diff --git a/redis/asyncio/connection.py b/redis/asyncio/connection.py
index e67dc5b207..2e2a2502c3 100644
--- a/redis/asyncio/connection.py
+++ b/redis/asyncio/connection.py
@@ -363,7 +363,11 @@ async def on_connect(self) -> None:
                 self._parser.on_connect(self)
             if len(auth_args) == 1:
                 auth_args = ["default", auth_args[0]]
-            await self.send_command("HELLO", self.protocol, "AUTH", *auth_args)
+            # avoid checking health here -- PING will fail if we try
+            # to check the health prior to the AUTH
+            await self.send_command(
+                "HELLO", self.protocol, "AUTH", *auth_args, check_health=False
+            )
             response = await self.read_response()
             if response.get(b"proto") != int(self.protocol) and response.get(
                 "proto"
diff --git a/redis/connection.py b/redis/connection.py
index ece17d752b..2391e74d2c 100644
--- a/redis/connection.py
+++ b/redis/connection.py
@@ -440,7 +440,11 @@ def on_connect(self):
                 self._parser.on_connect(self)
             if len(auth_args) == 1:
                 auth_args = ["default", auth_args[0]]
-            self.send_command("HELLO", self.protocol, "AUTH", *auth_args)
+            # avoid checking health here -- PING will fail if we try
+            # to check the health prior to the AUTH
+            self.send_command(
+                "HELLO", self.protocol, "AUTH", *auth_args, check_health=False
+            )
             self.handshake_metadata = self.read_response()
             # if response.get(b"proto") != self.protocol and response.get(
             #     "proto"