diff --git a/docs/docs/install/environment-variables.md b/docs/docs/install/environment-variables.md
index 928e0b26e..4e081c896 100644
--- a/docs/docs/install/environment-variables.md
+++ b/docs/docs/install/environment-variables.md
@@ -169,8 +169,6 @@ Redis (Sentinel) URL example JSON before encoding:
 | `MACHINE_LEARNING_ANN_TUNING_LEVEL`                         | ARM-NN GPU tuning level (1: rapid, 2: normal, 3: exhaustive)                                        |               `2`               | machine learning |
 | `MACHINE_LEARNING_DEVICE_IDS`<sup>\*4</sup>                 | Device IDs to use in multi-GPU environments                                                         |               `0`               | machine learning |
 | `MACHINE_LEARNING_MAX_BATCH_SIZE__FACIAL_RECOGNITION`       | Set the maximum number of faces that will be processed at once by the facial recognition model      |  None (`1` if using OpenVINO)   | machine learning |
-| `MACHINE_LEARNING_PING_TIMEOUT`                             | How long (ms) to wait for a PING response when checking if an ML server is available                |             `2000`              | server           |
-| `MACHINE_LEARNING_AVAILABILITY_BACKOFF_TIME`                | How long to ignore ML servers that are offline before trying again                                  |             `30000`             | server           |
 | `MACHINE_LEARNING_RKNN`                                     | Enable RKNN hardware acceleration if supported                                                      |             `True`              | machine learning |
 | `MACHINE_LEARNING_RKNN_THREADS`                             | How many threads of RKNN runtime should be spinned up while inferencing.                            |               `1`               | machine learning |
 
