diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/ingress/status.go b/pkg/reconciler/ingress/status.go
index 0a58d7410446..f99bd65de831 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/ingress/status.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/ingress/status.go
@@ -349,8 +349,7 @@ func (m *StatusProber) processWorkItem() bool {
 		transport,
 		item.url,
 		prober.WithHeader(network.ProbeHeaderName, network.ProbeHeaderValue),
-		prober.ExpectsStatusCodes([]int{http.StatusOK}),
-		prober.ExpectsHeader(network.HashHeaderName, item.ingressState.hash))
+		m.probeVerifier(item))
 
 	// In case of cancellation, drop the work item
 	select {
@@ -370,6 +369,40 @@ func (m *StatusProber) processWorkItem() bool {
 	return true
 }
 
+func (m *StatusProber) probeVerifier(item *workItem) prober.Verifier {
+	return func(r *http.Response, _ []byte) (bool, error) {
+		// In the happy path, the probe request is forwarded to Activator or Queue-Proxy and the response (HTTP 200)
+		// contains the "K-Network-Hash" header that can be compared with the expected hash. If the hashes match,
+		// probing is successful, if they don't match, a new probe will be sent later.
+		// An HTTP 404/503 is expected in the case of the creation of a new Knative service because the rules will
+		// not be present in the Envoy config until the new VirtualService is applied.
+		// No information can be extracted from any other scenario (e.g. HTTP 302), therefore in that case,
+		// probing is assumed to be successful because it is better to say that an Ingress is Ready before it
+		// actually is Ready than never marking it as Ready. It is best effort.
+		switch r.StatusCode {
+		case http.StatusOK:
+			hash := r.Header.Get(network.HashHeaderName)
+			switch hash {
+			case "":
+				m.logger.Errorf("Probing of %s abandoned, IP: %s:%s: the response doesn't contain the %q header",
+					item.url, item.podIP, item.podPort, network.HashHeaderName)
+				return true, nil
+			case item.ingressState.hash:
+				return true, nil
+			default:
+				return false, fmt.Errorf("unexpected hash: want %q, got %q", item.ingressState.hash, hash)
+			}
+			return false, fmt.Errorf("unexpected hash: want %q, got %q", item.ingressState.hash, hash)
+		case http.StatusNotFound, http.StatusServiceUnavailable:
+			return false, fmt.Errorf("unexpected status code: want %v, got %v", http.StatusOK, http.StatusNotFound)
+		default:
+			m.logger.Errorf("Probing of %s abandoned, IP: %s:%s: the response status is %v, expected 200 or 404",
+				item.url, item.podIP, item.podPort, r.StatusCode)
+			return true, nil
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func (m *StatusProber) updateStates(ingressState *ingressState, podState *podState) {
 	if atomic.AddInt32(&podState.successCount, 1) == 1 {
 		// This is the first successful probe call for the pod, cancel all other work items for this pod
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/ingress/status_test.go b/pkg/reconciler/ingress/status_test.go
index 7e8ad6abe366..47efa384b80f 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/ingress/status_test.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/ingress/status_test.go
@@ -668,6 +668,83 @@ func TestCancellation(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestProbeVerifier(t *testing.T) {
+	const hash = "Hi! I am hash!"
+	prober := NewStatusProber(zaptest.NewLogger(t).Sugar(), nil, nil, nil, nil)
+	verifier := prober.probeVerifier(&workItem{
+		ingressState: &ingressState{
+			hash: hash,
+		},
+		podState: nil,
+		podIP:    "",
+		podPort:  "",
+	})
+	cases := []struct {
+		name string
+		resp *http.Response
+		want bool
+	}{{
+		name: "HTTP 200 matching hash",
+		resp: &http.Response{
+			StatusCode: http.StatusOK,
+			Header:     http.Header{network.HashHeaderName: []string{hash}},
+		},
+		want: true,
+	}, {
+		name: "HTTP 200 mismatching hash",
+		resp: &http.Response{
+			StatusCode: http.StatusOK,
+			Header:     http.Header{network.HashHeaderName: []string{"nope"}},
+		},
+		want: false,
+	}, {
+		name: "HTTP 200 missing header",
+		resp: &http.Response{
+			StatusCode: http.StatusOK,
+		},
+		want: true,
+	}, {
+		name: "HTTP 404",
+		resp: &http.Response{
+			StatusCode: http.StatusNotFound,
+		},
+		want: false,
+	}, {
+		name: "HTTP 503",
+		resp: &http.Response{
+			StatusCode: http.StatusServiceUnavailable,
+		},
+		want: false,
+	}, {
+		name: "HTTP 403",
+		resp: &http.Response{
+			StatusCode: http.StatusForbidden,
+		},
+		want: true,
+	}, {
+		name: "HTTP 503",
+		resp: &http.Response{
+			StatusCode: http.StatusServiceUnavailable,
+		},
+		want: false,
+	}, {
+		name: "HTTP 302",
+		resp: &http.Response{
+			StatusCode: http.StatusFound,
+		},
+		want: true,
+	}}
+
+	for _, c := range cases {
+		t.Run(c.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got, _ := verifier(c.resp, nil)
+			if got != c.want {
+				t.Errorf("got: %v, want: %v", got, c.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 type fakeGatewayLister struct {
 	gateways []*v1alpha3.Gateway
 	fails    bool