A block-based storage system hosts logical volumes that are implemented via multiple replicas of volume data stored on multiple resource hosts in different failure domains. Also, the block-based storage service allows multiple client computing devices to attach to a same given logical volume at the same time. In order to prevent unnecessary failovers, a primary node storing a primary replica is configured with a health check application programmatic interface (API) and a secondary node storing a secondary replica determines whether or not to initiate a failover based on the health of the primary replica.