diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 44833bb226..afb89f1196 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
     "config:test": "ts-node --project ./tsconfig.ts-node.json scripts/set-mock-env.ts",
     "config:test:watch": "nodemon --config mock-nodemon.json",
     "config:dev:watch": "nodemon",
+    "config:check:rest": "yarn run config:prod && ts-node --project ./tsconfig.ts-node.json scripts/test-rest.ts",
     "prestart:dev": "yarn run config:dev",
     "prebuild": "yarn run config:dev",
     "pretest": "yarn run config:test",
@@ -29,7 +30,6 @@
     "test:watch": "npm-run-all --parallel config:test:watch test",
     "test": "ng test --sourceMap=true --watch=true",
     "test:headless": "ng test --watch=false --sourceMap=true --browsers=ChromeHeadless --code-coverage",
-    "test:rest-api": "yarn run config:prod && ts-node --project ./tsconfig.ts-node.json scripts/test-rest.ts",
     "lint": "ng lint",
     "lint-fix": "ng lint --fix=true",
     "e2e": "ng e2e",
diff --git a/scripts/test-rest.ts b/scripts/test-rest.ts
index d5cf24eb4e..b12a9929c2 100644
--- a/scripts/test-rest.ts
+++ b/scripts/test-rest.ts
@@ -56,7 +56,9 @@ function checkJSONResponse(responseData: any): any {
         console.log(`\t"dspaceUI" = ${parsedData.dspaceUI}`);
         console.log(`\t"dspaceServer" = ${parsedData.dspaceServer}`);
         console.log(`\t"dspaceServer" property matches UI's "rest" config? ${(parsedData.dspaceServer === environment.rest.baseUrl)}`);
-        console.log(`\tDoes "_links" section have values? ${!parsedData._links.length}`);
+        // Check for "authn" and "sites" in "_links" section as they should always exist (even if no data)!
+        const linksFound: string[] = Object.keys(parsedData._links);
+        console.log(`\tDoes "/api" endpoint have HAL links ("_links" section)? ${linksFound.includes('authn') && linksFound.includes('sites')}`);
     } catch (err) {
         console.error('ERROR: INVALID DSPACE REST API! Response is not valid JSON!');
         console.error(`Response returned:\n${responseData}`);