diff --git a/app/Actions/Database/StartMongodb.php b/app/Actions/Database/StartMongodb.php
index ed0d0dd7a9..61f252da17 100644
--- a/app/Actions/Database/StartMongodb.php
+++ b/app/Actions/Database/StartMongodb.php
@@ -330,6 +330,7 @@ class StartMongodb
 
     /**
      * The shell is chosen when the check runs: images before MongoDB 5 (and some custom images) have only the legacy mongo shell.
+     * The check uses ping, which needs no authentication and passes on members that are not the writable primary (e.g. an uninitiated replica set).
      */
     private function generate_health_check_command(): array
     {
@@ -354,7 +355,7 @@ class StartMongodb
         $command = [
             ...$command,
             '--eval',
-            $legacy ? 'quit(db.isMaster().ismaster === true ? 0 : 1)' : 'quit(db.hello().isWritablePrimary === true ? 0 : 1)',
+            'quit(db.adminCommand({ ping: 1 }).ok === 1 ? 0 : 1)',
         ];
 
         return implode(' ', array_map('escapeshellarg', $command));
diff --git a/tests/Unit/StartMongodbHealthCheckTest.php b/tests/Unit/StartMongodbHealthCheckTest.php
index adad413e45..e0b57f0ebf 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/StartMongodbHealthCheckTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/StartMongodbHealthCheckTest.php
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ function runMongodbHealthCheck(array $healthCheck, array $availableShells): stri
     return trim((string) $output);
 }
 
-it('uses mongosh when the image has it and the legacy mongo shell otherwise', function (array $availableShells, bool $enableSsl, ?string $sslMode, array $expectedCall) {
+it('checks liveness with ping using mongosh when the image has it and the legacy mongo shell otherwise', function (array $availableShells, bool $enableSsl, ?string $sslMode, array $expectedCall) {
     $healthCheck = generatedMongodbHealthCheckCommand([
         'uuid' => 'mongodb-test-resource',
         'image' => 'registry.example.com/mongo:any',
@@ -54,32 +54,32 @@ it('uses mongosh when the image has it and the legacy mongo shell otherwise', fu
 })->with([
     'mongosh without TLS' => [['mongosh', 'mongo'], false, null, [
         'mongosh', '--quiet', '--host', 'mongodb-test-resource', '--eval',
-        'quit(db.hello().isWritablePrimary === true ? 0 : 1)',
+        'quit(db.adminCommand({ ping: 1 }).ok === 1 ? 0 : 1)',
     ]],
     'mongosh with TLS require' => [['mongosh'], true, 'require', [
         'mongosh', '--quiet', '--host', 'mongodb-test-resource',
         '--tls', '--tlsCAFile', '/etc/mongo/certs/ca.pem', '--eval',
-        'quit(db.hello().isWritablePrimary === true ? 0 : 1)',
+        'quit(db.adminCommand({ ping: 1 }).ok === 1 ? 0 : 1)',
     ]],
     'mongosh with TLS verify-full' => [['mongosh'], true, 'verify-full', [
         'mongosh', '--quiet', '--host', 'mongodb-test-resource',
         '--tls', '--tlsCAFile', '/etc/mongo/certs/ca.pem',
         '--tlsCertificateKeyFile', '/etc/mongo/certs/server.pem', '--eval',
-        'quit(db.hello().isWritablePrimary === true ? 0 : 1)',
+        'quit(db.adminCommand({ ping: 1 }).ok === 1 ? 0 : 1)',
     ]],
     'legacy mongo without TLS' => [['mongo'], false, null, [
         'mongo', '--quiet', '--host', 'mongodb-test-resource', '--eval',
-        'quit(db.isMaster().ismaster === true ? 0 : 1)',
+        'quit(db.adminCommand({ ping: 1 }).ok === 1 ? 0 : 1)',
     ]],
     'legacy mongo with TLS require' => [['mongo'], true, 'require', [
         'mongo', '--quiet', '--host', 'mongodb-test-resource',
         '--ssl', '--sslCAFile', '/etc/mongo/certs/ca.pem', '--eval',
-        'quit(db.isMaster().ismaster === true ? 0 : 1)',
+        'quit(db.adminCommand({ ping: 1 }).ok === 1 ? 0 : 1)',
     ]],
     'legacy mongo with TLS verify-full' => [['mongo'], true, 'verify-full', [
         'mongo', '--quiet', '--host', 'mongodb-test-resource',
         '--ssl', '--sslCAFile', '/etc/mongo/certs/ca.pem',
         '--sslPEMKeyFile', '/etc/mongo/certs/server.pem', '--eval',
-        'quit(db.isMaster().ismaster === true ? 0 : 1)',
+        'quit(db.adminCommand({ ping: 1 }).ok === 1 ? 0 : 1)',
     ]],
 ]);