diff --git a/i18n/en.json b/i18n/en.json
index aa1999adc..af52770c6 100644
--- a/i18n/en.json
+++ b/i18n/en.json
@@ -123,6 +123,13 @@
     "logging_enable_description": "Enable logging",
     "logging_level_description": "When enabled, what log level to use.",
     "logging_settings": "Logging",
+    "machine_learning_availability_checks": "Availability checks",
+    "machine_learning_availability_checks_description": "Automatically detect and prefer available machine learning servers",
+    "machine_learning_availability_checks_enabled": "Enable availability checks",
+    "machine_learning_availability_checks_interval": "Check interval",
+    "machine_learning_availability_checks_interval_description": "Interval in milliseconds between availability checks",
+    "machine_learning_availability_checks_timeout": "Request timeout",
+    "machine_learning_availability_checks_timeout_description": "Timeout in milliseconds for availability checks",
     "machine_learning_clip_model": "CLIP model",
     "machine_learning_clip_model_description": "The name of a CLIP model listed <link>here</link>. Note that you must re-run the 'Smart Search' job for all images upon changing a model.",
     "machine_learning_duplicate_detection": "Duplicate Detection",
diff --git a/mobile/openapi/README.md b/mobile/openapi/README.md
index 239c62449..7a426b74f 100644
Binary files a/mobile/openapi/README.md and b/mobile/openapi/README.md differ
diff --git a/mobile/openapi/lib/api.dart b/mobile/openapi/lib/api.dart
index e87c160d9..df2c2226b 100644
Binary files a/mobile/openapi/lib/api.dart and b/mobile/openapi/lib/api.dart differ
diff --git a/mobile/openapi/lib/api_client.dart b/mobile/openapi/lib/api_client.dart
index ae5fd9227..06d27593c 100644
Binary files a/mobile/openapi/lib/api_client.dart and b/mobile/openapi/lib/api_client.dart differ
diff --git a/mobile/openapi/lib/model/machine_learning_availability_checks_dto.dart b/mobile/openapi/lib/model/machine_learning_availability_checks_dto.dart
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..84b318142
Binary files /dev/null and b/mobile/openapi/lib/model/machine_learning_availability_checks_dto.dart differ
diff --git a/mobile/openapi/lib/model/system_config_machine_learning_dto.dart b/mobile/openapi/lib/model/system_config_machine_learning_dto.dart
index a4a9ca7d8..d7b2566d5 100644
Binary files a/mobile/openapi/lib/model/system_config_machine_learning_dto.dart and b/mobile/openapi/lib/model/system_config_machine_learning_dto.dart differ
diff --git a/open-api/immich-openapi-specs.json b/open-api/immich-openapi-specs.json
index 0b0391326..d3fe155a8 100644
--- a/open-api/immich-openapi-specs.json
+++ b/open-api/immich-openapi-specs.json
@@ -12259,6 +12259,25 @@
         ],
         "type": "object"
       },
+      "MachineLearningAvailabilityChecksDto": {
+        "properties": {
+          "enabled": {
+            "type": "boolean"
+          },
+          "interval": {
+            "type": "number"
+          },
+          "timeout": {
+            "type": "number"
+          }
+        },
+        "required": [
+          "enabled",
+          "interval",
+          "timeout"
+        ],
+        "type": "object"
+      },
       "ManualJobName": {
         "enum": [
           "person-cleanup",
@@ -16395,6 +16414,9 @@
       },
       "SystemConfigMachineLearningDto": {
         "properties": {
+          "availabilityChecks": {
+            "$ref": "#/components/schemas/MachineLearningAvailabilityChecksDto"
+          },
           "clip": {
             "$ref": "#/components/schemas/CLIPConfig"
           },
@@ -16407,11 +16429,6 @@
           "facialRecognition": {
             "$ref": "#/components/schemas/FacialRecognitionConfig"
           },
-          "url": {
-            "deprecated": true,
-            "description": "This property was deprecated in v1.122.0",
-            "type": "string"
-          },
           "urls": {
             "format": "uri",
             "items": {
@@ -16423,6 +16440,7 @@
           }
         },
         "required": [
+          "availabilityChecks",
           "clip",
           "duplicateDetection",
           "enabled",
diff --git a/open-api/typescript-sdk/src/fetch-client.ts b/open-api/typescript-sdk/src/fetch-client.ts
index 079dbda63..a8b1b0f59 100644
--- a/open-api/typescript-sdk/src/fetch-client.ts
+++ b/open-api/typescript-sdk/src/fetch-client.ts
@@ -1383,6 +1383,11 @@ export type SystemConfigLoggingDto = {
     enabled: boolean;
     level: LogLevel;
 };
+export type MachineLearningAvailabilityChecksDto = {
+    enabled: boolean;
+    interval: number;
+    timeout: number;
+};
 export type ClipConfig = {
     enabled: boolean;
     modelName: string;
@@ -1399,12 +1404,11 @@ export type FacialRecognitionConfig = {
     modelName: string;
 };
 export type SystemConfigMachineLearningDto = {
+    availabilityChecks: MachineLearningAvailabilityChecksDto;
     clip: ClipConfig;
     duplicateDetection: DuplicateDetectionConfig;
     enabled: boolean;
     facialRecognition: FacialRecognitionConfig;
-    /** This property was deprecated in v1.122.0 */
-    url?: string;
     urls: string[];
 };
 export type SystemConfigMapDto = {
diff --git a/server/src/bin/sync-sql.ts b/server/src/bin/sync-sql.ts
index 6d3cb42fa..b63233206 100644
--- a/server/src/bin/sync-sql.ts
+++ b/server/src/bin/sync-sql.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import { repositories } from 'src/repositories';
 import { AccessRepository } from 'src/repositories/access.repository';
 import { ConfigRepository } from 'src/repositories/config.repository';
 import { LoggingRepository } from 'src/repositories/logging.repository';
+import { MachineLearningRepository } from 'src/repositories/machine-learning.repository';
 import { SyncRepository } from 'src/repositories/sync.repository';
 import { AuthService } from 'src/services/auth.service';
 import { getKyselyConfig } from 'src/utils/database';
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@ class SqlGenerator {
     try {
       await this.setup();
       for (const Repository of repositories) {
-        if (Repository === LoggingRepository) {
+        if (Repository === LoggingRepository || Repository === MachineLearningRepository) {
           continue;
         }
         await this.process(Repository);
diff --git a/server/src/config.ts b/server/src/config.ts
index 0d1e293be..66c03450f 100644
--- a/server/src/config.ts
+++ b/server/src/config.ts
@@ -54,6 +54,11 @@ export interface SystemConfig {
   machineLearning: {
     enabled: boolean;
     urls: string[];
+    availabilityChecks: {
+      enabled: boolean;
+      timeout: number;
+      interval: number;
+    };
     clip: {
       enabled: boolean;
       modelName: string;
@@ -176,6 +181,8 @@ export interface SystemConfig {
   };
 }
 
