diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/run/BUILD b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/run/BUILD
index 180ba1b6e2c..3b4e8600070 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/run/BUILD
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/run/BUILD
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ go_library(
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1:go_default_library",
+        "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/fields:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/errors:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/watch:go_default_library",
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ go_library(
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/dynamic:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/typed/core/v1:go_default_library",
+        "//staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/tools/cache:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/tools/watch:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/github.com/docker/distribution/reference:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/github.com/spf13/cobra:go_default_library",
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/run/run.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/run/run.go
index 3b9f3431fc5..0d306d63d62 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/run/run.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/run/run.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/fields"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	utilerrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/errors"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/watch"
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/client-go/dynamic"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
 	corev1client "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/typed/core/v1"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/cache"
 	watchtools "k8s.io/client-go/tools/watch"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl/cmd/attach"
@@ -490,18 +492,41 @@ func (o *RunOptions) removeCreatedObjects(f cmdutil.Factory, createdObjects []*R
 
 // waitForPod watches the given pod until the exitCondition is true
 func waitForPod(podClient corev1client.PodsGetter, ns, name string, exitCondition watchtools.ConditionFunc) (*corev1.Pod, error) {
-	w, err := podClient.Pods(ns).Watch(metav1.SingleObject(metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: name}))
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
 	// TODO: expose the timeout
 	ctx, cancel := watchtools.ContextWithOptionalTimeout(context.Background(), 0*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
+
+	preconditionFunc := func(store cache.Store) (bool, error) {
+		_, exists, err := store.Get(&metav1.ObjectMeta{Namespace: ns, Name: name})
+		if err != nil {
+			return true, err
+		}
+		if !exists {
+			// We need to make sure we see the object in the cache before we start waiting for events
+			// or we would be waiting for the timeout if such object didn't exist.
+			// (e.g. it was deleted before we started informers so they wouldn't even see the delete event)
+			return true, errors.NewNotFound(corev1.Resource("pods"), name)
+		}
+
+		return false, nil
+	}
+
+	fieldSelector := fields.OneTermEqualSelector("metadata.name", name).String()
+	lw := &cache.ListWatch{
+		ListFunc: func(options metav1.ListOptions) (runtime.Object, error) {
+			options.FieldSelector = fieldSelector
+			return podClient.Pods(ns).List(options)
+		},
+		WatchFunc: func(options metav1.ListOptions) (watch.Interface, error) {
+			options.FieldSelector = fieldSelector
+			return podClient.Pods(ns).Watch(options)
+		},
+	}
+
 	intr := interrupt.New(nil, cancel)
 	var result *corev1.Pod
-	err = intr.Run(func() error {
-		ev, err := watchtools.UntilWithoutRetry(ctx, w, func(ev watch.Event) (bool, error) {
+	err := intr.Run(func() error {
+		ev, err := watchtools.UntilWithSync(ctx, lw, &corev1.Pod{}, preconditionFunc, func(ev watch.Event) (bool, error) {
 			return exitCondition(ev)
 		})
 		if ev != nil {
@@ -510,11 +535,6 @@ func waitForPod(podClient corev1client.PodsGetter, ns, name string, exitConditio
 		return err
 	})
 
-	// Fix generic not found error.
-	if err != nil && errors.IsNotFound(err) {
-		err = errors.NewNotFound(corev1.Resource("pods"), name)
-	}
-
 	return result, err
 }