diff --git a/host/systemd/ci-fleet-health.timer b/host/systemd/ci-fleet-health.timer
index 0d29f86e..35c27082 100644
--- a/host/systemd/ci-fleet-health.timer
+++ b/host/systemd/ci-fleet-health.timer
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 Description=Run ci-fleet health check every five minutes
 
 [Timer]
-OnBootSec=2min
+OnActiveSec=2min
 OnUnitActiveSec=5min
 AccuracySec=30s
 Persistent=true
diff --git a/scripts/test-install-worker-controller.sh b/scripts/test-install-worker-controller.sh
index ddd7d8d3..e3b45be6 100755
--- a/scripts/test-install-worker-controller.sh
+++ b/scripts/test-install-worker-controller.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 set -Eeuo pipefail
 
 repo_root=$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)
+health_timer=$repo_root/host/systemd/ci-fleet-health.timer
+grep -Fqx 'OnActiveSec=2min' "$health_timer" || { printf 'FAIL: health timer lacks activation-relative initial trigger\n' >&2; exit 1; }
+! grep -Fq 'OnBootSec=' "$health_timer" || { printf 'FAIL: health timer initial trigger is boot-relative\n' >&2; exit 1; }
 tmp=$(mktemp -d)
 trap 'rm -rf "$tmp"' EXIT
 fake_bin=$tmp/bin