diff --git a/go/vt/discovery/healthcheck.go b/go/vt/discovery/healthcheck.go
index d0469f44a54..fbc4994f0d2 100644
--- a/go/vt/discovery/healthcheck.go
+++ b/go/vt/discovery/healthcheck.go
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ func NewHealthCheck(ctx context.Context, retryDelay, healthCheckTimeout time.Dur
 	var topoWatchers []*TopologyWatcher
 	var filter TabletFilter
 	cells := strings.Split(cellsToWatch, ",")
-	if len(cells) == 0 {
+	if cellsToWatch == "" {
 		cells = append(cells, localCell)
 	}
 	for _, c := range cells {
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ func NewHealthCheck(ctx context.Context, retryDelay, healthCheckTimeout time.Dur
 
 	// start the topo watches here
 	for _, tw := range hc.topoWatchers {
-		go tw.Start()
+		tw.Start()
 	}
 
 	return hc
diff --git a/go/vt/discovery/topology_watcher.go b/go/vt/discovery/topology_watcher.go
index 6cfc1ffcba0..3c40fce30e6 100644
--- a/go/vt/discovery/topology_watcher.go
+++ b/go/vt/discovery/topology_watcher.go
@@ -125,17 +125,19 @@ func NewCellTabletsWatcher(ctx context.Context, topoServer *topo.Server, tr Tabl
 // Start starts the topology watcher
 func (tw *TopologyWatcher) Start() {
 	tw.wg.Add(1)
-	defer tw.wg.Done()
-	ticker := time.NewTicker(tw.refreshInterval)
-	defer ticker.Stop()
-	for {
-		tw.loadTablets()
-		select {
-		case <-tw.ctx.Done():
-			return
-		case <-ticker.C:
+	go func() {
+		defer tw.wg.Done()
+		ticker := time.NewTicker(tw.refreshInterval)
+		defer ticker.Stop()
+		for {
+			tw.loadTablets()
+			select {
+			case <-tw.ctx.Done():
+				return
+			case <-ticker.C:
+			}
 		}
-	}
+	}()
 }
 
 // Stop stops the watcher. It does not clean up the tablets added to LegacyTabletRecorder.
diff --git a/go/vt/vtgate/tabletgateway_test.go b/go/vt/vtgate/tabletgateway_test.go
index 48e0e32e2d8..58cca3dd823 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtgate/tabletgateway_test.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtgate/tabletgateway_test.go
@@ -107,7 +107,8 @@ func TestTabletGatewayBeginExecuteBatch(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestTabletGatewayShuffleTablets(t *testing.T) {
-	tg := NewTabletGateway(context.Background(), nil, nil, "local")
+	hc := discovery.NewFakeHealthCheck(nil)
+	tg := NewTabletGateway(context.Background(), hc, nil, "local")
 
 	ts1 := &discovery.TabletHealth{
 		Tablet:  topo.NewTablet(1, "cell1", "host1"),