+export type MachineLearningConfig = SystemConfig['machineLearning'];
+
 export const defaults = Object.freeze<SystemConfig>({
   backup: {
     database: {
@@ -227,6 +234,11 @@ export const defaults = Object.freeze<SystemConfig>({
   machineLearning: {
     enabled: process.env.IMMICH_MACHINE_LEARNING_ENABLED !== 'false',
     urls: [process.env.IMMICH_MACHINE_LEARNING_URL || 'http://immich-machine-learning:3003'],
+    availabilityChecks: {
+      enabled: true,
+      timeout: Number(process.env.IMMICH_MACHINE_LEARNING_PING_TIMEOUT) || 2000,
+      interval: 30_000,
+    },
     clip: {
       enabled: true,
       modelName: 'ViT-B-32__openai',
diff --git a/server/src/constants.ts b/server/src/constants.ts
index b47640c4a..1bae521a9 100644
--- a/server/src/constants.ts
+++ b/server/src/constants.ts
@@ -51,11 +51,6 @@ export const serverVersion = new SemVer(version);
 export const AUDIT_LOG_MAX_DURATION = Duration.fromObject({ days: 100 });
 export const ONE_HOUR = Duration.fromObject({ hours: 1 });
 
-export const MACHINE_LEARNING_PING_TIMEOUT = Number(process.env.MACHINE_LEARNING_PING_TIMEOUT || 2000);
-export const MACHINE_LEARNING_AVAILABILITY_BACKOFF_TIME = Number(
-  process.env.MACHINE_LEARNING_AVAILABILITY_BACKOFF_TIME || 30_000,
-);
-
 export const citiesFile = 'cities500.txt';
 export const reverseGeocodeMaxDistance = 25_000;
 
diff --git a/server/src/dtos/system-config.dto.ts b/server/src/dtos/system-config.dto.ts
index 8a58995de..1facc6c33 100644
--- a/server/src/dtos/system-config.dto.ts
+++ b/server/src/dtos/system-config.dto.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { ApiProperty } from '@nestjs/swagger';
-import { Exclude, Transform, Type } from 'class-transformer';
+import { Type } from 'class-transformer';
 import {
   ArrayMinSize,
   IsInt,
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import {
   ValidateNested,
 } from 'class-validator';
 import { SystemConfig } from 'src/config';
-import { PropertyLifecycle } from 'src/decorators';
 import { CLIPConfig, DuplicateDetectionConfig, FacialRecognitionConfig } from 'src/dtos/model-config.dto';
 import {
   AudioCodec,
@@ -257,21 +256,32 @@ class SystemConfigLoggingDto {
   level!: LogLevel;
 }
 
+class MachineLearningAvailabilityChecksDto {
+  @ValidateBoolean()
+  enabled!: boolean;
+
+  @IsInt()
+  timeout!: number;
+
+  @IsInt()
+  interval!: number;
+}
+
 class SystemConfigMachineLearningDto {
   @ValidateBoolean()
   enabled!: boolean;
 
-  @PropertyLifecycle({ deprecatedAt: 'v1.122.0' })
-  @Exclude()
-  url?: string;
-
   @IsUrl({ require_tld: false, allow_underscores: true }, { each: true })
   @ArrayMinSize(1)
-  @Transform(({ obj, value }) => (obj.url ? [obj.url] : value))
   @ValidateIf((dto) => dto.enabled)
   @ApiProperty({ type: 'array', items: { type: 'string', format: 'uri' }, minItems: 1 })
   urls!: string[];
 
+  @Type(() => MachineLearningAvailabilityChecksDto)
+  @ValidateNested()
+  @IsObject()
+  availabilityChecks!: MachineLearningAvailabilityChecksDto;
+
   @Type(() => CLIPConfig)
   @ValidateNested()
   @IsObject()
diff --git a/server/src/repositories/logging.repository.ts b/server/src/repositories/logging.repository.ts
index 939ecb718..576ee6c81 100644
--- a/server/src/repositories/logging.repository.ts
+++ b/server/src/repositories/logging.repository.ts
@@ -142,6 +142,10 @@ export class LoggingRepository {
     this.handleMessage(LogLevel.Fatal, message, details);
   }
 
