diff --git a/pkg/controller/node/nodecontroller.go b/pkg/controller/node/nodecontroller.go
index aa88a3459d9..a83e96bd7e6 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/node/nodecontroller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/node/nodecontroller.go
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/controller/framework"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/fields"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/util/format"
-	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/labels"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/types"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util"
@@ -285,8 +284,6 @@ func (nc *NodeController) Run(period time.Duration) {
 			return false, remaining
 		})
 	}, nodeEvictionPeriod, wait.NeverStop)
-
-	go wait.Until(nc.cleanupOrphanedPods, 30*time.Second, wait.NeverStop)
 }
 
 // Generates num pod CIDRs that could be assigned to nodes.
@@ -371,28 +368,6 @@ func (nc *NodeController) maybeDeleteTerminatingPod(obj interface{}) {
 	}
 }
 
-// cleanupOrphanedPods deletes pods that are bound to nodes that don't
-// exist.
-func (nc *NodeController) cleanupOrphanedPods() {
-	pods, err := nc.podStore.List(labels.Everything())
-	if err != nil {
-		utilruntime.HandleError(err)
-		return
-	}
-
-	for _, pod := range pods {
-		if pod.Spec.NodeName == "" {
-			continue
-		}
-		if _, exists, _ := nc.nodeStore.Store.GetByKey(pod.Spec.NodeName); exists {
-			continue
-		}
-		if err := nc.forcefullyDeletePod(pod); err != nil {
-			utilruntime.HandleError(err)
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 func forcefullyDeletePod(c clientset.Interface, pod *api.Pod) error {
 	var zero int64
 	err := c.Core().Pods(pod.Namespace).Delete(pod.Name, &api.DeleteOptions{GracePeriodSeconds: &zero})
@@ -784,6 +759,18 @@ func (nc *NodeController) tryUpdateNodeStatus(node *api.Node) (time.Duration, ap
 	return gracePeriod, lastReadyCondition, readyCondition, err
 }
 
+// returns true if the provided node still has pods scheduled to it, or an error if
+// the server could not be contacted.
+func (nc *NodeController) hasPods(nodeName string) (bool, error) {
+	selector := fields.OneTermEqualSelector(api.PodHostField, nodeName)
+	options := api.ListOptions{FieldSelector: selector}
+	pods, err := nc.kubeClient.Core().Pods(api.NamespaceAll).List(options)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	return len(pods.Items) > 0, nil
+}
+
 // evictPods queues an eviction for the provided node name, and returns false if the node is already
 // queued for eviction.
 func (nc *NodeController) evictPods(nodeName string) bool {
diff --git a/pkg/controller/node/nodecontroller_test.go b/pkg/controller/node/nodecontroller_test.go
index 10dee92e049..72f7fd94273 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/node/nodecontroller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/node/nodecontroller_test.go
@@ -1116,48 +1116,6 @@ func TestCheckPod(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestCleanupOrphanedPods(t *testing.T) {
-	newPod := func(name, node string) api.Pod {
-		return api.Pod{
-			ObjectMeta: api.ObjectMeta{
-				Name: name,
-			},
-			Spec: api.PodSpec{
-				NodeName: node,
-			},
-		}
-	}
-	pods := []api.Pod{
-		newPod("a", "foo"),
-		newPod("b", "bar"),
-		newPod("c", "gone"),
-	}
-	nc := NewNodeController(nil, nil, 0, nil, nil, 0, 0, 0, nil, false)
-
-	nc.nodeStore.Store.Add(newNode("foo"))
-	nc.nodeStore.Store.Add(newNode("bar"))
-	for _, pod := range pods {
-		p := pod
-		nc.podStore.Store.Add(&p)
-	}
-
-	var deleteCalls int
-	var deletedPodName string
-	nc.forcefullyDeletePod = func(p *api.Pod) error {
-		deleteCalls++
-		deletedPodName = p.ObjectMeta.Name
-		return nil
-	}
-	nc.cleanupOrphanedPods()
-
-	if deleteCalls != 1 {
-		t.Fatalf("expected one delete, got: %v", deleteCalls)
-	}
-	if deletedPodName != "c" {
-		t.Fatalf("expected deleted pod name to be 'c', but got: %q", deletedPodName)
-	}
-}
-
 func newNode(name string) *api.Node {
 	return &api.Node{
 		ObjectMeta: api.ObjectMeta{Name: name},