diff --git a/config.json.example b/config.json.example
index 94c5c7b043..2caba18448 100644
--- a/config.json.example
+++ b/config.json.example
@@ -77,5 +77,6 @@
   "STRIPE_PUB_KEY": "22223333444455556666777788889999",
   "TEST_DB_URI": "mongodb://localhost/habitrpg_test",
   "TRANSIFEX_SLACK_CHANNEL": "transifex",
-  "WEB_CONCURRENCY": 1
+  "WEB_CONCURRENCY": 1,
+  "SKIP_SSL_CHECK_KEY": "key"
 }
diff --git a/test/api/unit/middlewares/redirects.js b/test/api/unit/middlewares/redirects.js
index d93ed5345c..17f58d15da 100644
--- a/test/api/unit/middlewares/redirects.js
+++ b/test/api/unit/middlewares/redirects.js
@@ -73,6 +73,39 @@ describe('redirects middleware', () => {
 
       expect(res.redirect).to.have.not.been.called;
     });
+
+    it('does not redirect if passed skip ssl request param is passed with corrrect key', () => {
+      let nconfStub = sandbox.stub(nconf, 'get');
+      nconfStub.withArgs('BASE_URL').returns('https://habitica.com');
+      nconfStub.withArgs('IS_PROD').returns(true);
+      nconfStub.withArgs('SKIP_SSL_CHECK_KEY').returns('test-key');
+
+      req.header = sandbox.stub().withArgs('x-forwarded-proto').returns('http');
+      req.originalUrl = '/static/front';
+      req.query.skipSSLCheck = 'test-key';
+
+      const attachRedirects = requireAgain(pathToRedirectsMiddleware);
+      attachRedirects.forceSSL(req, res, next);
+
+      expect(res.redirect).to.have.not.been.called;
+    });
+
+    it('does redirect if skip ssl request param is passed with incorrrect key', () => {
+      let nconfStub = sandbox.stub(nconf, 'get');
+      nconfStub.withArgs('BASE_URL').returns('https://habitica.com');
+      nconfStub.withArgs('IS_PROD').returns(true);
+      nconfStub.withArgs('SKIP_SSL_CHECK_KEY').returns('test-key');
+
+      req.header = sandbox.stub().withArgs('x-forwarded-proto').returns('http');
+      req.originalUrl = '/static/front?skipSSLCheck=INVALID';
+      req.query.skipSSLCheck = 'INVALID';
+
+      const attachRedirects = requireAgain(pathToRedirectsMiddleware);
+      attachRedirects.forceSSL(req, res, next);
+
+      expect(res.redirect).to.be.calledOnce;
+      expect(res.redirect).to.be.calledWith('https://habitica.com/static/front?skipSSLCheck=INVALID');
+    });
   });
 
   context('forceHabitica', () => {
diff --git a/website/server/middlewares/redirects.js b/website/server/middlewares/redirects.js
index a7c2a2a56c..b7de10f80c 100644
--- a/website/server/middlewares/redirects.js
+++ b/website/server/middlewares/redirects.js
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ import url from 'url';
 const IS_PROD = nconf.get('IS_PROD');
 const IGNORE_REDIRECT = nconf.get('IGNORE_REDIRECT') === 'true';
 const BASE_URL = nconf.get('BASE_URL');
+// A secret key that if passed as req.query.skipSSLCheck allows to skip
+// the redirects to SSL, used for health checks from the load balancer
+const SKIP_SSL_CHECK_KEY = nconf.get('SKIP_SSL_CHECK_KEY');
 
 const BASE_URL_HOST = url.parse(BASE_URL).hostname;
 
@@ -17,7 +20,8 @@ function isHTTP (req) {
 }
 
 export function forceSSL (req, res, next) {
-  if (isHTTP(req)) {
+  const skipSSLCheck = req.query.skipSSLCheck;
+  if (isHTTP(req) && (!skipSSLCheck || skipSSLCheck !== SKIP_SSL_CHECK_KEY)) {
     return res.redirect(BASE_URL + req.originalUrl);
   }