diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index 28b44fb22b2..cb9b66e1f81 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -1151,37 +1151,33 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) cleanupOrphanedVolumes(pods []*api.Pod, runningPods []*kubeco
 	return nil
 }
 
-// filterOutPodsPastActiveDeadline filters pods with an ActiveDeadlineSeconds value that has been exceeded.
-// It records an event that the pod has been active longer than the allocated time, and updates the pod status as failed.
-// By filtering the pod from the result set, the Kubelet will kill the pod's containers as part of normal SyncPods workflow.
-func (kl *Kubelet) filterOutPodsPastActiveDeadline(allPods []*api.Pod) (pods []*api.Pod) {
+// pastActiveDeadline returns true if the pod has been active for more than
+// ActiveDeadlineSeconds.
+func (kl *Kubelet) pastActiveDeadline(pod *api.Pod) bool {
 	now := util.Now()
-	for _, pod := range allPods {
-		keepPod := true
-		if pod.Spec.ActiveDeadlineSeconds != nil {
-			podStatus, ok := kl.statusManager.GetPodStatus(kubecontainer.GetPodFullName(pod))
-			if !ok {
-				podStatus = pod.Status
-			}
-			if !podStatus.StartTime.IsZero() {
-				startTime := podStatus.StartTime.Time
-				duration := now.Time.Sub(startTime)
-				allowedDuration := time.Duration(*pod.Spec.ActiveDeadlineSeconds) * time.Second
-				if duration >= allowedDuration {
-					keepPod = false
-				}
-			}
+	if pod.Spec.ActiveDeadlineSeconds != nil {
+		podStatus, ok := kl.statusManager.GetPodStatus(kubecontainer.GetPodFullName(pod))
+		if !ok {
+			podStatus = pod.Status
 		}
-		if keepPod {
-			pods = append(pods, pod)
-		} else {
-			kl.recorder.Eventf(pod, "deadline", "Pod was active on the node longer than specified deadline")
-			kl.statusManager.SetPodStatus(pod, api.PodStatus{
-				Phase:   api.PodFailed,
-				Message: "Pod was active on the node longer than specified deadline"})
+		if !podStatus.StartTime.IsZero() {
+			startTime := podStatus.StartTime.Time
+			duration := now.Time.Sub(startTime)
+			allowedDuration := time.Duration(*pod.Spec.ActiveDeadlineSeconds) * time.Second
+			if duration >= allowedDuration {
+				return true
+			}
 		}
 	}
-	return pods
+	return false
+}
+
+//podIsTerminated returns true if status is in one of the terminated state.
+func podIsTerminated(status *api.PodStatus) bool {
+	if status.Phase == api.PodFailed || status.Phase == api.PodSucceeded {
+		return true
+	}
+	return false
 }
 
 // Filter out pods in the terminated state ("Failed" or "Succeeded").
@@ -1197,8 +1193,7 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) filterOutTerminatedPods(allPods []*api.Pod) []*api.Pod {
 			// restarted.
 			status = pod.Status
 		}
-		if status.Phase == api.PodFailed || status.Phase == api.PodSucceeded {
-			// Pod has reached the final state; ignore it.
+		if podIsTerminated(&status) {
 			continue
 		}
 		pods = append(pods, pod)
@@ -1487,8 +1482,6 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) admitPods(allPods []*api.Pod, podSyncTypes map[types.UID]metr
 	// These two conditions could be alleviated by checkpointing kubelet.
 	pods := kl.filterOutTerminatedPods(allPods)
 
-	pods = kl.filterOutPodsPastActiveDeadline(pods)
-
 	// Respect the pod creation order when resolving conflicts.
 	sort.Sort(podsByCreationTime(pods))
 
@@ -1922,8 +1915,15 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) generatePodStatus(pod *api.Pod) (api.PodStatus, error) {
 	podFullName := kubecontainer.GetPodFullName(pod)
 	glog.V(3).Infof("Generating status for %q", podFullName)
 
-	spec := &pod.Spec
+	// TODO: Consider include the container information.
+	if kl.pastActiveDeadline(pod) {
+		kl.recorder.Eventf(pod, "deadline", "Pod was active on the node longer than specified deadline")
+		return api.PodStatus{
+			Phase:   api.PodFailed,
+			Message: "Pod was active on the node longer than specified deadline"}, nil
+	}
 
+	spec := &pod.Spec
 	podStatus, err := kl.containerRuntime.GetPodStatus(pod)
 
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
index 4f94dfe89ba..5769e9c12b7 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
@@ -4472,7 +4472,7 @@ func TestMakePortMappings(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestFilterOutPodsPastActiveDeadline(t *testing.T) {
+func TestIsPodPastActiveDeadline(t *testing.T) {
 	testKubelet := newTestKubelet(t)
 	kubelet := testKubelet.kubelet
 	pods := newTestPods(5)
@@ -4485,23 +4485,21 @@ func TestFilterOutPodsPastActiveDeadline(t *testing.T) {
 	pods[0].Spec.ActiveDeadlineSeconds = &exceededActiveDeadlineSeconds
 	pods[1].Status.StartTime = &startTime
 	pods[1].Spec.ActiveDeadlineSeconds = &notYetActiveDeadlineSeconds
-	expected := []*api.Pod{pods[1], pods[2], pods[3], pods[4]}
+	tests := []struct {
+		pod      *api.Pod
+		expected bool
+	}{{pods[0], true}, {pods[1], false}, {pods[2], false}, {pods[3], false}, {pods[4], false}}
+
 	kubelet.podManager.SetPods(pods)
-	actual := kubelet.filterOutPodsPastActiveDeadline(pods)
-	if !reflect.DeepEqual(expected, actual) {
-		expectedNames := ""
-		for _, pod := range expected {
-			expectedNames = expectedNames + pod.Name + " "
+	for i, tt := range tests {
+		actual := kubelet.pastActiveDeadline(tt.pod)
+		if actual != tt.expected {
+			t.Errorf("[%d] expected %#v, got %#v", i, tt.expected, actual)
 		}
-		actualNames := ""
-		for _, pod := range actual {
-			actualNames = actualNames + pod.Name + " "
-		}
-		t.Errorf("expected %#v, got %#v", expectedNames, actualNames)
 	}
 }
 
-func TestSyncPodsDeletesPodsThatRunTooLong(t *testing.T) {
+func TestSyncPodsSetStatusToFailedForPodsThatRunTooLong(t *testing.T) {
 	testKubelet := newTestKubelet(t)
 	testKubelet.fakeCadvisor.On("MachineInfo").Return(&cadvisorApi.MachineInfo{}, nil)
 	kubelet := testKubelet.kubelet
@@ -4559,27 +4557,22 @@ func TestSyncPodsDeletesPodsThatRunTooLong(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	}
 
+	// Let the pod worker sets the status to fail after this sync.
 	err := kubelet.SyncPods(pods, emptyPodUIDs, map[string]*api.Pod{}, time.Now())
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
 	}
-
-	verifyCalls(t, fakeDocker, []string{"list", "inspect_container", "stop", "inspect_container", "stop", "list"})
-
-	// A map iteration is used to delete containers, so must not depend on
-	// order here.
-	expectedToStop := map[string]bool{
-		"1234": true,
-		"9876": true,
+	podFullName := kubecontainer.GetPodFullName(pods[0])
+	status, found := kubelet.statusManager.GetPodStatus(podFullName)
+	if !found {
+		t.Errorf("expected to found status for pod %q", status)
 	}
-	if len(fakeDocker.Stopped) != 2 ||
-		!expectedToStop[fakeDocker.Stopped[0]] ||
-		!expectedToStop[fakeDocker.Stopped[1]] {
-		t.Errorf("Wrong containers were stopped: %v", fakeDocker.Stopped)
+	if status.Phase != api.PodFailed {
+		t.Fatalf("expected pod status %q, ot %q.", api.PodFailed, status.Phase)
 	}
 }
 
-func TestSyncPodsDoesNotDeletePodsThatRunTooLong(t *testing.T) {
+func TestSyncPodsDoesNotSetPodsThatDidNotRunTooLongToFailed(t *testing.T) {
 	testKubelet := newTestKubelet(t)
 	testKubelet.fakeCadvisor.On("MachineInfo").Return(&cadvisorApi.MachineInfo{}, nil)
 	kubelet := testKubelet.kubelet
@@ -4642,12 +4635,12 @@ func TestSyncPodsDoesNotDeletePodsThatRunTooLong(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
 	}
-	verifyCalls(t, fakeDocker, []string{
-		"list", "list", "list",
-		// Get pod status.
-		"inspect_container", "inspect_container",
-		// Check the pod infra container.
-		"inspect_container",
-		// Get pod status.
-		"list", "inspect_container", "inspect_container", "list"})
+	podFullName := kubecontainer.GetPodFullName(pods[0])
+	status, found := kubelet.statusManager.GetPodStatus(podFullName)
+	if !found {
+		t.Errorf("expected to found status for pod %q", status)
+	}
+	if status.Phase == api.PodFailed {
+		t.Fatalf("expected pod status to not be %q", status.Phase)
+	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/status_manager.go b/pkg/kubelet/status_manager.go
index 92a3a449f1b..4df39d7c086 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/status_manager.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/status_manager.go
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ func (s *statusManager) SetPodStatus(pod *api.Pod, status api.PodStatus) {
 	}
 
 	// if the status has no start time, we need to set an initial time
+	// TODO(yujuhong): Consider setting StartTime when generating the pod
+	// status instead, which would allow statusManager to become a simple cache
+	// again.
 	if status.StartTime.IsZero() {
 		if pod.Status.StartTime.IsZero() {
 			// the pod did not have a previously recorded value so set to now