diff --git a/helm/templates/ray-cluster.yaml b/helm/templates/ray-cluster.yaml
index 54810fd8e..995bef82e 100644
--- a/helm/templates/ray-cluster.yaml
+++ b/helm/templates/ray-cluster.yaml
@@ -167,11 +167,15 @@ spec:
               - name: {{ include "chart.container-port-name" . }}
                 containerPort: {{ include "chart.container-port" . }}
             readinessProbe:
+              {{- if $modelSpec.raySpec.headNode.readinessProbe }}
+              {{- toYaml $modelSpec.raySpec.headNode.readinessProbe | nindent 14 }}
+              {{- else }}
               httpGet:
                 path: /health
                 port: {{ include "chart.container-port" . }}
               failureThreshold: 1
               periodSeconds: 10
+              {{- end }}
             livenessProbe:
               exec:
                 command: ["/bin/bash", "-c", "echo TBD"]
diff --git a/helm/values.yaml b/helm/values.yaml
index 3cc8a3125..028c4e45c 100644
--- a/helm/values.yaml
+++ b/helm/values.yaml
@@ -275,6 +275,18 @@ servingEngineSpec:
         requestMemory: "1Gi"
         # -- GPU request for the head node
         requestGPU: 1
+        # Readiness probe for the Ray head node (raySpec.headNode.readinessProbe).
+        # If unset, defaults to an httpGet /health probe with failureThreshold 1
+        # and periodSeconds 10. Override it to relax the probe when the model
+        # takes a long time to come up on a multi-node setup, otherwise the head
+        # pod may be marked unready and never receive traffic. Accepts a standard
+        # Kubernetes probe spec, e.g.:
+        # readinessProbe:
+        #   httpGet:
+        #     path: /health
+        #     port: 8000
+        #   failureThreshold: 10
+        #   periodSeconds: 30
 
   # -- Container port
   containerPort: 8000