+  deprecate(message: string) {
+    this.warn(`[Deprecated] ${message}`);
+  }
+
   private handleFunction(level: LogLevel, message: LogFunction, details: LogDetails[]) {
     if (this.logger.isLevelEnabled(level)) {
       this.handleMessage(level, message(), details);
diff --git a/server/src/repositories/machine-learning.repository.ts b/server/src/repositories/machine-learning.repository.ts
index f880ed129..d148dc782 100644
--- a/server/src/repositories/machine-learning.repository.ts
+++ b/server/src/repositories/machine-learning.repository.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
+import { Duration } from 'luxon';
 import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
-import { MACHINE_LEARNING_AVAILABILITY_BACKOFF_TIME, MACHINE_LEARNING_PING_TIMEOUT } from 'src/constants';
+import { MachineLearningConfig } from 'src/config';
 import { CLIPConfig } from 'src/dtos/model-config.dto';
 import { LoggingRepository } from 'src/repositories/logging.repository';
 
@@ -57,82 +58,100 @@ export type TextEncodingOptions = ModelOptions & { language?: string };
 
 @Injectable()
 export class MachineLearningRepository {
-  // Note that deleted URL's are not removed from this map (ie: they're leaked)
-  // Cleaning them up is low priority since there should be very few over a
-  // typical server uptime cycle
-  private urlAvailability: {
-    [url: string]:
-      | {
-          active: boolean;
-          lastChecked: number;
-        }
-      | undefined;
-  };
+  private healthyMap: Record<string, boolean> = {};
+  private interval?: ReturnType<typeof setInterval>;
+  private _config?: MachineLearningConfig;
+
+  private get config(): MachineLearningConfig {
+    if (!this._config) {
+      throw new Error('Machine learning repository not been setup');
+    }
+
+    return this._config;
+  }
 
   constructor(private logger: LoggingRepository) {
     this.logger.setContext(MachineLearningRepository.name);
-    this.urlAvailability = {};
   }
 
-  private setUrlAvailability(url: string, active: boolean) {
-    const current = this.urlAvailability[url];
-    if (current?.active !== active) {
-      this.logger.verbose(`Setting ${url} ML server to ${active ? 'active' : 'inactive'}.`);
+  setup(config: MachineLearningConfig) {
+    this._config = config;
+    this.teardown();
+
+    // delete old servers
+    for (const url of Object.keys(this.healthyMap)) {
+      if (!config.urls.includes(url)) {
+        delete this.healthyMap[url];
+      }
     }
-    this.urlAvailability[url] = {
-      active,
-      lastChecked: Date.now(),
-    };
+
+    if (!config.availabilityChecks.enabled) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    this.tick();
+    this.interval = setInterval(
+      () => this.tick(),
+      Duration.fromObject({ milliseconds: config.availabilityChecks.interval }).as('milliseconds'),
+    );
   }
 
-  private async checkAvailability(url: string) {
-    let active = false;
+  teardown() {
+    if (this.interval) {
+      clearInterval(this.interval);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private tick() {
+    for (const url of this.config.urls) {
+      void this.check(url);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private async check(url: string) {
+    let healthy = false;
     try {
       const response = await fetch(new URL('/ping', url), {
-        signal: AbortSignal.timeout(MACHINE_LEARNING_PING_TIMEOUT),
+        signal: AbortSignal.timeout(this.config.availabilityChecks.timeout),
       });
-      active = response.ok;
+      if (response.ok) {
+        healthy = true;
+      }
     } catch {
       // nothing to do here
     }
-    this.setUrlAvailability(url, active);
-    return active;
+
+    this.setHealthy(url, healthy);
   }
 
