diff --git a/plugins/checks/check-deploy b/plugins/checks/check-deploy
index fc530decb..37367a538 100755
--- a/plugins/checks/check-deploy
+++ b/plugins/checks/check-deploy
@@ -62,9 +62,17 @@ TIMEOUT="${DOKKU_CHECKS_TIMEOUT:-30}"
 TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d /tmp/CHECKS.XXXXX)
 docker cp $DOKKU_APP_CONTAINER_ID:/app/CHECKS $TMPDIR 2> /dev/null || true
 if [[ ! -s "${TMPDIR}/CHECKS" ]] ; then
-    dokku_log_verbose "CHECKS file not found in container: skipping checks"
+    dokku_log_verbose "CHECKS file not found in container: running simple container check..."
     rm -rf $TMPDIR
-    exit 0
+
+    # simple default check to see if the container stuck around
+    # for more thorough checks, create a CHECKS file
+    DOKKU_DEFAULT_WAIT=$((WAIT+TIMEOUT))
+    dokku_log_info1 "Waiting for $DOKKU_DEFAULT_WAIT seconds ..."
+    sleep $DOKKU_DEFAULT_WAIT
+
+    docker ps -q --no-trunc | grep -q "$DOKKU_APP_CONTAINER_ID" || dokku_log_fail "App container failed to start!!"
+    dokku_log_info1 "Default check successful!" && exit 0
 fi