diff --git a/app/__init__.py b/app/__init__.py
index f97bfc2..83f8847 100644
--- a/app/__init__.py
+++ b/app/__init__.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ from app.request import send_tor_signal
 from app.utils.session import generate_user_key
 from app.utils.bangs import gen_bangs_json
 from app.utils.misc import gen_file_hash, read_config_bool
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 from flask import Flask
 from flask_session import Session
 import json
@@ -71,8 +72,12 @@ app.config['BANG_PATH'] = os.getenv(
 app.config['BANG_FILE'] = os.path.join(
     app.config['BANG_PATH'],
     'bangs.json')
+
+# Config fields that are used to check for updates
 app.config['RELEASES_URL'] = 'https://github.com/' \
                              'benbusby/whoogle-search/releases'
+app.config['LAST_UPDATE_CHECK'] = datetime.now() - timedelta(hours=24)
+app.config['HAS_UPDATE'] = ''
 
 # The alternative to Google Translate is treated a bit differently than other
 # social media site alternatives, in that it is used for any translation
diff --git a/app/routes.py b/app/routes.py
index a112ad8..350621f 100644
--- a/app/routes.py
+++ b/app/routes.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import os
 import pickle
 import urllib.parse as urlparse
 import uuid
-from datetime import timedelta
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 from functools import wraps
 
 import waitress
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ from app.models.config import Config
 from app.models.endpoint import Endpoint
 from app.request import Request, TorError
 from app.utils.bangs import resolve_bang
-from app.utils.misc import read_config_bool, get_client_ip, get_request_url
+from app.utils.misc import read_config_bool, get_client_ip, get_request_url, \
+    check_for_update
 from app.utils.results import add_ip_card, bold_search_terms,\
     add_currency_card, check_currency, get_tabs_content
 from app.utils.search import Search, needs_https, has_captcha
@@ -31,15 +32,6 @@ from cryptography.fernet import Fernet
 # Load DDG bang json files only on init
 bang_json = json.load(open(app.config['BANG_FILE'])) or {}
 
-# Check the newest version of WHOOGLE
-update = bsoup(get(app.config['RELEASES_URL']).text, 'html.parser')
-newest_version = update.select_one('[class="Link--primary"]').string[1:]
-current_version = int(''.join(filter(str.isdigit,
-                                     app.config['VERSION_NUMBER'])))
-newest_version = int(''.join(filter(str.isdigit, newest_version)))
-newest_version = '' if current_version >= newest_version \
-    else newest_version
-
 ac_var = 'WHOOGLE_AUTOCOMPLETE'
 autocomplete_enabled = os.getenv(ac_var, '1')
 
@@ -106,6 +98,14 @@ def session_required(f):
 def before_request_func():
     global bang_json
 
+    # Check for latest version if needed
+    now = datetime.now()
+    if now - timedelta(hours=24) > app.config['LAST_UPDATE_CHECK']:
+        app.config['LAST_UPDATE_CHECK'] = now
+        app.config['HAS_UPDATE'] = check_for_update(
+            app.config['RELEASES_URL'],
+            app.config['VERSION_NUMBER'])
+
     g.request_params = (
         request.args if request.method == 'GET' else request.form
     )
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ def index():
         return render_template('error.html', error_message=error_message)
 
     return render_template('index.html',
-                           newest_version=newest_version,
+                           has_update=app.config['HAS_UPDATE'],
                            languages=app.config['LANGUAGES'],
                            countries=app.config['COUNTRIES'],
                            themes=app.config['THEMES'],
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ def search():
 
     return render_template(
         'display.html',
-        newest_version=newest_version,
+        has_update=app.config['HAS_UPDATE'],
         query=urlparse.unquote(query),
         search_type=search_util.search_type,
         config=g.user_config,
diff --git a/app/templates/footer.html b/app/templates/footer.html
index ed66e42..f9ed4cc 100644
--- a/app/templates/footer.html
+++ b/app/templates/footer.html
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
     <p class="footer">
         Whoogle Search v{{ version_number }} ||
         <a class="link" href="https://github.com/benbusby/whoogle-search">{{ translation['github-link'] }}</a>
-        {% if newest_version %}
+        {% if has_update %}
              || <span class="update_available">Update Available 🟢</span>
         {% endif %}
     </p>
diff --git a/app/utils/misc.py b/app/utils/misc.py
index 7f1f67b..7829403 100644
--- a/app/utils/misc.py
+++ b/app/utils/misc.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
+from bs4 import BeautifulSoup as bsoup
 from flask import Request
 import hashlib
 import os
+from requests import exceptions, get
 
 
 def gen_file_hash(path: str, static_file: str) -> str:
@@ -30,3 +32,18 @@ def get_request_url(url: str) -> str:
         return url.replace('http://', 'https://', 1)
 
     return url
+
+
+def check_for_update(version_url: str, current: str) -> int:
+    # Check for the latest version of Whoogle
+    try:
+        update = bsoup(get(version_url).text, 'html.parser')
+        latest = update.select_one('[class="Link--primary"]').string[1:]
+        current = int(''.join(filter(str.isdigit, current)))
+        latest = int(''.join(filter(str.isdigit, latest)))
+        has_update = '' if current >= latest else latest
+    except (exceptions.ConnectionError, AttributeError):
+        # Ignore failures, assume current version is up to date
+        has_update = ''
+
+    return has_update