-    }
     List<Connector> result = new ArrayList<>();
     Connector connector = new Connector("org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11NioProtocol");
     connector.setScheme("http");
     connector.setPort(healthServerConfig.getPort());
+
     result.add(connector);
     return result.toArray(new Connector[] {});
   }
diff --git a/src/scheduler/src/main/java/org/cloudfoundry/autoscaler/scheduler/conf/HealthServerConfiguration.java b/src/scheduler/src/main/java/org/cloudfoundry/autoscaler/scheduler/conf/HealthServerConfiguration.java
index a366351b21..12c3e5da1f 100644
--- a/src/scheduler/src/main/java/org/cloudfoundry/autoscaler/scheduler/conf/HealthServerConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/scheduler/src/main/java/org/cloudfoundry/autoscaler/scheduler/conf/HealthServerConfiguration.java
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import jakarta.annotation.PostConstruct;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Optional;
 import lombok.AllArgsConstructor;
 import lombok.Data;
 import lombok.NoArgsConstructor;
@@ -17,11 +18,14 @@
 public class HealthServerConfiguration {
   private String username;
   private String password;
-  private int port;
+  private Integer port;
   private List<String> unprotectedEndpoints;
 
   @PostConstruct
   public void init() {
+
+    validatePort();
+
     boolean basicAuthEnabled =
         (unprotectedEndpoints != null || ObjectUtils.isEmpty(unprotectedEndpoints));
     if (basicAuthEnabled
@@ -32,4 +36,12 @@ public void init() {
       throw new IllegalArgumentException("Heath Server Basic Auth Username or password is not set");
     }
   }
+
+  private void validatePort() {
+    Optional<Integer> healthPortOptional = Optional.ofNullable(this.port);
+    if (!healthPortOptional.isPresent() || healthPortOptional.get() == 0) {
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+          "Health Configuration: health server port not defined or port=0");
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/scheduler/src/test/java/org/cloudfoundry/autoscaler/scheduler/conf/HealthServerConfigurationTest.java b/src/scheduler/src/test/java/org/cloudfoundry/autoscaler/scheduler/conf/HealthServerConfigurationTest.java
index 32791f8fb1..86baa34f2b 100644
--- a/src/scheduler/src/test/java/org/cloudfoundry/autoscaler/scheduler/conf/HealthServerConfigurationTest.java
+++ b/src/scheduler/src/test/java/org/cloudfoundry/autoscaler/scheduler/conf/HealthServerConfigurationTest.java
@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
 package org.cloudfoundry.autoscaler.scheduler.conf;
 
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertDoesNotThrow;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
 
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.ValueSource;
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
 import org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringRunner;
 
@@ -51,4 +54,29 @@ void givenEmptyUnprotectedEndpointListWithUsernameOrPassword() {
     assertDoesNotThrow(
         () -> new HealthServerConfiguration("some-user", "some-test", 8081, List.of()).init());
   }
+
+  @ParameterizedTest
+  @ValueSource(strings = {"null", "0", ""})
+  public void givenInvalidPortThrowsException(String healthPort) {
+
+    assertThrows(
+        IllegalArgumentException.class,
+        () ->
+            new HealthServerConfiguration("", "", Integer.parseInt(healthPort), List.of()).init());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void givenValidReturnsPort() {
+    HealthServerConfiguration healthServerConfiguration =
+        new HealthServerConfiguration("s", "s", 888, List.of());
+    healthServerConfiguration.init();
+    assertEquals(healthServerConfiguration.getPort(), 888);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void givenEmptyPortThrowsException() {
+    assertThrows(
+        IllegalArgumentException.class,
+        () -> new HealthServerConfiguration("", "", null, List.of()).init());
+  }
 }