diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 13407f3..716b6ee 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1777,6 +1777,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "extension-traits",
  "futures",
  "hound",
+ "humantime",
  "itertools",
  "moka",
  "opendal",
@@ -2517,6 +2518,12 @@ version = "1.0.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "df3b46402a9d5adb4c86a0cf463f42e19994e3ee891101b1841f30a545cb49a9"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "humantime"
+version = "2.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "135b12329e5e3ce057a9f972339ea52bc954fe1e9358ef27f95e89716fbc5424"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "hyper"
 version = "1.9.0"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 7bb45d5..830806b 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ dashmap = "6.1.0"
 extension-traits = "2.0.2"
 futures = "0.3.32"
 hound = "3.5.1"
+humantime = "2.3.0"
 itertools = "0.14.0"
 moka = { version = "0.12.15", features = ["future"] }
 opendal = { git = "https://github.com/apache/opendal", rev = "ecf840b04afd2be109830b9978ba89759adfee79", features = [
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index aa4ae64..c83741b 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,14 @@ use fomo_reducer::{
 use secrecy::{ExposeSecret, SecretString};
 use snafu::{OptionExt, ResultExt, Snafu};
 use songbird::{Config, Songbird, driver::DecodeConfig, shards::TwilightMap};
-use std::{collections::BTreeMap, fmt::Debug, str::FromStr, sync::Arc, time::Duration};
+use std::{
+    collections::BTreeMap,
+    fmt::{Debug, Display},
+    num::NonZero,
+    str::FromStr,
+    sync::Arc,
+    time::Duration,
+};
 use tokio::{select, signal::ctrl_c, task::JoinSet};
 use tokio_util::{sync::CancellationToken, time::FutureExt as _};
 use tracing::Level;
@@ -68,6 +75,29 @@ fn parse_guild_vc_to_text_channel(
     Ok((guild, voice_channel, text_channel))
 }
 
+#[derive(Clone)]
+struct HumanDuration(Duration);
+
+impl FromStr for HumanDuration {
+    type Err = humantime::DurationError;
+
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self, Self::Err> {
+        humantime::parse_duration(s).map(Self)
+    }
+}
+
+impl Debug for HumanDuration {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        self.0.fmt(f)
+    }
+}
+
+impl Display for HumanDuration {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        write!(f, "{}", humantime::format_duration(self.0))
+    }
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, Parser)]
 struct AppArgs {
     #[arg(long, env)]
@@ -103,6 +133,12 @@ struct AppArgs {
 
     #[arg(long, env)]
     render_data: Storage,
+
+    #[arg(long, env, default_value_t = HumanDuration(Duration::from_secs(5)))]
+    watchdog_frequency: HumanDuration,
+
+    #[arg(long, env, default_value_t = 8.try_into().unwrap())]
+    watchdog_channel_size: NonZero<usize>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Parser)]
@@ -166,6 +202,8 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), MainError> {
         user_data,
         recording_data,
         render_data,
+        watchdog_frequency: HumanDuration(watchdog_frequency),
+        watchdog_channel_size,
     } = app_args;
 
     let cancellation_token = CancellationToken::new();
@@ -301,6 +339,29 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), MainError> {
         }
     });
 
+    let (mut watchdog_tx, mut watchdog_rx) =
+        futures::channel::mpsc::channel(watchdog_channel_size.get());
+
+    std::thread::spawn(move || {
+        loop {
+            if watchdog_tx.try_send(()).is_err() {
+                tracing::error!("tokio runtime deadlocked");
+                std::process::exit(1);
+            }
+
+            std::thread::sleep(watchdog_frequency);
+        }
+    });
+
+    tokio::spawn(async move {
+        loop {
+            if watchdog_rx.recv().await.is_err() {
+                tracing::error!("watchdog died (this should be impossible)");
+                std::process::exit(1);
+            }
+        }
+    });
+
     tokio::spawn(async {
         let duration = Duration::from_secs(120);
         let mut interval = tokio::time::interval(duration);