diff --git a/templates/_helpers.tpl b/templates/_helpers.tpl
index 2f3a52b..599ee36 100644
--- a/templates/_helpers.tpl
+++ b/templates/_helpers.tpl
@@ -86,23 +86,3 @@ app.kubernetes.io/instance: {{ .Release.Name }}
 {{- define "gitea.actions.local_root_url" -}}
   {{- .Values.giteaRootURL -}}
 {{- end -}}
-
-{{/*
-Parse the http url to hostname + port separated by space for the nc command
-*/}}
-{{- define "gitea.actions.nc" -}}
-{{- $url := include "gitea.actions.local_root_url" . | urlParse -}}
-{{- $host := get $url "host" -}}
-{{- $scheme := get $url "scheme" -}}
-{{- $port := "80" -}}
-{{- if contains ":" $host -}}
-    {{- $hostAndPort := regexSplit ":" $host 2 -}}
-    {{- $host = index $hostAndPort 0 -}}
-    {{- $port = index $hostAndPort 1 -}}
-{{- else if eq $scheme "https" -}}
-    {{- $port = "443" -}}
-{{- else if eq $scheme "http" -}}
-    {{- $port = "80" -}}
-{{- end -}}
-{{- printf "%s %s" $host $port -}}
-{{- end -}}
diff --git a/templates/statefulset.yaml b/templates/statefulset.yaml
index 6c33e0b..7bc04ea 100644
--- a/templates/statefulset.yaml
+++ b/templates/statefulset.yaml
@@ -37,9 +37,12 @@ spec:
             - sh
             - -c
             - |
-              while ! nc -z {{ include "gitea.actions.nc" . }}; do
-                sleep 5
+              echo 'Trying to reach Gitea on {{ include "gitea.actions.local_root_url" . }}'
+              while ! wget --no-check-certificate -qO- {{ include "gitea.actions.local_root_url" . }}; do
+                sleep 3
+                echo "Trying again in 3 seconds..."
               done
+              echo "Gitea has been reached!"
       containers:
         - name: act-runner
           image: "{{ .Values.statefulset.actRunner.repository }}:{{ .Values.statefulset.actRunner.tag }}"
diff --git a/unittests/helm/statefulset.yaml b/unittests/helm/statefulset.yaml
index e93f593..59ff76d 100644
--- a/unittests/helm/statefulset.yaml
+++ b/unittests/helm/statefulset.yaml
@@ -92,9 +92,12 @@ tests:
       - equal:
           path: spec.template.spec.initContainers[0].command[2]
           value: |
-            while ! nc -z git.example.com 80; do
-              sleep 5
+            echo 'Trying to reach Gitea on http://git.example.com'
+            while ! wget --no-check-certificate -qO- http://git.example.com; do
+              sleep 3
+              echo "Trying again in 3 seconds..."
             done
+            echo "Gitea has been reached!"
   - it: renders a StatefulSet https (with correct GITEA_INSTANCE_URL env from giteaRootURL)
     template: templates/statefulset.yaml
     set:
@@ -117,9 +120,12 @@ tests:
       - equal:
           path: spec.template.spec.initContainers[0].command[2]
           value: |
-            while ! nc -z git.example.com 443; do
-              sleep 5
+            echo 'Trying to reach Gitea on https://git.example.com'
+            while ! wget --no-check-certificate -qO- https://git.example.com; do
+              sleep 3
+              echo "Trying again in 3 seconds..."
             done
+            echo "Gitea has been reached!"
   - it: renders a StatefulSet https (with correct GITEA_INSTANCE_URL env from giteaRootURL)
     template: templates/statefulset.yaml
     set:
@@ -142,9 +148,12 @@ tests:
       - equal:
           path: spec.template.spec.initContainers[0].command[2]
           value: |
-            while ! nc -z git.example.com 8443; do
-              sleep 5
+            echo 'Trying to reach Gitea on https://git.example.com:8443'
+            while ! wget --no-check-certificate -qO- https://git.example.com:8443; do
+              sleep 3
+              echo "Trying again in 3 seconds..."
             done
+            echo "Gitea has been reached!"
   - it: allows adding custom environment variables to the docker-in-docker container
     template: templates/statefulset.yaml
     set: