diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index 8b8e14cd953..4d02c51071a 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -2845,6 +2845,10 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) validateContainerLogStatus(podName string, podStatus *api.Pod
 	var cID string
 
 	cStatus, found := api.GetContainerStatus(podStatus.ContainerStatuses, containerName)
+	// if not found, check the init containers
+	if !found {
+		cStatus, found = api.GetContainerStatus(podStatus.InitContainerStatuses, containerName)
+	}
 	if !found {
 		return kubecontainer.ContainerID{}, fmt.Errorf("container %q in pod %q is not available", containerName, podName)
 	}