diff --git a/internal/stats/stats.go b/internal/stats/stats.go
index 417e607..b02e933 100644
--- a/internal/stats/stats.go
+++ b/internal/stats/stats.go
@@ -8,18 +8,17 @@ import (
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/metrics"
 )
 
-const defaultPushInterval = time.Minute
-
 // ForNerds captures metrics from various bifrost processes
 var ForNerds = metrics.NewSet()
 
-// MaybePushMetrics pushes metrics to url if url is not empty
+// MaybePushMetrics pushes metrics to url if url is not empty.
+// If interval is zero, a one minute interval is used
 func MaybePushMetrics(url string, interval time.Duration) {
 	if url == "" {
 		return
 	}
 	if interval == 0 {
-		interval = defaultPushInterval
+		interval = time.Minute
 	}
 
 	log.Printf("pushing metrics to %s every %.2fs\n", url, interval.Seconds())
diff --git a/pkg/club/bouncer.go b/pkg/club/bouncer.go
index b6e710b..b0ca3ad 100644
--- a/pkg/club/bouncer.go
+++ b/pkg/club/bouncer.go
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@ func Bouncer(rp *httputil.ReverseProxy) http.Handler {
 	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		startTime := time.Now()
 
-		if len(r.TLS.PeerCertificates) == 0 {
-			panic("TLS Client Authentication is required")
+		if r.TLS == nil || len(r.TLS.PeerCertificates) == 0 {
+			panic("request must have tls client certificate")
 		}
 
 		peerCert := r.TLS.PeerCertificates[0]
diff --git a/pkg/club/bouncer_test.go b/pkg/club/bouncer_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5adfac1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/club/bouncer_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+package club
+
+import (
+	"crypto/ecdsa"
+	"crypto/elliptic"
+	"crypto/tls"
+	"crypto/x509"
+	"crypto/x509/pkix"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"encoding/pem"
+	"math/big"
+	"math/rand"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"net/http/httputil"
+	"net/url"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func TestBouncerNoTLS(t *testing.T) {
+	defer func() {
+		if r := recover(); r == nil {
+			t.Errorf("this should panic but did not")
+		}
+	}()
+
+	backendServer := httptest.NewServer(nil)
+	defer backendServer.Close()
+	backendUrl, _ := url.Parse(backendServer.URL)
+
+	br := Bouncer(httputil.NewSingleHostReverseProxy(backendUrl))
+	rr := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	request := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/", nil)
+	br.ServeHTTP(rr, request)
+}
+
+func TestBouncer(t *testing.T) {
+	randReader := rand.New(rand.NewSource(42))
+	// generate key pair and certificate
+	priv, err := ecdsa.GenerateKey(elliptic.P256(), randReader)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("error generating private key %s", err)
+	}
+	privBytes, err := x509.MarshalECPrivateKey(priv)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("error marshaling private key %s", err)
+	}
+
+	template := x509.Certificate{
+		SerialNumber: big.NewInt(1),
+		Subject: pkix.Name{
+			Organization: []string{"Acme Co"},
+		},
+		NotBefore:             time.Now(),
+		NotAfter:              time.Now().Add(time.Hour),
+		KeyUsage:              x509.KeyUsageDigitalSignature,
+		ExtKeyUsage:           []x509.ExtKeyUsage{x509.ExtKeyUsageServerAuth},
+		BasicConstraintsValid: true,
+	}
+	crtBytes, err := x509.CreateCertificate(randReader, &template, &template, priv.Public(), priv)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("error creating certificate %s", err)
+	}
+	crtPem := pem.EncodeToMemory(&pem.Block{Type: "CERTIFICATE", Bytes: crtBytes})
+	keyPem := pem.EncodeToMemory(&pem.Block{Type: "EC PRIVATE KEY", Bytes: privBytes})
+	crt, err := tls.X509KeyPair(crtPem, keyPem)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("error loading certificate %s", err)
+	}
+
+	// backend server handler checks if request has expected header
+	backendServer := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(_ http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		rctx := r.Header.Get(RequestContextHeader)
+		if rctx == "" {
+			t.Errorf("expected %s header in request", RequestContextHeader)
+		}
+		requestContext := RequestContext{}
+		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(rctx), &requestContext); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("error unmarshaling request context %s", err)
+		}
+
+		if string(requestContext.Authentication.ClientCert.ClientCertPEM) != string(crtPem) {
+			t.Errorf("unexpected certificate in request context header")
+		}
+	}))
+	defer backendServer.Close()
+	backendUrl, err := url.Parse(backendServer.URL)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("error parsing backedn url %s", err)
+	}
+
+	// bouncer wraps around a reverse proxy that proxies requests to the HTTP backend
+	br := Bouncer(httputil.NewSingleHostReverseProxy(backendUrl))
+
+	// TLS server accepts client requests requiring TLS client cert auth
+	server := httptest.NewUnstartedServer(br)
+	server.TLS = &tls.Config{
+		ClientAuth: tls.RequireAnyClientCert,
+	}
+	server.StartTLS()
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	// add generated certs to client
+	client := http.Client{
+		Transport: &http.Transport{
+			TLSClientConfig: &tls.Config{
+				Certificates:       []tls.Certificate{crt},
+				InsecureSkipVerify: true,
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	// create request to TLS server
+	request, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, server.URL, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("error creating request %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if _, err := client.Do(request); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("error doing request %s", err)
+	}
+}