-  private async shouldSkipUrl(url: string) {
-    const availability = this.urlAvailability[url];
-    if (availability === undefined) {
-      // If this is a new endpoint, then check inline and skip if it fails
-      if (!(await this.checkAvailability(url))) {
-        return true;
-      }
-      return false;
+  private setHealthy(url: string, healthy: boolean) {
+    if (this.healthyMap[url] !== healthy) {
+      this.logger.log(`Machine learning server became ${healthy ? 'healthy' : 'unhealthy'} (${url}).`);
     }
-    if (!availability.active && Date.now() - availability.lastChecked < MACHINE_LEARNING_AVAILABILITY_BACKOFF_TIME) {
-      // If this is an old inactive endpoint that hasn't been checked in a
-      // while then check but don't wait for the result, just skip it
-      // This avoids delays on every search whilst allowing higher priority
-      // ML servers to recover over time.
-      void this.checkAvailability(url);
+
+    this.healthyMap[url] = healthy;
+  }
+
+  private isHealthy(url: string) {
+    if (!this.config.availabilityChecks.enabled) {
       return true;
     }
-    return false;
+
+    return this.healthyMap[url];
   }
 
-  private async predict<T>(urls: string[], payload: ModelPayload, config: MachineLearningRequest): Promise<T> {
+  private async predict<T>(payload: ModelPayload, config: MachineLearningRequest): Promise<T> {
     const formData = await this.getFormData(payload, config);
-    let urlCounter = 0;
-    for (const url of urls) {
-      urlCounter++;
-      const isLast = urlCounter >= urls.length;
-      if (!isLast && (await this.shouldSkipUrl(url))) {
-        continue;
-      }
 
+    for (const url of [
+      // try healthy servers first
+      ...this.config.urls.filter((url) => this.isHealthy(url)),
+      ...this.config.urls.filter((url) => !this.isHealthy(url)),
+    ]) {
       try {
         const response = await fetch(new URL('/predict', url), { method: 'POST', body: formData });
         if (response.ok) {
-          this.setUrlAvailability(url, true);
+          this.setHealthy(url, true);
           return response.json();
         }
 
@@ -144,20 +163,21 @@ export class MachineLearningRepository {
           `Machine learning request to "${url}" failed: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : error}`,
         );
       }
-      this.setUrlAvailability(url, false);
+
+      this.setHealthy(url, false);
     }
 
     throw new Error(`Machine learning request '${JSON.stringify(config)}' failed for all URLs`);
   }
 
-  async detectFaces(urls: string[], imagePath: string, { modelName, minScore }: FaceDetectionOptions) {
+  async detectFaces(imagePath: string, { modelName, minScore }: FaceDetectionOptions) {
     const request = {
       [ModelTask.FACIAL_RECOGNITION]: {
         [ModelType.DETECTION]: { modelName, options: { minScore } },
         [ModelType.RECOGNITION]: { modelName },
       },
     };
-    const response = await this.predict<FacialRecognitionResponse>(urls, { imagePath }, request);
+    const response = await this.predict<FacialRecognitionResponse>({ imagePath }, request);
     return {
       imageHeight: response.imageHeight,
       imageWidth: response.imageWidth,
@@ -165,15 +185,15 @@ export class MachineLearningRepository {
     };
   }
 
-  async encodeImage(urls: string[], imagePath: string, { modelName }: CLIPConfig) {
+  async encodeImage(imagePath: string, { modelName }: CLIPConfig) {
     const request = { [ModelTask.SEARCH]: { [ModelType.VISUAL]: { modelName } } };
-    const response = await this.predict<ClipVisualResponse>(urls, { imagePath }, request);
+    const response = await this.predict<ClipVisualResponse>({ imagePath }, request);
     return response[ModelTask.SEARCH];
   }
 
-  async encodeText(urls: string[], text: string, { language, modelName }: TextEncodingOptions) {
+  async encodeText(text: string, { language, modelName }: TextEncodingOptions) {
     const request = { [ModelTask.SEARCH]: { [ModelType.TEXTUAL]: { modelName, options: { language } } } };
-    const response = await this.predict<ClipTextualResponse>(urls, { text }, request);
+    const response = await this.predict<ClipTextualResponse>({ text }, request);
     return response[ModelTask.SEARCH];
   }
 
