diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index b30aacbfbe3..99f46eddb7e 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -475,6 +475,7 @@ type Kubelet struct {
 	rootDirectory  string
 	podWorkers     PodWorkers
 	resyncInterval time.Duration
+	resyncTicker   *time.Ticker
 	sourcesReady   SourcesReadyFn
 	// sourcesSeen records the sources seen by kubelet. This set is not thread
 	// safe and should only be access by the main kubelet syncloop goroutine.
@@ -2010,6 +2011,7 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) canAdmitPod(pods []*api.Pod, pod *api.Pod) (bool, string, str
 // state every sync-frequency seconds. Never returns.
 func (kl *Kubelet) syncLoop(updates <-chan kubetypes.PodUpdate, handler SyncHandler) {
 	glog.Info("Starting kubelet main sync loop.")
+	kl.resyncTicker = time.NewTicker(kl.resyncInterval)
 	var housekeepingTimestamp time.Time
 	for {
 		if !kl.containerRuntimeUp() {
@@ -2073,7 +2075,7 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) syncLoopIteration(updates <-chan kubetypes.PodUpdate, handler
 			// TODO: Do we want to support this?
 			glog.Errorf("Kubelet does not support snapshot update")
 		}
-	case <-time.After(kl.resyncInterval):
+	case <-kl.resyncTicker.C:
 		// Periodically syncs all the pods and performs cleanup tasks.
 		glog.V(4).Infof("SyncLoop (periodic sync)")
 		handler.HandlePodSyncs(kl.podManager.GetPods())
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
index 7e2a45a5fe2..103e6221668 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ func newTestKubelet(t *testing.T) *TestKubelet {
 	kubelet.backOff = util.NewBackOff(time.Second, time.Minute)
 	kubelet.backOff.Clock = fakeClock
 	kubelet.podKillingCh = make(chan *kubecontainer.Pod, 20)
+	kubelet.resyncInterval = 10 * time.Second
 	return &TestKubelet{kubelet, fakeRuntime, mockCadvisor, fakeKubeClient, fakeMirrorClient}
 }
 
@@ -332,6 +333,9 @@ func TestSyncLoopTimeUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("Unexpected sync loop time: %s, expected 0", loopTime1)
 	}
 
+	// Start sync ticker.
+	kubelet.resyncTicker = time.NewTicker(time.Millisecond)
+
 	kubelet.syncLoopIteration(make(chan kubetypes.PodUpdate), kubelet)
 	loopTime2 := kubelet.LatestLoopEntryTime()
 	if loopTime2.IsZero() {
@@ -350,9 +354,9 @@ func TestSyncLoopAbort(t *testing.T) {
 	kubelet := testKubelet.kubelet
 	kubelet.lastTimestampRuntimeUp = time.Now()
 	kubelet.networkConfigured = true
-	// The syncLoop waits on time.After(resyncInterval), set it really big so that we don't race for
-	// the channel close
-	kubelet.resyncInterval = time.Second * 30
+	// The syncLoop waits on the resyncTicker, so we stop it immediately to avoid a race.
+	kubelet.resyncTicker = time.NewTicker(time.Second)
+	kubelet.resyncTicker.Stop()
 
 	ch := make(chan kubetypes.PodUpdate)
 	close(ch)