The invention relates to a method and an arrangement for monitoring the operability of a secondary air system of an internal combustion engine having an exhaust-gas system. The secondary air system includes a secondary air pump. In the method and arrangement, a signal is determined which characterizes the secondary air flow. In the method, at least one signal of at least one operating characteristic variable of the secondary air pump is determined during the determination of the signal characterizing the secondary air flow and a conclusion is drawn as to a fault in the secondary air system when the signal of the at least one operating characteristic variable lies outside of a pregiven interval. The at least one signal of at least one operating characteristic variable is determined in dependence upon the operating state of the engine. This signal is determined from a signal for the pump current of an electrically operated secondary air pump.