diff --git a/.changeset/moody-avocados-allow.md b/.changeset/moody-avocados-allow.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..509fd4b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/moody-avocados-allow.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@hyperdx/node-opentelemetry': patch
+---
+
+Fix issue where OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS are not passed to health check endpoints
diff --git a/packages/node-opentelemetry/src/__tests__/parseHeaders.ts b/packages/node-opentelemetry/src/__tests__/parseHeaders.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..df9506cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/node-opentelemetry/src/__tests__/parseHeaders.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+import { parseOtlpHeaders } from '../utils';
+
+describe('Parse OTLP Headers', () => {
+  it('should return an empty object when no headers string is provided', () => {
+    expect(parseOtlpHeaders()).toEqual({});
+  });
+
+  it('should correctly parse a single header', () => {
+    expect(parseOtlpHeaders('key1=value1')).toEqual({ key1: 'value1' });
+  });
+
+  it('should correctly parse multiple headers', () => {
+    expect(parseOtlpHeaders('key1=value1,key2=value2')).toEqual({
+      key1: 'value1',
+      key2: 'value2',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should handle spaces around keys and values', () => {
+    expect(parseOtlpHeaders(' key1 = value1 , key2 = value2 ')).toEqual({
+      key1: 'value1',
+      key2: 'value2',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should ignore malformed headers without "="', () => {
+    expect(parseOtlpHeaders('key1=value1,malformedHeader,key2=value2')).toEqual(
+      {
+        key1: 'value1',
+        key2: 'value2',
+      },
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('should handle empty values', () => {
+    expect(parseOtlpHeaders('key1=,key2=value2')).toEqual({
+      key1: '',
+      key2: 'value2',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should handle special characters in values', () => {
+    expect(
+      parseOtlpHeaders(
+        'Authorization=Bearer token123,Content-Type=application/json',
+      ),
+    ).toEqual({
+      Authorization: 'Bearer token123',
+      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should handle trailing comma', () => {
+    expect(parseOtlpHeaders('key1=value1,')).toEqual({
+      key1: 'value1',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should handle leading comma', () => {
+    expect(parseOtlpHeaders(',key1=value1')).toEqual({
+      key1: 'value1',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should handle multiple consecutive commas', () => {
+    expect(parseOtlpHeaders('key1=value1,,key2=value2')).toEqual({
+      key1: 'value1',
+      key2: 'value2',
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/node-opentelemetry/src/otel.ts b/packages/node-opentelemetry/src/otel.ts
index aaa4d93e..ce946192 100644
--- a/packages/node-opentelemetry/src/otel.ts
+++ b/packages/node-opentelemetry/src/otel.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ import { getHyperDXMetricReader } from './metrics';
 import { MutableAsyncLocalStorageContextManager } from './MutableAsyncLocalStorageContextManager';
 import { Logger as OtelLogger } from './otel-logger';
 import HyperDXSpanProcessor from './spanProcessor';
+import { parseOtlpHeaders } from './utils';
 
 const UI_LOG_PREFIX = '[⚡HyperDX]';
 
@@ -215,6 +216,13 @@ export const initSDK = (config: SDKConfig) => {
   });
   ui.succeed('Set default otel envs');
 
+  // Parse OTLP headers from environment variable
+  const otlpHeaders = parseOtlpHeaders(env.OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS);
+  const healthCheckHeaders = {
+    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+    ...otlpHeaders,
+  };
+
   const stopOnTerminationSignals =
     config.stopOnTerminationSignals ??
     DEFAULT_HDX_NODE_STOP_ON_TERMINATION_SIGNALS; // Stop by default
@@ -244,23 +252,17 @@ export const initSDK = (config: SDKConfig) => {
   Promise.all([
     healthCheckUrl(ui, DEFAULT_OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER_URL, {
       method: 'POST',
-      headers: {
-        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
-      },
+      headers: healthCheckHeaders,
       body: JSON.stringify({}),
     }),
     healthCheckUrl(ui, _logger.getExporterUrl(), {
       method: 'POST',
-      headers: {
-        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
-      },
+      headers: healthCheckHeaders,
       body: JSON.stringify({}),
     }),
     healthCheckUrl(ui, DEFAULT_OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER_URL, {
       method: 'POST',
-      headers: {
-        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
-      },
+      headers: healthCheckHeaders,
       body: JSON.stringify({}),
     }),
   ]);
diff --git a/packages/node-opentelemetry/src/utils.ts b/packages/node-opentelemetry/src/utils.ts
index f7c22096..2e4e5225 100644
--- a/packages/node-opentelemetry/src/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/node-opentelemetry/src/utils.ts
@@ -26,3 +26,40 @@ export const stringToBoolean = (stringValue: string | undefined) => {
       return undefined;
   }
 };
+
+/**
+ * Parses OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS environment variable into a structured headers object.
+ * Format: "key1=value1,key2=value2" -> { key1: "value1", key2: "value2" }
+ */
+export const parseOtlpHeaders = (
+  headersString?: string,
+): Record<string, string> => {
+  if (!headersString) {
+    return {};
+  }
+
+  const headers: Record<string, string> = {};
+  const pairs = headersString.split(',');
+
+  for (const pair of pairs) {
+    const trimmedPair = pair.trim();
+    if (!trimmedPair) {
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    const equalIndex = trimmedPair.indexOf('=');
+    if (equalIndex === -1) {
+      // Skip malformed pairs without '='
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    const key = trimmedPair.substring(0, equalIndex).trim();
+    const value = trimmedPair.substring(equalIndex + 1).trim();
+
+    if (key) {
+      headers[key] = value;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return headers;
+};