diff --git a/pkg/api/readiness.go b/pkg/api/readiness.go
index d7f0d8dd27a..35685483892 100644
--- a/pkg/api/readiness.go
+++ b/pkg/api/readiness.go
@@ -4,12 +4,27 @@
 
 package api
 
-import "net/http"
+import (
+	"net/http"
+
+	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/v2"
+	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/v2/pkg/jsonhttp"
+)
+
+type ReadyStatusResponse healthStatusResponse
 
 func (s *Service) readinessHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
 	if s.probe.Ready() == ProbeStatusOK {
-		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+		jsonhttp.OK(w, ReadyStatusResponse{
+			Status:     "ready",
+			Version:    bee.Version,
+			APIVersion: Version,
+		})
 	} else {
-		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusBadRequest)
+		jsonhttp.BadRequest(w, ReadyStatusResponse{
+			Status:     "notReady",
+			Version:    bee.Version,
+			APIVersion: Version,
+		})
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/api/readiness_test.go b/pkg/api/readiness_test.go
index 52677214919..0454f541c2f 100644
--- a/pkg/api/readiness_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/readiness_test.go
@@ -37,10 +37,20 @@ func TestReadiness(t *testing.T) {
 
 		// When we set readiness probe to OK it should indicate that API is ready
 		probe.SetReady(api.ProbeStatusOK)
-		jsonhttptest.Request(t, testServer, http.MethodGet, "/readiness", http.StatusOK)
+		jsonhttptest.Request(t, testServer, http.MethodGet, "/readiness", http.StatusOK,
+			jsonhttptest.WithExpectedJSONResponse(api.ReadyStatusResponse{
+				Status:     "ready",
+				Version:    "-dev",
+				APIVersion: "0.0.0",
+			}))
 
 		// When we set readiness probe to NOK it should indicate that API is not ready
 		probe.SetReady(api.ProbeStatusNOK)
-		jsonhttptest.Request(t, testServer, http.MethodGet, "/readiness", http.StatusBadRequest)
+		jsonhttptest.Request(t, testServer, http.MethodGet, "/readiness", http.StatusBadRequest,
+			jsonhttptest.WithExpectedJSONResponse(api.ReadyStatusResponse{
+				Status:     "notReady",
+				Version:    "-dev",
+				APIVersion: "0.0.0",
+			}))
 	})
 }