diff --git a/notifier/selfstate/heartbeat/database.go b/notifier/selfstate/heartbeat/database.go
index 592325ef1..69ab7eed7 100644
--- a/notifier/selfstate/heartbeat/database.go
+++ b/notifier/selfstate/heartbeat/database.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ var _ Heartbeater = (*databaseHeartbeater)(nil)
 type DatabaseHeartbeaterConfig struct {
 	HeartbeaterBaseConfig
 
-	RedisDisconnectDelay time.Duration `validate:"required,gt=0"`
+	RedisDisconnectDelay time.Duration `validate:"required_if=Enabled true,gte=0"`
 }
 
 type databaseHeartbeater struct {
diff --git a/notifier/selfstate/heartbeat/heartbeat.go b/notifier/selfstate/heartbeat/heartbeat.go
index 3a85f4094..b7fbedab3 100644
--- a/notifier/selfstate/heartbeat/heartbeat.go
+++ b/notifier/selfstate/heartbeat/heartbeat.go
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ const (
 	StateError State = "heartbeat_state_error"
 )
 
-// IsDegraded checks if the condition has degraded.
-func (lastState State) IsDegraded(newState State) bool {
+// IsDegraded checks if the condition is still degraded.
+func (State) IsDegraded(newState State) bool {
 	return newState == StateError
 }