diff --git a/pkg/kubecfg/kubecfg.go b/pkg/kubecfg/kubecfg.go
index 40cae52294a..35e836e0303 100644
--- a/pkg/kubecfg/kubecfg.go
+++ b/pkg/kubecfg/kubecfg.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/client"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/labels"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util/wait"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version"
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 	"gopkg.in/v1/yaml"
@@ -93,6 +94,10 @@ func Update(name string, client client.Interface, updatePeriod time.Duration) er
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	expected := len(podList.Items)
+	if expected == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
 	for _, pod := range podList.Items {
 		// We delete the pod here, the controller will recreate it.  This will result in pulling
 		// a new Docker image.  This isn't a full "update" but it's what we support for now.
@@ -102,7 +107,13 @@ func Update(name string, client client.Interface, updatePeriod time.Duration) er
 		}
 		time.Sleep(updatePeriod)
 	}
-	return nil
+	return wait.Poll(time.Second*5, 60 /* timeout after 300 seconds */, func() (bool, error) {
+		podList, err := client.ListPods(s)
+		if err != nil {
+			return false, err
+		}
+		return len(podList.Items) == expected, nil
+	})
 }
 
 // StopController stops a controller named 'name' by setting replicas to zero
diff --git a/pkg/kubecfg/kubecfg_test.go b/pkg/kubecfg/kubecfg_test.go
index 8c5696fea43..b08d2663cb8 100644
--- a/pkg/kubecfg/kubecfg_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubecfg/kubecfg_test.go
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ func TestUpdateWithPods(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	}
 	Update("foo", &fakeClient, 0)
-	if len(fakeClient.Actions) != 4 {
+	if len(fakeClient.Actions) != 5 {
 		t.Errorf("Unexpected action list %#v", fakeClient.Actions)
 	}
 	validateAction(client.FakeAction{Action: "get-controller", Value: "foo"}, fakeClient.Actions[0], t)
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ func TestUpdateWithPods(t *testing.T) {
 	// Update deletes the pods, it relies on the replication controller to replace them.
 	validateAction(client.FakeAction{Action: "delete-pod", Value: "pod-1"}, fakeClient.Actions[2], t)
 	validateAction(client.FakeAction{Action: "delete-pod", Value: "pod-2"}, fakeClient.Actions[3], t)
+	validateAction(client.FakeAction{Action: "list-pods"}, fakeClient.Actions[4], t)
 }
 
 func TestUpdateNoPods(t *testing.T) {