diff --git a/rq/suspension.py b/rq/suspension.py
index 93152b9..3e96014 100644
--- a/rq/suspension.py
+++ b/rq/suspension.py
@@ -1,8 +1,14 @@
 WORKERS_SUSPENDED = 'rq:suspended'
 
 
-def is_suspended(connection):
-    return connection.exists(WORKERS_SUSPENDED)
+def is_suspended(connection, worker=None):
+    with connection.pipeline() as pipeline:
+        if worker is not None:
+            worker.heartbeat(pipeline=pipeline)
+        pipeline.exists(WORKERS_SUSPENDED)
+        # pipeline returns a list of responses
+        # https://github.com/andymccurdy/redis-py#pipelines
+        return pipeline.execute()[-1]
 
 
 def suspend(connection, ttl=None):
diff --git a/rq/worker.py b/rq/worker.py
index dd9d0bc..8dd855a 100644
--- a/rq/worker.py
+++ b/rq/worker.py
@@ -416,7 +416,7 @@ class Worker(object):
         before_state = None
         notified = False
 
-        while not self._stop_requested and is_suspended(self.connection):
+        while not self._stop_requested and is_suspended(self.connection, self):
 
             if burst:
                 self.log.info('Suspended in burst mode, exiting')