diff --git a/server/src/services/person.service.spec.ts b/server/src/services/person.service.spec.ts
index 13c312831..41c44ea47 100644
--- a/server/src/services/person.service.spec.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/person.service.spec.ts
@@ -729,7 +729,6 @@ describe(PersonService.name, () => {
       mocks.assetJob.getForDetectFacesJob.mockResolvedValue({ ...assetStub.image, files: [assetStub.image.files[1]] });
       await sut.handleDetectFaces({ id: assetStub.image.id });
       expect(mocks.machineLearning.detectFaces).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        ['http://immich-machine-learning:3003'],
         '/uploads/user-id/thumbs/path.jpg',
         expect.objectContaining({ minScore: 0.7, modelName: 'buffalo_l' }),
       );
diff --git a/server/src/services/person.service.ts b/server/src/services/person.service.ts
index 344b69efd..6fa9b3fdd 100644
--- a/server/src/services/person.service.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/person.service.ts
@@ -316,7 +316,6 @@ export class PersonService extends BaseService {
     }
 
     const { imageHeight, imageWidth, faces } = await this.machineLearningRepository.detectFaces(
-      machineLearning.urls,
       previewFile.path,
       machineLearning.facialRecognition,
     );
diff --git a/server/src/services/search.service.spec.ts b/server/src/services/search.service.spec.ts
index d87ccbde1..b6e09add1 100644
--- a/server/src/services/search.service.spec.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/search.service.spec.ts
@@ -211,7 +211,6 @@ describe(SearchService.name, () => {
       await sut.searchSmart(authStub.user1, { query: 'test' });
 
       expect(mocks.machineLearning.encodeText).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        [expect.any(String)],
         'test',
         expect.objectContaining({ modelName: expect.any(String) }),
       );
@@ -225,7 +224,6 @@ describe(SearchService.name, () => {
       await sut.searchSmart(authStub.user1, { query: 'test', page: 2, size: 50 });
 
       expect(mocks.machineLearning.encodeText).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        [expect.any(String)],
         'test',
         expect.objectContaining({ modelName: expect.any(String) }),
       );
@@ -243,7 +241,6 @@ describe(SearchService.name, () => {
       await sut.searchSmart(authStub.user1, { query: 'test' });
 
       expect(mocks.machineLearning.encodeText).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        [expect.any(String)],
         'test',
         expect.objectContaining({ modelName: 'ViT-B-16-SigLIP__webli' }),
       );
@@ -253,7 +250,6 @@ describe(SearchService.name, () => {
       await sut.searchSmart(authStub.user1, { query: 'test', language: 'de' });
 
       expect(mocks.machineLearning.encodeText).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        [expect.any(String)],
         'test',
         expect.objectContaining({ language: 'de' }),
       );
diff --git a/server/src/services/search.service.ts b/server/src/services/search.service.ts
index 51a2c9433..fea1670e2 100644
--- a/server/src/services/search.service.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/search.service.ts
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ export class SearchService extends BaseService {
       const key = machineLearning.clip.modelName + dto.query + dto.language;
       embedding = this.embeddingCache.get(key);
       if (!embedding) {
-        embedding = await this.machineLearningRepository.encodeText(machineLearning.urls, dto.query, {
+        embedding = await this.machineLearningRepository.encodeText(dto.query, {
           modelName: machineLearning.clip.modelName,
           language: dto.language,
         });
diff --git a/server/src/services/smart-info.service.spec.ts b/server/src/services/smart-info.service.spec.ts
index edd9f4663..b3af5cd15 100644
--- a/server/src/services/smart-info.service.spec.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/smart-info.service.spec.ts
@@ -205,7 +205,6 @@ describe(SmartInfoService.name, () => {
       expect(await sut.handleEncodeClip({ id: assetStub.image.id })).toEqual(JobStatus.Success);
 
       expect(mocks.machineLearning.encodeImage).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        ['http://immich-machine-learning:3003'],
         '/uploads/user-id/thumbs/path.jpg',
         expect.objectContaining({ modelName: 'ViT-B-32__openai' }),
       );
@@ -242,7 +241,6 @@ describe(SmartInfoService.name, () => {
 
       expect(mocks.database.wait).toHaveBeenCalledWith(512);
       expect(mocks.machineLearning.encodeImage).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        ['http://immich-machine-learning:3003'],
         '/uploads/user-id/thumbs/path.jpg',
         expect.objectContaining({ modelName: 'ViT-B-32__openai' }),
       );
diff --git a/server/src/services/smart-info.service.ts b/server/src/services/smart-info.service.ts
index 3b8e2d1fc..eff16fea4 100644
--- a/server/src/services/smart-info.service.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/smart-info.service.ts
@@ -108,11 +108,7 @@ export class SmartInfoService extends BaseService {
       return JobStatus.Skipped;
     }
 
