diff --git a/governor.py b/governor.py
index 4e097920..85cd28e0 100755
--- a/governor.py
+++ b/governor.py
@@ -35,9 +35,12 @@ class Governor:
         self.etcd = Etcd(config['etcd'])
         self.postgresql = Postgresql(config['postgresql'])
         self.ha = Ha(self.postgresql, self.etcd)
+        host, port = config['restapi']['listen'].split(':')
+        self.api = RestApiServer(self, config['restapi'])
 
     def touch_member(self, ttl=None):
-        return self.etcd.touch_member(self.postgresql.name, self.postgresql.connection_string, ttl)
+        connection_string = self.postgresql.connection_string + '?application_name=' + self.api.connection_string
+        return self.etcd.touch_member(self.postgresql.name, connection_string, ttl)
 
     def initialize(self):
         # wait for etcd to be available
@@ -65,6 +68,7 @@ class Governor:
             self.postgresql.load_replication_slots()
 
     def run(self):
+        self.api.start()
         while True:
             self.touch_member()
             logging.info(self.ha.run_cycle())
@@ -86,8 +90,6 @@ def main():
     governor = Governor(config)
     try:
         governor.initialize()
-        host, port = config['restapi']['listen'].split(':')
-        RestApiServer(governor, host, int(port)).start()
         governor.run()
     finally:
         governor.touch_member(300)  # schedule member removal
diff --git a/helpers/api.py b/helpers/api.py
index 83aa619b..c723e47b 100644
--- a/helpers/api.py
+++ b/helpers/api.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ class RestApiHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
     def get_postgresql_status(self):
         if not self.server.governor.postgresql.is_running():
             return {'running': False}
-        cursor = self.server.cursor()
+        cursor = self.server._cursor()
         cursor.execute("""SELECT to_char(pg_postmaster_start_time(), 'YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS.MS TZ'),
                                  pg_is_in_recovery(),
                                  CASE WHEN pg_is_in_recovery()
@@ -59,14 +59,16 @@ class RestApiHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
 
 class RestApiServer(HTTPServer, Thread):
 
-    def __init__(self, governor, listen_address='0.0.0.0', listen_port=8080):
-        HTTPServer.__init__(self, (listen_address, listen_port), RestApiHandler)
+    def __init__(self, governor, config):
+        self.connection_string = 'http://{}/governor'.format(config.get('connect_address', None) or config['listen'])
+        host, port = config['listen'].split(':')
+        HTTPServer.__init__(self, (host, int(port)), RestApiHandler)
         Thread.__init__(self, target=self.serve_forever)
         self.governor = governor
         self._cursor_holder = None
         self.daemon = True
 
-    def cursor(self):
+    def _cursor(self):
         if not self._cursor_holder or self._cursor_holder.closed:
             self._cursor_holder = self.governor.postgresql.connection().cursor()
         return self._cursor_holder