diff --git a/src/api.js b/src/api.js
index 4509d95..73618b7 100644
--- a/src/api.js
+++ b/src/api.js
@@ -122,8 +122,6 @@ export class Api {
     this.redisWorkerGroupName = this.prefix + ':worker'
     this.workerSetName = `${this.prefix}:worker:${this.consumername}:idset`
     this._destroyed = false
-    /** @type {import('worker_threads').Worker | null} */
-    this.persistWorker = null
 
     const addScript = WORKER_DISABLED
       ? `
diff --git a/src/persist-worker-thread.js b/src/persist-worker-thread.js
index 4e588be..6cb3af0 100644
--- a/src/persist-worker-thread.js
+++ b/src/persist-worker-thread.js
@@ -18,7 +18,11 @@ export class PersistWorkerThread {
       return
     }
     this.store = store
-    parentPort?.on('message', this.persist)
+    parentPort?.postMessage({ event: 'ready' })
+    parentPort?.on('message', ({ event, ...rest }) => {
+      if (event === 'ping') parentPort?.postMessage({ event: 'pong' })
+      else this.persist(rest)
+    })
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/socketio.js b/src/socketio.js
index 2388385..8208877 100644
--- a/src/socketio.js
+++ b/src/socketio.js
@@ -37,17 +37,17 @@ class YSocketIOServer {
  * @param {string} [conf.redisPrefix]
  * @param {string} [conf.redisUrl]
  * @param {import('./y-socket-io/y-socket-io.js').YSocketIOConfiguration['authenticate']} conf.authenticate
- * @param {import('worker_threads').Worker=} [conf.persistWorker]
+ * @param {() => import('worker_threads').Worker=} [conf.getPersistWorker]
  * @param {boolean} [conf.enableAwareness]
  */
 export const registerYSocketIOServer = async (io, store, {
   authenticate,
   redisUrl,
   redisPrefix,
-  persistWorker,
+  getPersistWorker,
   enableAwareness = true
 }) => {
   const app = new YSocketIO(io, { authenticate, enableAwareness })
-  const { client, subscriber } = await app.initialize(store, { redisUrl, redisPrefix, persistWorker })
+  const { client, subscriber } = await app.initialize(store, { redisUrl, redisPrefix, getPersistWorker })
   return new YSocketIOServer(app, client, subscriber)
 }
diff --git a/src/y-socket-io/y-socket-io.js b/src/y-socket-io/y-socket-io.js
index 6cf4ac8..8f395f5 100644
--- a/src/y-socket-io/y-socket-io.js
+++ b/src/y-socket-io/y-socket-io.js
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ const MAX_PERSIST_INTERVAL = number.parseInt(env.getConf('y-socket-io-server-max
 const REVALIDATE_TIMEOUT = number.parseInt(env.getConf('y-socket-io-server-revalidate-timeout') || '60000')
 const WORKER_DISABLED = env.getConf('y-worker-disabled') === 'true'
 const DEFAULT_CLEAR_TIMEOUT = number.parseInt(env.getConf('y-socket-io-default-clear-timeout') || '30000')
+const WORKER_HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL = number.parseInt(env.getConf('y-socket-io-worker-health-check-interval') || '5000')
 
 process.on('SIGINT', function () {
   // calling .shutdown allows your process to exit normally
@@ -146,6 +147,26 @@ export class YSocketIO {
    * @readonly
    */
   awaitingCleanupNamespace = new Map()
+  /**
+   * @type {boolean}
+   * @private
+   */
+  workerReady = false
+  /**
+   * @type {number | null}
+   * @private
+   */
+  workerLastHeartbeat = null
+  /**
+   * @type {{ promise: Promise<boolean>, resolve: (result: boolean) => void } | null}
+   * @private
+   */
+  workerHeartbeatContext = null
+  /**
+   * @type {NodeJS.Timeout | null}
+   * @private
+   */
+  persistWorkerHealthCheckTimeout = null
 
   /**
    * YSocketIO constructor.
@@ -169,10 +190,10 @@ export class YSocketIO {
    *
    *  It also starts socket connection listeners.
    * @param {import('../storage.js').AbstractStorage} store
-   * @param {{ redisPrefix?: string, redisUrl?: string, persistWorker?: import('worker_threads').Worker }=} opts
+   * @param {{ redisPrefix?: string, redisUrl?: string, getPersistWorker?: () => import('worker_threads').Worker }=} opts
    * @public
    */
-  async initialize (store, { redisUrl, redisPrefix = 'y', persistWorker } = {}) {
+  async initialize (store, { redisUrl, redisPrefix = 'y', getPersistWorker } = {}) {
     const { enableAwareness } = this.configuration
     const [client, subscriber] = await promise.all([
       api.createApiClient(store, { redisUrl, redisPrefix, enableAwareness }),
@@ -180,9 +201,11 @@ export class YSocketIO {
     ])
     this.client = client
     this.subscriber = subscriber
-    if (persistWorker) {
-      this.client.persistWorker = persistWorker
+    if (getPersistWorker) {
+      this.getPersistWorker = getPersistWorker
+      this.persistWorker = getPersistWorker()
       this.registerPersistWorkerResolve()
+      this.registerPersistWorkerHealthCheck()
     }
 
