Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A user equipment (UE) may receive control signaling including a set of parameters. The set of parameters may include one or more thresholds associated with initiating aperiodic beam failure detection (BFD) reference signals (RSs). The UE may receive a set of periodic BFD-RSs. In some examples, the UE or the base station may determine that a triggering threshold is satisfied. In some cases, the UE may determine that the set of periodic BFD-RSs satisfies a consecutive beam failure indication (BFI) threshold, a cumulative BFI threshold, or the like. In some cases, a base station may determine that the set of periodic BFD-RSs satisfies a channel quality threshold. The UE may receive a set of one or more aperiodic BFD-RSs based on whether the triggering threshold is satisfied.