-    const embedding = await this.machineLearningRepository.encodeImage(
-      machineLearning.urls,
-      asset.files[0].path,
-      machineLearning.clip,
-    );
+    const embedding = await this.machineLearningRepository.encodeImage(asset.files[0].path, machineLearning.clip);
 
     if (this.databaseRepository.isBusy(DatabaseLock.CLIPDimSize)) {
       this.logger.verbose(`Waiting for CLIP dimension size to be updated`);
diff --git a/server/src/services/system-config.service.spec.ts b/server/src/services/system-config.service.spec.ts
index 486945546..5a9c7f4df 100644
--- a/server/src/services/system-config.service.spec.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/system-config.service.spec.ts
@@ -82,6 +82,11 @@ const updatedConfig = Object.freeze<SystemConfig>({
   machineLearning: {
     enabled: true,
     urls: ['http://immich-machine-learning:3003'],
+    availabilityChecks: {
+      enabled: true,
+      interval: 30_000,
+      timeout: 2000,
+    },
     clip: {
       enabled: true,
       modelName: 'ViT-B-32__openai',
diff --git a/server/src/services/system-config.service.ts b/server/src/services/system-config.service.ts
index d046b0317..ea95b4df2 100644
--- a/server/src/services/system-config.service.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/system-config.service.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,20 @@ export class SystemConfigService extends BaseService {
   async onBootstrap() {
     const config = await this.getConfig({ withCache: false });
     await this.eventRepository.emit('ConfigInit', { newConfig: config });
+
+    if (
+      process.env.IMMICH_MACHINE_LEARNING_PING_TIMEOUT ||
+      process.env.IMMICH_MACHINE_LEARNING_AVAILABILITY_BACKOFF_TIME
+    ) {
+      this.logger.deprecate(
+        'IMMICH_MACHINE_LEARNING_PING_TIMEOUT and MACHINE_LEARNING_AVAILABILITY_BACKOFF_TIME have been moved to system config(`machineLearning.availabilityChecks`) and will be removed in a future release.',
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
+  @OnEvent({ name: 'AppShutdown' })
+  onShutdown() {
+    this.machineLearningRepository.teardown();
   }
 
   async getSystemConfig(): Promise<SystemConfigDto> {
@@ -28,12 +42,14 @@ export class SystemConfigService extends BaseService {
   }
 
   @OnEvent({ name: 'ConfigInit', priority: -100 })
-  onConfigInit({ newConfig: { logging } }: ArgOf<'ConfigInit'>) {
+  onConfigInit({ newConfig: { logging, machineLearning } }: ArgOf<'ConfigInit'>) {
     const { logLevel: envLevel } = this.configRepository.getEnv();
     const configLevel = logging.enabled ? logging.level : false;
     const level = envLevel ?? configLevel;
     this.logger.setLogLevel(level);
     this.logger.log(`LogLevel=${level} ${envLevel ? '(set via IMMICH_LOG_LEVEL)' : '(set via system config)'}`);
+
+    this.machineLearningRepository.setup(machineLearning);
   }
 
   @OnEvent({ name: 'ConfigUpdate', server: true })
diff --git a/web/src/lib/components/admin-settings/MachineLearningSettings.svelte b/web/src/lib/components/admin-settings/MachineLearningSettings.svelte
index 59bd05860..bb1aa04ec 100644
--- a/web/src/lib/components/admin-settings/MachineLearningSettings.svelte
+++ b/web/src/lib/components/admin-settings/MachineLearningSettings.svelte
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
   import { featureFlags } from '$lib/stores/server-config.store';
   import type { SystemConfigDto } from '@immich/sdk';
   import { Button, IconButton } from '@immich/ui';
-  import { mdiMinusCircle } from '@mdi/js';
+  import { mdiPlus, mdiTrashCanOutline } from '@mdi/js';
   import { isEqual } from 'lodash-es';
   import { t } from 'svelte-i18n';
   import { fade } from 'svelte/transition';
@@ -46,19 +46,6 @@
 
