An exhaust gas recirculation system including an exhaust gas passageway which routes a flow of exhaust gas from an exhaust gas source to an intake manifold; an exhaust gas passageway valve which controls flow to the intake manifold; a cooling system coupled with the exhaust gas passageway positioned at a location upstream of the exhaust gas source and downstream of the intake manifold and operable to transfer heat from the flow of exhaust gas to a coolant in flow communication with the cooling system; a bypass passageway coupled with the exhaust gas passageway and bypassing the cooling system; a bypass valve operable to control flow through the bypass passageway; at least one valve operation sensor; and a controller operable to control the bypass valve to direct the flow of exhaust gas to the bypass passageway during exhaust gas recirculation based on a signal from the valve operation sensor.