diff --git a/servicetalk-http-netty/src/main/java/io/servicetalk/http/netty/HttpClients.java b/servicetalk-http-netty/src/main/java/io/servicetalk/http/netty/HttpClients.java
index 1e9e2a68a5..1adb10a061 100644
--- a/servicetalk-http-netty/src/main/java/io/servicetalk/http/netty/HttpClients.java
+++ b/servicetalk-http-netty/src/main/java/io/servicetalk/http/netty/HttpClients.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import io.servicetalk.concurrent.api.ListenableAsyncCloseable;
 import io.servicetalk.concurrent.api.Publisher;
 import io.servicetalk.http.api.DelegatingSingleAddressHttpClientBuilder;
+import io.servicetalk.http.api.FilterableStreamingHttpLoadBalancedConnection;
 import io.servicetalk.http.api.HttpClient;
 import io.servicetalk.http.api.HttpHeaderNames;
 import io.servicetalk.http.api.HttpProviders.MultiAddressHttpClientBuilderProvider;
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@
 import io.servicetalk.http.api.ProxyConfig;
 import io.servicetalk.http.api.SingleAddressHttpClientBuilder;
 import io.servicetalk.http.api.StreamingHttpRequest;
+import io.servicetalk.loadbalancer.RoundRobinLoadBalancers;
 import io.servicetalk.transport.api.HostAndPort;
 import io.servicetalk.transport.api.TransportObserver;
 
@@ -451,6 +453,15 @@ private static <U, R> SingleAddressHttpClientBuilder<U, R> forSingleAddress(
                         // Apply after providers to let them see these customizations.
                         .serviceDiscoverer(usd)
                         .retryServiceDiscoveryErrors(NoRetriesStrategy.INSTANCE)
+                        // Disable health-checking:
+                        .loadBalancerFactory(DefaultHttpLoadBalancerFactory.Builder.from(
+                                RoundRobinLoadBalancers.<R, FilterableStreamingHttpLoadBalancedConnection>builder(
+                                        // Use a different ID to let providers distinguish this LB from the default one
+                                        DefaultHttpLoadBalancerFactory.class.getSimpleName() + '-' +
+                                                DiscoveryStrategy.ON_NEW_CONNECTION.name())
+                                        .healthCheckFailedConnectionsThreshold(-1)
+                                        .build())
+                                .build())
                         .appendConnectionFactoryFilter(resolvingConnectionFactory.get());
             default:
                 throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unsupported strategy: " + discoveryStrategy);
diff --git a/servicetalk-http-netty/src/test/java/io/servicetalk/http/netty/HttpClientResolvesOnNewConnectionTest.java b/servicetalk-http-netty/src/test/java/io/servicetalk/http/netty/HttpClientResolvesOnNewConnectionTest.java
index da17752f46..51b70e2859 100644
--- a/servicetalk-http-netty/src/test/java/io/servicetalk/http/netty/HttpClientResolvesOnNewConnectionTest.java
+++ b/servicetalk-http-netty/src/test/java/io/servicetalk/http/netty/HttpClientResolvesOnNewConnectionTest.java
@@ -152,6 +152,18 @@ void attemptToOverrideServiceDiscovererThrows() {
         assertThat(e.getMessage(), allOf(containsString(ON_NEW_CONNECTION.name()), containsString(otherSd.toString())));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void noHealthChecking() throws Exception {
+        try (BlockingHttpClient client = HttpClients.forSingleAddress(FailureCase.SERVICE_DISCOVERER_FAILED.customSd,
+                new UnresolvedAddress(null), ON_NEW_CONNECTION).buildBlocking()) {
+            // The default health-checking threshold is 5, validate that client doesn't start returning
+            // NoActiveHostException instead of DeliberateException after 5 attempts
+            for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+                assertThrows(DeliberateException.class, () -> client.request(client.get("/")));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     @ParameterizedTest(name = "{displayName} [{index}]: failureCase={0}")
     @EnumSource(FailureCase.class)
     void failureCases(FailureCase failureCase) throws Exception {