diff --git a/lib/resty/healthcheck.lua b/lib/resty/healthcheck.lua
index 817fc3f6..e2730fd9 100644
--- a/lib/resty/healthcheck.lua
+++ b/lib/resty/healthcheck.lua
@@ -1457,6 +1457,9 @@ function _M.new(opts)
     end
 
     self.ev_callback = function(data, event)
+      if opts.ev_callback then
+        opts.ev_callback(self.name, event, data)
+      end
       -- just a wrapper to be able to access `self` as a closure
       return self:event_handler(event, data.ip, data.port, data.hostname)
     end
diff --git a/t/ev_callback.t b/t/ev_callback.t
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8740bfef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/ev_callback.t
@@ -0,0 +1,196 @@
+use Test::Nginx::Socket::Lua 'no_plan';
+use Cwd qw(cwd);
+
+workers(1);
+
+my $pwd = cwd();
+
+our $HttpConfig = qq{
+    lua_package_path "$pwd/lib/?.lua;;";
+    lua_shared_dict test_shm 8m;
+    lua_shared_dict my_worker_events 8m;
+};
+
+no_shuffle();
+run_tests();
+
+__DATA__
+
+
+
+=== TEST 1: healthy
+--- http_config eval
+qq{
+    $::HttpConfig
+
+    server {
+        listen 2116;
+        location = /status {
+            return 200;
+        }
+    }
+}
+--- config
+    location = /t {
+        content_by_lua_block {
+            local we = require "resty.worker.events"
+            assert(we.configure{ shm = "my_worker_events", interval = 0.1 })
+            local healthcheck = require("resty.healthcheck")
+            local checker = healthcheck.new({
+                ev_callback = function(name, event, data)
+                    ngx.log(ngx.WARN, "name=", name)
+                    ngx.log(ngx.WARN, "event=", event)
+                    ngx.log(ngx.WARN, "ip=", data.ip)
+                    ngx.log(ngx.WARN, "port=", data.port)
+                    ngx.log(ngx.WARN, "hostname=", data.hostname)
+                end,
+                name = "testing",
+                shm_name = "test_shm",
+                type = "http",
+                checks = {
+                    active = {
+                        http_path = "/status",
+                        healthy  = {
+                            interval = 0.1, -- we don't want active checks
+                            successes = 1,
+                        },
+                        unhealthy  = {
+                            interval = 0.1, -- we don't want active checks
+                            tcp_failures = 3,
+                            http_failures = 3,
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            })
+            checker:add_target("127.0.0.1", 2116, nil, false)
+            ngx.sleep(3)
+        }
+    }
+--- request
+GET /t
+--- error_log
+name=testing
+event=healthy
+ip=127.0.0.1
+port=2116
+hostname=nil
+
+
+
+=== TEST 2: unhealthy
+--- http_config eval
+qq{
+    $::HttpConfig
+
+    server {
+        listen 2116;
+        location = /status {
+            return 500;
+        }
+    }
+}
+--- config
+    location = /t {
+        content_by_lua_block {
+            local we = require "resty.worker.events"
+            assert(we.configure{ shm = "my_worker_events", interval = 0.1 })
+            local healthcheck = require("resty.healthcheck")
+            local checker = healthcheck.new({
+                ev_callback = function(name, event, data)
+                    ngx.log(ngx.WARN, "name=", name)
+                    ngx.log(ngx.WARN, "event=", event)
+                    ngx.log(ngx.WARN, "ip=", data.ip)
+                    ngx.log(ngx.WARN, "port=", data.port)
+                    ngx.log(ngx.WARN, "hostname=", data.hostname)
+                end,
+                name = "testing",
+                shm_name = "test_shm",
+                type = "http",
+                checks = {
+                    active = {
+                        http_path = "/status",
+                        healthy  = {
+                            interval = 0.1, -- we don't want active checks
+                            successes = 1,
+                        },
+                        unhealthy  = {
+                            interval = 0.1, -- we don't want active checks
+                            tcp_failures = 3,
+                            http_failures = 1,
+                            http_statuses = {500,400},
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            })
+            checker:add_target("127.0.0.1", 2116, nil, true)
+            ngx.sleep(3)
+        }
+    }
+--- request
+GET /t
+--- error_log
+name=testing
+event=unhealthy
+ip=127.0.0.1
+port=2116
+hostname=nil
+
+
+
+=== TEST 3: clear
+--- http_config eval
+qq{
+    $::HttpConfig
+
+    server {
+        listen 2116;
+        location = /status {
+            return 500;
+        }
+    }
+}
+--- config
+    location = /t {
+        content_by_lua_block {
+            local we = require "resty.worker.events"
+            assert(we.configure{ shm = "my_worker_events", interval = 0.1 })
+            local healthcheck = require("resty.healthcheck")
+            local checker = healthcheck.new({
+                ev_callback = function(name, event, data)
+                    ngx.log(ngx.WARN, "name=", name)
+                    ngx.log(ngx.WARN, "event=", event)
+                    ngx.log(ngx.WARN, "ip=", data.ip)
+                    ngx.log(ngx.WARN, "port=", data.port)
+                    ngx.log(ngx.WARN, "hostname=", data.hostname)
+                end,
+                name = "testing",
+                shm_name = "test_shm",
+                type = "http",
+                checks = {
+                    active = {
+                        http_path = "/status",
+                        healthy  = {
+                            interval = 0.1, -- we don't want active checks
+                            successes = 1,
+                        },
+                        unhealthy  = {
+                            interval = 0.1, -- we don't want active checks
+                            tcp_failures = 3,
+                            http_failures = 1,
+                            http_statuses = {500,400},
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            })
+            checker:add_target("127.0.0.1", 2116, nil, true)
+            ngx.sleep(1)
+            checker:stop()
+            checker:clear()
+            ngx.sleep(1)
+        }
+    }
+--- request
+GET /t
+--- error_log
+name=testing
+event=clear