diff --git a/jaeger/cmd/check.go b/jaeger/cmd/check.go
index e81b2e82f..aa8ab001b 100644
--- a/jaeger/cmd/check.go
+++ b/jaeger/cmd/check.go
@@ -9,8 +9,10 @@ import (
 
 	pkgcmd "github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/pkg/cmd"
 	"github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/pkg/healthcheck"
+	"github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/pkg/k8s"
 	"github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/pkg/version"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -75,18 +77,20 @@ func jaegerCategory(hc *healthcheck.HealthChecker) *healthcheck.Category {
 			WithRetryDeadline(hc.RetryDeadline).
 			SurfaceErrorOnRetry().
 			WithCheck(func(ctx context.Context) error {
-				pods, err := hc.KubeAPIClient().GetPodsByNamespace(ctx, jaegerNamespace)
+				podList, err := hc.KubeAPIClient().CoreV1().Pods(jaegerNamespace).List(ctx, metav1.ListOptions{
+					LabelSelector: fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", k8s.LinkerdExtensionLabel, JaegerExtensionName),
+				})
 				if err != nil {
 					return err
 				}
 
 				// Check for relevant pods to be present
-				err = healthcheck.CheckForPods(pods, []string{"jaeger-injector"})
+				err = healthcheck.CheckForPods(podList.Items, []string{"jaeger-injector"})
 				if err != nil {
 					return err
 				}
 
-				return healthcheck.CheckPodsRunning(pods, jaegerNamespace)
+				return healthcheck.CheckPodsRunning(podList.Items, jaegerNamespace)
 			}))
 
 	checkers = append(checkers,
diff --git a/pkg/healthcheck/healthcheck.go b/pkg/healthcheck/healthcheck.go
index adaca7f5b..dbc4e0ab2 100644
--- a/pkg/healthcheck/healthcheck.go
+++ b/pkg/healthcheck/healthcheck.go
@@ -708,10 +708,13 @@ func (hc *HealthChecker) allCategories() []*Category {
 					fatal:               true,
 					check: func(ctx context.Context) error {
 						var err error
-						hc.controlPlanePods, err = hc.kubeAPI.GetPodsByNamespace(ctx, hc.ControlPlaneNamespace)
+						podList, err := hc.kubeAPI.CoreV1().Pods(hc.ControlPlaneNamespace).List(ctx, metav1.ListOptions{
+							LabelSelector: k8s.ControllerComponentLabel,
+						})
 						if err != nil {
 							return err
 						}
+						hc.controlPlanePods = podList.Items
 						return validateControlPlanePods(hc.controlPlanePods)
 					},
 				},
@@ -2802,10 +2805,14 @@ func CheckForPods(pods []corev1.Pod, deployNames []string) error {
 	exists := make(map[string]bool)
 
 	for _, pod := range pods {
-		// Strip randomized suffix and take the deployment name
-		parts := strings.Split(pod.Name, "-")
-		deployName := strings.Join(parts[:len(parts)-2], "-")
-		exists[deployName] = true
+		for label, value := range pod.Labels {
+			// When the label value is `linkerd.io/control-plane-component` or
+			// `component`, we'll take its value as the name of the deployment
+			// that the pod is part of
+			if label == k8s.ControllerComponentLabel || label == "component" {
+				exists[value] = true
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	for _, expected := range deployNames {
diff --git a/viz/pkg/healthcheck/healthcheck.go b/viz/pkg/healthcheck/healthcheck.go
index 86b67ec13..abfd81a21 100644
--- a/viz/pkg/healthcheck/healthcheck.go
+++ b/viz/pkg/healthcheck/healthcheck.go
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ func (hc *HealthChecker) RunChecks(observer healthcheck.CheckObserver) (bool, bo
 // VizCategory returns a healthcheck.Category containing checkers
 // to verify the health of viz components
 func (hc *HealthChecker) VizCategory() *healthcheck.Category {
-
+	vizSelector := fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", k8s.LinkerdExtensionLabel, VizExtensionName)
 	return healthcheck.NewCategory(LinkerdVizExtensionCheck, []healthcheck.Checker{
 		*healthcheck.NewChecker("linkerd-viz Namespace exists").
 			WithHintAnchor("l5d-viz-ns-exists").
@@ -153,18 +153,20 @@ func (hc *HealthChecker) VizCategory() *healthcheck.Category {
 			WithRetryDeadline(hc.RetryDeadline).
 			SurfaceErrorOnRetry().
 			WithCheck(func(ctx context.Context) error {
-				pods, err := hc.KubeAPIClient().GetPodsByNamespace(ctx, hc.vizNamespace)
+				podList, err := hc.KubeAPIClient().CoreV1().Pods(hc.vizNamespace).List(ctx, metav1.ListOptions{
+					LabelSelector: vizSelector,
+				})
 				if err != nil {
 					return err
 				}
 
 				// Check for relevant pods to be present
-				err = healthcheck.CheckForPods(pods, []string{"web", "tap", "metrics-api", "tap-injector"})
+				err = healthcheck.CheckForPods(podList.Items, []string{"web", "tap", "metrics-api", "tap-injector"})
 				if err != nil {
 					return err
 				}
 
-				return healthcheck.CheckPodsRunning(pods, hc.vizNamespace)
+				return healthcheck.CheckPodsRunning(podList.Items, hc.vizNamespace)
 			}),
 		*healthcheck.NewChecker("viz extension proxies are healthy").
 			WithHintAnchor("l5d-viz-proxy-healthy").
@@ -235,12 +237,14 @@ func (hc *HealthChecker) VizCategory() *healthcheck.Category {
 				}
 
 				// Check for relevant pods to be present
-				pods, err := hc.KubeAPIClient().GetPodsByNamespace(ctx, hc.vizNamespace)
+				podList, err := hc.KubeAPIClient().CoreV1().Pods(hc.vizNamespace).List(ctx, metav1.ListOptions{
+					LabelSelector: vizSelector,
+				})
 				if err != nil {
 					return err
 				}
 
-				return healthcheck.CheckForPods(pods, []string{"prometheus"})
+				return healthcheck.CheckForPods(podList.Items, []string{"prometheus"})
 			}),
 		*healthcheck.NewChecker("can initialize the client").
 			WithHintAnchor("l5d-viz-existence-client").