diff --git a/pkg/controller/daemon/daemon_controller.go b/pkg/controller/daemon/daemon_controller.go
index c823955931d..1263214d329 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/daemon/daemon_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/daemon/daemon_controller.go
@@ -113,8 +113,6 @@ type DaemonSetsController struct {
 	historyStoreSynced cache.InformerSynced
 	// podLister get list/get pods from the shared informers's store
 	podLister corelisters.PodLister
-	// podNodeIndex indexes pods by their nodeName
-	podNodeIndex cache.Indexer
 	// podStoreSynced returns true if the pod store has been synced at least once.
 	// Added as a member to the struct to allow injection for testing.
 	podStoreSynced cache.InformerSynced
@@ -181,12 +179,6 @@ func NewDaemonSetsController(
 		DeleteFunc: dsc.deletePod,
 	})
 	dsc.podLister = podInformer.Lister()
-
-	// This custom indexer will index pods based on their NodeName which will decrease the amount of pods we need to get in simulate() call.
-	podInformer.Informer().GetIndexer().AddIndexers(cache.Indexers{
-		"nodeName": indexByPodNodeName,
-	})
-	dsc.podNodeIndex = podInformer.Informer().GetIndexer()
 	dsc.podStoreSynced = podInformer.Informer().HasSynced
 
 	nodeInformer.Informer().AddEventHandler(cache.ResourceEventHandlerFuncs{
@@ -205,18 +197,6 @@ func NewDaemonSetsController(
 	return dsc, nil
 }
 
-func indexByPodNodeName(obj interface{}) ([]string, error) {
-	pod, ok := obj.(*v1.Pod)
-	if !ok {
-		return []string{}, nil
-	}
-	// We are only interested in active pods with nodeName set
-	if len(pod.Spec.NodeName) == 0 || pod.Status.Phase == v1.PodSucceeded || pod.Status.Phase == v1.PodFailed {
-		return []string{}, nil
-	}
-	return []string{pod.Spec.NodeName}, nil
-}
-
 func (dsc *DaemonSetsController) addDaemonset(obj interface{}) {
 	ds := obj.(*apps.DaemonSet)
 	klog.V(4).Infof("Adding daemon set %s", ds.Name)
diff --git a/pkg/controller/daemon/daemon_controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/daemon/daemon_controller_test.go
index 32d9dc05b09..686ae59a8b3 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/daemon/daemon_controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/daemon/daemon_controller_test.go
@@ -2234,9 +2234,8 @@ func TestNodeShouldRunDaemonPod(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 			manager.nodeStore.Add(node)
 			for _, p := range c.podsOnNode {
-				manager.podStore.Add(p)
 				p.Spec.NodeName = "test-node"
-				manager.podNodeIndex.Add(p)
+				manager.podStore.Add(p)
 			}
 			c.ds.Spec.UpdateStrategy = *strategy
 			shouldRun, shouldContinueRunning := NodeShouldRunDaemonPod(node, c.ds)