diff --git a/go/vt/vtorc/discovery/queue.go b/go/vt/vtorc/discovery/queue.go
index 049c8ad37b1..c56827b5899 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtorc/discovery/queue.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtorc/discovery/queue.go
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ import (
 
 // queueItem represents an item in the discovery.Queue.
 type queueItem struct {
-	PushedAt time.Time
 	Key      string
+	PushedAt time.Time
 }
 
 // Queue is an ordered queue with deduplication.
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@ func (q *Queue) Push(key string) {
 		return
 	}
 	q.queue <- queueItem{
-		PushedAt: time.Now(),
 		Key:      key,
+		PushedAt: time.Now(),
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/go/vt/vtorc/logic/vtorc.go b/go/vt/vtorc/logic/vtorc.go
index 4379fd73d6f..bb3868d4686 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtorc/logic/vtorc.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtorc/logic/vtorc.go
@@ -50,11 +50,16 @@ var snapshotDiscoveryKeys chan string
 var snapshotDiscoveryKeysMutex sync.Mutex
 var hasReceivedSIGTERM int32
 
-var discoveriesCounter = stats.NewCounter("DiscoveriesAttempt", "Number of discoveries attempted")
-var failedDiscoveriesCounter = stats.NewCounter("DiscoveriesFail", "Number of failed discoveries")
-var instancePollSecondsExceededCounter = stats.NewCounter("DiscoveriesInstancePollSecondsExceeded", "Number of instances that took longer than InstancePollSeconds to poll")
-var discoveryQueueLengthGauge = stats.NewGauge("DiscoveriesQueueLength", "Length of the discovery queue")
-var discoveryRecentCountGauge = stats.NewGauge("DiscoveriesRecentCount", "Number of recent discoveries")
+var (
+	discoveriesCounter                 = stats.NewCounter("DiscoveriesAttempt", "Number of discoveries attempted")
+	failedDiscoveriesCounter           = stats.NewCounter("DiscoveriesFail", "Number of failed discoveries")
+	instancePollSecondsExceededCounter = stats.NewCounter("DiscoveriesInstancePollSecondsExceeded", "Number of instances that took longer than InstancePollSeconds to poll")
+	discoveryQueueLengthGauge          = stats.NewGauge("DiscoveriesQueueLength", "Length of the discovery queue")
+	discoveryRecentCountGauge          = stats.NewGauge("DiscoveriesRecentCount", "Number of recent discoveries")
+	discoveryWorkersGauge              = stats.NewGauge("DiscoveryWorkers", "Number of discovery workers")
+	discoveryWorkersActiveGauge        = stats.NewGauge("DiscoveryWorkersActive", "Number of discovery workers actively discovering tablets")
+)
+
 var discoveryMetrics = collection.CreateOrReturnCollection(DiscoveryMetricsName)
 
 var recentDiscoveryOperationKeys *cache.Cache
@@ -111,11 +116,19 @@ func handleDiscoveryRequests() {
 	discoveryQueue = discovery.NewQueue()
 	// create a pool of discovery workers
 	for i := uint(0); i < config.GetDiscoveryWorkers(); i++ {
+		discoveryWorkersGauge.Add(1)
 		go func() {
 			for {
+				// .Consume() blocks until there is a new key to process.
+				// We are not "active" until we got a tablet alias.
 				tabletAlias := discoveryQueue.Consume()
-				DiscoverInstance(tabletAlias, false /* forceDiscovery */)
-				discoveryQueue.Release(tabletAlias)
+				func() {
+					discoveryWorkersActiveGauge.Add(1)
+					defer discoveryWorkersActiveGauge.Add(-1)
+
+					DiscoverInstance(tabletAlias, false /* forceDiscovery */)
+					discoveryQueue.Release(tabletAlias)
+				}()
 			}
 		}()
 	}