     this.nsp = this.io.of(/^\/yjs\|.*$/)
@@ -518,16 +541,15 @@ export class YSocketIO {
           const doc = this.namespaceDocMap.get(namespace)?.ydoc
           logSocketIO(`trying to persist ${namespace}`)
           if (!doc) return
-          if (this.client.persistWorker) {
+          if (this.persistWorker && this.workerReady) {
             /** @type {ReturnType<typeof promiseWithResolvers<void>>} */
             const { promise, resolve } = promiseWithResolvers()
-            assert(this.client?.persistWorker)
             this.awaitingPersistMap.set(namespace, { promise, resolve })
 
             const docState = Y.encodeStateAsUpdateV2(doc)
             const buf = new Uint8Array(new SharedArrayBuffer(docState.length))
             buf.set(docState)
-            this.client.persistWorker.postMessage({
+            this.persistWorker.postMessage({
               room: namespace,
               docstate: buf
             })
@@ -627,6 +649,9 @@ export class YSocketIO {
 
   destroy () {
     try {
+      if (this.persistWorkerHealthCheckTimeout) {
+        clearInterval(this.persistWorkerHealthCheckTimeout)
+      }
       this.subscriber?.destroy()
       return this.client?.destroy()
     } catch (e) {
@@ -635,9 +660,13 @@ export class YSocketIO {
   }
 
   registerPersistWorkerResolve () {
-    if (!this.client?.persistWorker) return
-    this.client.persistWorker.on('message', ({ event, room }) => {
+    if (!this.persistWorker) return
+    this.persistWorker.on('message', ({ event, room }) => {
       if (event === 'persisted') this.awaitingPersistMap.get(room)?.resolve()
+      if (event === 'pong' && this.workerHeartbeatContext) {
+        this.workerHeartbeatContext.resolve(true)
+      }
+      this.workerReady = true
     })
   }
 
@@ -677,4 +706,58 @@ export class YSocketIO {
     this.namespaceDocMap.delete(namespace)
     this.namespacePersistentMap.delete(namespace)
   }
+
+  async waitUntilWorkerReady () {
+    if (!this.persistWorker || this.workerReady) return
+    /** @type {ReturnType<typeof promiseWithResolvers<void>>} */
+    const { promise, resolve } = promiseWithResolvers()
+    const timer = setInterval(() => {
+      if (!this.workerReady) return
+      clearInterval(timer)
+      resolve()
+    }, 100)
+    await promise
+  }
+
+  registerPersistWorkerHealthCheck () {
+    this.persistWorkerHealthCheckTimeout = setTimeout(async () => {
+      const workerHealth = await this.workerHealthCheck()
+      if (!workerHealth) {
+        logSocketIO('worker thread is unhealthy, recreating')
+        assert(this.getPersistWorker)
+        this.workerReady = false
+        await this.persistWorker?.removeAllListeners().terminate()
+        this.persistWorker = this.getPersistWorker()
+        this.registerPersistWorkerResolve()
+        await this.waitUntilWorkerReady()
+      }
+      this.registerPersistWorkerHealthCheck()
+    }, WORKER_HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL)
+  }
+
+  async workerHealthCheck () {
+    if (!this.persistWorker || this.workerHeartbeatContext) return null
+    if (
+      this.workerLastHeartbeat &&
+      Date.now() - this.workerLastHeartbeat < WORKER_HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL * 2
+    ) {
+      return true
+    }
+
+    /** @type {ReturnType<typeof promiseWithResolvers<boolean>>} */
+    const { promise: heartbeatPromise, resolve } = promiseWithResolvers()
+    this.workerHeartbeatContext = { promise: heartbeatPromise, resolve }
+    const now = performance.now()
+    this.persistWorker.postMessage({ event: 'ping' })
+    const health = await Promise.race([
+      heartbeatPromise,
+      promise.wait(3000).then(() => false)
+    ])
+    this.workerHeartbeatContext = null
+    if (health) {
+      logSocketIO(`worker health check: responded in ${performance.now() - now}ms`)
+      this.workerLastHeartbeat = Date.now()
+    }
+    return health
+  }
 }