diff --git a/examples/counter-serverless/src/server.ts b/examples/counter-serverless/src/server.ts
index 01ff0b439..9dc17c030 100644
--- a/examples/counter-serverless/src/server.ts
+++ b/examples/counter-serverless/src/server.ts
@@ -3,5 +3,4 @@ import { registry } from "./registry";
 registry.start({
 	runnerKind: "serverless",
 	autoConfigureServerless: { url: "http://localhost:8080" },
-	endpoint: "http://localhost:6420",
 });
diff --git a/packages/next-js/src/mod.ts b/packages/next-js/src/mod.ts
index a99f3b14d..097609eaf 100644
--- a/packages/next-js/src/mod.ts
+++ b/packages/next-js/src/mod.ts
@@ -11,10 +11,6 @@ export const toNextHandler = (
 	// Configure serverless
 	inputConfig.runnerKind = "serverless";
 
-	// TODO: We probably want to move this to the registry for all serverless runners
-	// Metadata endpoint will not exist at 127.0.0.1:6420
-	inputConfig.disableHealthCheck = true;
-
 	// Auto-configure serverless runner if not in prod
 	if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== "production") {
 		logger().debug(
diff --git a/packages/rivetkit/src/registry/mod.ts b/packages/rivetkit/src/registry/mod.ts
index 7d4f70a56..2dee1858d 100644
--- a/packages/rivetkit/src/registry/mod.ts
+++ b/packages/rivetkit/src/registry/mod.ts
@@ -71,6 +71,25 @@ export class Registry<A extends RegistryActors> {
 		// Promise for any async operations we need to wait to complete
 		const readyPromises = [];
 
+		// Disable health check if using serverless
+		//
+		// This is because the endpoint will not be configured until we receive
+		// a serverless runner request, so we do not know what to health check
+		if (config.runnerKind === "serverless") {
+			logger().debug("disabling health check since using serverless");
+			config.disableHealthCheck = true;
+		}
+
+		// Auto-configure serverless runner if not in prod
+		if (
+			process.env.NODE_ENV !== "production" &&
+			config.runnerKind === "serverless"
+		) {
+			if (inputConfig?.runEngine === undefined) config.runEngine = true;
+			if (inputConfig?.autoConfigureServerless === undefined)
+				config.autoConfigureServerless = true;
+		}
+
 		// Start engine
 		if (config.runEngine) {
 			logger().debug({
@@ -185,6 +204,7 @@ export class Registry<A extends RegistryActors> {
 		// Even though we do not use the returned ActorDriver, this is required to start the code that will handle incoming actors
 		if (!config.disableActorDriver) {
 			Promise.all(readyPromises).then(async () => {
+				logger().debug("starting actor driver");
 				driver.actor(this.#config, config, managerDriver, client);
 			});
 		}
@@ -220,6 +240,8 @@ export class Registry<A extends RegistryActors> {
 }
 
 async function configureServerlessRunner(config: RunnerConfig): Promise<void> {
+	logger().debug("configuring serverless runner");
+
 	try {
 		// Ensure we have required config values
 		if (!config.runnerName) {
@@ -290,10 +312,11 @@ async function configureServerlessRunner(config: RunnerConfig): Promise<void> {
 		});
 	} catch (error) {
 		logger().error({
-			msg: "failed to configure serverless runner",
+			msg: "failed to configure serverless runner, validate endpoint is configured correctly then restart this process",
 			error,
 		});
-		throw error;
+
+		// Don't throw, allow the runner to continue
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/rivetkit/src/remote-manager-driver/mod.ts b/packages/rivetkit/src/remote-manager-driver/mod.ts
index 27d9e0226..63ab59875 100644
--- a/packages/rivetkit/src/remote-manager-driver/mod.ts
+++ b/packages/rivetkit/src/remote-manager-driver/mod.ts
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ export class RemoteManagerDriver implements ManagerDriver {
 				});
 			} catch (error) {
 				logger().error({
-					msg: "failed to connect to metadata endpoint",
+					msg: "health check failed, validate the Rivet endpoint is configured correctly",
 					endpoint,
 					error: stringifyError(error),
 				});