diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/container/helpers.go b/pkg/kubelet/container/helpers.go
index cedd5303338..22204600cee 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/container/helpers.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/container/helpers.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
+	"github.com/golang/glog"
 )
 
 // HandlerRunner runs a lifecycle handler for a container.
@@ -44,3 +45,39 @@ func TrimRuntimePrefix(fullString string) string {
 	}
 	return fullString[idx+len(prefixSeparator):]
 }
+
+// ShouldContainerBeRestarted checks whether a container needs to be restarted.
+// TODO(yifan): Think about how to refactor this.
+func ShouldContainerBeRestarted(container *api.Container, pod *api.Pod, podStatus *api.PodStatus, readinessManager *ReadinessManager) bool {
+	podFullName := GetPodFullName(pod)
+
+	// Get all dead container status.
+	var resultStatus []*api.ContainerStatus
+	for i, containerStatus := range podStatus.ContainerStatuses {
+		if containerStatus.Name == container.Name && containerStatus.State.Termination != nil {
+			resultStatus = append(resultStatus, &podStatus.ContainerStatuses[i])
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Set dead containers to unready state.
+	for _, c := range resultStatus {
+		readinessManager.RemoveReadiness(TrimRuntimePrefix(c.ContainerID))
+	}
+
+	// Check RestartPolicy for dead container.
+	if len(resultStatus) > 0 {
+		if pod.Spec.RestartPolicy == api.RestartPolicyNever {
+			glog.V(4).Infof("Already ran container %q of pod %q, do nothing", container.Name, podFullName)
+			return false
+		}
+		if pod.Spec.RestartPolicy == api.RestartPolicyOnFailure {
+			// Check the exit code of last run. Note: This assumes the result is sorted
+			// by the created time in reverse order.
+			if resultStatus[0].State.Termination.ExitCode == 0 {
+				glog.V(4).Infof("Already successfully ran container %q of pod %q, do nothing", container.Name, podFullName)
+				return false
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/dockertools/manager.go b/pkg/kubelet/dockertools/manager.go
index 4da2170d7c3..f03739a55b1 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/dockertools/manager.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/dockertools/manager.go
@@ -1247,7 +1247,7 @@ func (dm *DockerManager) ComputePodContainerChanges(pod *api.Pod, runningPod kub
 
 		c := runningPod.FindContainerByName(container.Name)
 		if c == nil {
-			if shouldContainerBeRestarted(&container, pod, &podStatus, dm.readinessManager) {
+			if kubecontainer.ShouldContainerBeRestarted(&container, pod, &podStatus, dm.readinessManager) {
 				// If we are here it means that the container is dead and should be restarted, or never existed and should
 				// be created. We may be inserting this ID again if the container has changed and it has
 				// RestartPolicy::Always, but it's not a big deal.
@@ -1315,37 +1315,3 @@ func (dm *DockerManager) ComputePodContainerChanges(pod *api.Pod, runningPod kub
 		ContainersToKeep:    containersToKeep,
 	}, nil
 }
-
-func shouldContainerBeRestarted(container *api.Container, pod *api.Pod, podStatus *api.PodStatus, readinessManager *kubecontainer.ReadinessManager) bool {
-	podFullName := kubecontainer.GetPodFullName(pod)
-
-	// Get all dead container status.
-	var resultStatus []*api.ContainerStatus
-	for i, containerStatus := range podStatus.ContainerStatuses {
-		if containerStatus.Name == container.Name && containerStatus.State.Termination != nil {
-			resultStatus = append(resultStatus, &podStatus.ContainerStatuses[i])
-		}
-	}
-
-	// Set dead containers to unready state.
-	for _, c := range resultStatus {
-		readinessManager.RemoveReadiness(kubecontainer.TrimRuntimePrefix(c.ContainerID))
-	}
-
-	// Check RestartPolicy for dead container.
-	if len(resultStatus) > 0 {
-		if pod.Spec.RestartPolicy == api.RestartPolicyNever {
-			glog.V(4).Infof("Already ran container %q of pod %q, do nothing", container.Name, podFullName)
-			return false
-		}
-		if pod.Spec.RestartPolicy == api.RestartPolicyOnFailure {
-			// Check the exit code of last run. Note: This assumes the result is sorted
-			// by the created time in reverse order.
-			if resultStatus[0].State.Termination.ExitCode == 0 {
-				glog.V(4).Infof("Already successfully ran container %q of pod %q, do nothing", container.Name, podFullName)
-				return false
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	return true
-}