         <div>
           {#each config.machineLearning.urls as _, i (i)}
-            {#snippet removeButton()}
-              {#if config.machineLearning.urls.length > 1}
-                <IconButton
-                  size="large"
-                  shape="round"
-                  color="danger"
-                  aria-label=""
-                  onclick={() => config.machineLearning.urls.splice(i, 1)}
-                  icon={mdiMinusCircle}
-                />
-              {/if}
-            {/snippet}
-
             <SettingInputField
               inputType={SettingInputFieldType.TEXT}
               label={i === 0 ? $t('url') : undefined}
@@ -67,20 +54,69 @@
               required={i === 0}
               disabled={disabled || !config.machineLearning.enabled}
               isEdited={i === 0 && !isEqual(config.machineLearning.urls, savedConfig.machineLearning.urls)}
-              trailingSnippet={removeButton}
-            />
+            >
+              {#snippet trailingSnippet()}
+                {#if config.machineLearning.urls.length > 1}
+                  <IconButton
+                    aria-label=""
+                    onclick={() => config.machineLearning.urls.splice(i, 1)}
+                    icon={mdiTrashCanOutline}
+                    color="danger"
+                  />
+                {/if}
+              {/snippet}
+            </SettingInputField>
           {/each}
         </div>
 
-        <Button
-          class="mb-2"
-          size="small"
-          shape="round"
-          onclick={() => config.machineLearning.urls.splice(0, 0, '')}
-          disabled={disabled || !config.machineLearning.enabled}>{$t('add_url')}</Button
-        >
+        <div class="flex justify-end">
+          <Button
+            class="mb-2"
+            size="small"
+            shape="round"
+            leadingIcon={mdiPlus}
+            onclick={() => config.machineLearning.urls.push('')}
+            disabled={disabled || !config.machineLearning.enabled}>{$t('add_url')}</Button
+          >
+        </div>
       </div>
 
+      <SettingAccordion
+        key="availability-checks"
+        title={$t('admin.machine_learning_availability_checks')}
+        subtitle={$t('admin.machine_learning_availability_checks_description')}
+      >
+        <div class="ms-4 mt-4 flex flex-col gap-4">
+          <SettingSwitch
+            title={$t('admin.machine_learning_availability_checks_enabled')}
+            bind:checked={config.machineLearning.availabilityChecks.enabled}
+            disabled={disabled || !config.machineLearning.enabled}
+          />
+
+          <hr />
+
+          <SettingInputField
+            inputType={SettingInputFieldType.NUMBER}
+            label={$t('admin.machine_learning_availability_checks_interval')}
+            bind:value={config.machineLearning.availabilityChecks.interval}
+            description={$t('admin.machine_learning_availability_checks_interval_description')}
+            disabled={disabled || !config.machineLearning.enabled || !config.machineLearning.availabilityChecks.enabled}
+            isEdited={config.machineLearning.availabilityChecks.interval !==
+              savedConfig.machineLearning.availabilityChecks.interval}
+          />
+
+          <SettingInputField
+            inputType={SettingInputFieldType.NUMBER}
+            label={$t('admin.machine_learning_availability_checks_timeout')}
+            bind:value={config.machineLearning.availabilityChecks.timeout}
+            description={$t('admin.machine_learning_availability_checks_timeout_description')}
+            disabled={disabled || !config.machineLearning.enabled || !config.machineLearning.availabilityChecks.enabled}
+            isEdited={config.machineLearning.availabilityChecks.timeout !==
+              savedConfig.machineLearning.availabilityChecks.timeout}
+          />
+        </div>
+      </SettingAccordion>
+
       <SettingAccordion
         key="smart-search"
         title={$t('admin.machine_learning_smart_search')}
diff --git a/web/src/lib/components/shared-components/settings/setting-input-field.svelte b/web/src/lib/components/shared-components/settings/setting-input-field.svelte
index 23b95a24a..db70ba59d 100644
--- a/web/src/lib/components/shared-components/settings/setting-input-field.svelte
+++ b/web/src/lib/components/shared-components/settings/setting-input-field.svelte
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@
   {/if}
 
   {#if inputType !== SettingInputFieldType.PASSWORD}
-    <div class="flex place-items-center place-content-center">
+    <div class="flex place-items-center place-content-center gap-2">
       {#if inputType === SettingInputFieldType.COLOR}
         <input
           bind:this={input}