diff --git a/veilid-core/src/routing_table/bucket_entry.rs b/veilid-core/src/routing_table/bucket_entry.rs
index 4ad8b42d..6186d5fa 100644
--- a/veilid-core/src/routing_table/bucket_entry.rs
+++ b/veilid-core/src/routing_table/bucket_entry.rs
@@ -698,16 +698,7 @@ impl BucketEntryInner {
     pub(super) fn needs_ping(&self, cur_ts: Timestamp) -> bool {
         // See which ping pattern we are to use
         let state = self.state(cur_ts);
-
-        // If we don't have node status for this node, then we should ping it to get some node status
-        for routing_domain in RoutingDomainSet::all() {
-            if self.has_node_info(routing_domain.into()) {
-                if self.node_status(routing_domain).is_none() {
-                    return true;
-                }
-            }
-        }
-
+    
         match state {
             BucketEntryState::Reliable => {
                 // If we are in a reliable state, we need a ping on an exponential scale
@@ -742,7 +733,10 @@ impl BucketEntryInner {
                 // If we are in an unreliable state, we need a ping every UNRELIABLE_PING_INTERVAL_SECS seconds
                 self.needs_constant_ping(cur_ts, TimestampDuration::new(UNRELIABLE_PING_INTERVAL_SECS as u64 * 1000000u64))
             }
-            BucketEntryState::Dead => false,
+            BucketEntryState::Dead => {
+                error!("Should not be asking this for dead nodes");
+                false
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/veilid-core/src/routing_table/routing_table_inner.rs b/veilid-core/src/routing_table/routing_table_inner.rs
index c8fc5fda..d3b88cae 100644
--- a/veilid-core/src/routing_table/routing_table_inner.rs
+++ b/veilid-core/src/routing_table/routing_table_inner.rs
@@ -546,14 +546,24 @@ impl RoutingTableInner {
                 if !e.exists_in_routing_domain(rti, routing_domain) {
                     return false;
                 }
-                // If this entry needs need a ping then do it
-                if e.needs_ping(cur_ts) {
-                    return true;
+
+                // If we don't have node status for this node, then we should ping it to get some node status
+                if e.has_node_info(routing_domain.into()) {
+                    if e.node_status(routing_domain).is_none() {
+                        return true;
+                    }
                 }
+
                 // If this entry needs a ping because this node hasn't seen our latest node info, then do it
                 if !e.has_seen_our_node_info_ts(routing_domain, own_node_info_ts) {
                     return true;
                 }
+
+                // If this entry needs need a ping by non-routing-domain-specific metrics then do it
+                if e.needs_ping(cur_ts) {
+                    return true;
+                }
+
                 false
             }) {
                 node_refs.push(NodeRef::new(