diff --git a/src/backups.js b/src/backups.js
index 6cbb11894..6cbc0ff50 100644
--- a/src/backups.js
+++ b/src/backups.js
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ exports = module.exports = {
     injectPrivateFields: injectPrivateFields,
     removePrivateFields: removePrivateFields,
 
+    checkConfiguration: checkConfiguration,
+
     SECRET_PLACEHOLDER: String.fromCharCode(0x25CF).repeat(8),
 
     // for testing
@@ -1256,3 +1258,20 @@ function startCleanupTask(auditSource, callback) {
         });
     });
 }
+
+function checkConfiguration(callback) {
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
+
+    settings.getBackupConfig(function (error, backupConfig) {
+        if (error) return callback(error);
+
+        let message = '';
+        if (backupConfig.provider === 'noop') {
+            message = 'Cloudron backups are disabled. Please ensure this server is backed up using alternate means. See https://cloudron.io/documentation/backups/#storage-providers for more information.';
+        } else if (backupConfig.provider === 'filesystem' && !backupConfig.externalDisk) {
+            message = 'Cloudron backups are currently on the same disk as the Cloudron server instance. This is dangerous and can lead to complete data loss if the disk fails. See https://cloudron.io/documentation/backups/#storage-providers for storing backups in an external location.';
+        }
+
+        callback(null, message);
+    });
+}
diff --git a/src/cloudron.js b/src/cloudron.js
index 0b6e2ecb4..9270b66a2 100644
--- a/src/cloudron.js
+++ b/src/cloudron.js
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ exports = module.exports = {
 
 var assert = require('assert'),
     async = require('async'),
+    backups = require('./backups.js'),
     clients = require('./clients.js'),
     config = require('./config.js'),
     constants = require('./constants.js'),
@@ -194,8 +195,8 @@ function runSystemChecks() {
         checkDiskSpace,
         checkMailStatus,
         checkRebootRequired
-    ], function () {
-        debug('runSystemChecks: done');
+    ], function (error) {
+        debug('runSystemChecks: done', error);
     });
 }
 
@@ -204,15 +205,8 @@ function checkBackupConfiguration(callback) {
 
     debug('Checking backup configuration');
 
-    settings.getBackupConfig(function (error, backupConfig) {
-        if (error) return console.error(error);
-
-        let message = '';
-        if (backupConfig.provider === 'noop') {
-            message = 'Cloudron backups are disabled. Please ensure this server is backed up using alternate means. See https://cloudron.io/documentation/backups/#storage-providers for more information.';
-        } else if (backupConfig.provider === 'filesystem' && !backupConfig.externalDisk) {
-            message = 'Cloudron backups are currently on the same disk as the Cloudron server instance. This is dangerous and can lead to complete data loss if the disk fails. See https://cloudron.io/documentation/backups/#storage-providers for storing backups in an external location.';
-        }
+    backups.checkConfiguration(function (error, message) {
+        if (error) return callback(error);
 
         notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_BACKUP_CONFIG, message, callback);
     });
@@ -262,26 +256,10 @@ function checkMailStatus(callback) {
 
     debug('checking mail status');
 
-    domains.getAll(function (error, allDomains) {
+    mail.checkConfiguration(function (error, message) {
         if (error) return callback(error);
 
-        async.filterSeries(allDomains, function (domainObject, iteratorCallback) {
-            mail.getStatus(config.adminDomain(), function (error, result) {
-                if (error) return iteratorCallback(null, true);
-
-                let mailError = Object.keys(result.dns).some((record) => !result.dns[record].status);
-                if (result.relay && !result.relay.status) mailError = true;
-                if (result.rbl && result.rbl.status === false) mailError = true; // rbl is an optional check
-
-                iteratorCallback(null, mailError);
-            });
-        }, function (error, erroredDomainObjects) {
-            if (error || erroredDomainObjects.length === 0) return callback(error);
-
-            const erroredDomains = erroredDomainObjects.map((d) => d.domain);
-            debug(`checkMailStatus: ${erroredDomains.join(',')} failed status checks`);
-            notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_MAIL_STATUS, erroredDomains.length ? `Email status check of the following domain(s) failed - ${erroredDomains.join(',')}. See the Status tab in the [Email view](/#/email/) for more information.` : '', callback);
-        });
+        notifications.alert(notifications.ALERT_MAIL_STATUS, message, callback);
     });
 }
 
diff --git a/src/mail.js b/src/mail.js
index 01d4c0c68..503f4ce60 100644
--- a/src/mail.js
+++ b/src/mail.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 exports = module.exports = {
     getStatus: getStatus,
+    checkConfiguration: checkConfiguration,
 
     getDomains: getDomains,
 
@@ -455,9 +456,9 @@ function getStatus(domain, callback) {
 
     // ensure we always have a valid toplevel properties for the api
     var results = {
-        dns: {},
-        rbl: {},
-        relay: {}
+        dns: {}, // { mx: { expected, value }, dmarc: { expected, value }, dkim: { expected, value }, spf: { expected, value }, ptr: { expected, value } }
+        rbl: {}, // { status, ip, servers: [{name,site,dns}]}
+        relay: {} // { status, value }
     };
 
     function recordResult(what, func) {
@@ -504,6 +505,50 @@ function getStatus(domain, callback) {
     });
 }
 
+function checkConfiguration(callback) {
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
+
+    let messages = {};
+
+    domains.getAll(function (error, allDomains) {
+        if (error) return callback(error);
+
+        async.eachSeries(allDomains, function (domainObject, iteratorCallback) {
+            getStatus(domainObject.domain, function (error, result) {
+                if (error) return iteratorCallback(error);
+
+                let message = [];
+
+                Object.keys(result.dns).forEach((type) => {
+                    const record = result.dns[type];
+                    if (!record.status) message.push(`${type.toUpperCase()} DNS record did not match. Expected: \`${record.expected}\`. Actual: \`${record.value}\``);
+                });
+                if (result.relay && !result.relay.status) message.push(`Relay error: ${result.relay.value}`);
+                if (result.rbl && result.rbl.status === false) { // rbl field contents is optional
+                    const servers = result.rbl.servers.map((bs) => `[${bs.name}](${bs.site})`); // in markdown
+                    message.push(`This server's IP \`${result.rbl.ip}\` is blacklisted in the following servers - ${servers.join(', ')}`);
+                }
+
+                if (message.length) messages[domainObject.domain] = message;
+
+                iteratorCallback(null);
+            });
+        }, function (error) {
+            if (error) return callback(error);
+
+            // create bulleted list for each domain
+            let markdownMessage = '';
+            Object.keys(messages).forEach((domain) => {
+                markdownMessage += `**${domain}**\n`;
+                markdownMessage += messages[domain].map((m) => `* ${m}\n`).join('');
+                markdownMessage += '\n\n';
+            });
+
+            callback(null, markdownMessage);
+        });
+    });
+}
+
 function createMailConfig(mailFqdn, callback) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof mailFqdn, 'string');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');