diff --git a/pkg/apis/core/types.go b/pkg/apis/core/types.go
index 24d4f808c81..04dafb5f999 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/core/types.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/core/types.go
@@ -2304,6 +2304,7 @@ const (
 	PodFailed PodPhase = "Failed"
 	// PodUnknown means that for some reason the state of the pod could not be obtained, typically due
 	// to an error in communicating with the host of the pod.
+	// Deprecated in v1.21: It isn't being set since 2015 (74da3b14b0c0f658b3bb8d2def5094686d0e9095)
 	PodUnknown PodPhase = "Unknown"
 )
 
diff --git a/pkg/controller/deployment/recreate.go b/pkg/controller/deployment/recreate.go
index 7ac5b2c4519..071f5344fd0 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/deployment/recreate.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/deployment/recreate.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ package deployment
 
 import (
 	apps "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
-	"k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/controller"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/controller/deployment/util"
@@ -110,7 +110,9 @@ func oldPodsRunning(newRS *apps.ReplicaSet, oldRSs []*apps.ReplicaSet, podMap ma
 				// Don't count pods in terminal state.
 				continue
 			case v1.PodUnknown:
-				// This happens in situation like when the node is temporarily disconnected from the cluster.
+				// v1.PodUnknown is a deprecated status.
+				// This logic is kept for backward compatibility.
+				// This used to happen in situation like when the node is temporarily disconnected from the cluster.
 				// If we can't be sure that the pod is not running, we have to count it.
 				return true
 			default:
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/api/core/v1/types.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/api/core/v1/types.go
index 3eadb45674c..64c0e31275b 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/api/core/v1/types.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/api/core/v1/types.go
@@ -2522,6 +2522,7 @@ const (
 	PodFailed PodPhase = "Failed"
 	// PodUnknown means that for some reason the state of the pod could not be obtained, typically due
 	// to an error in communicating with the host of the pod.
+	// Deprecated: It isn't being set since 2015 (74da3b14b0c0f658b3bb8d2def5094686d0e9095)
 	PodUnknown PodPhase = "Unknown"
 )
 
diff --git a/test/e2e/common/node/container.go b/test/e2e/common/node/container.go
index 89efb24ae4b..642bf5b3d89 100644
--- a/test/e2e/common/node/container.go
+++ b/test/e2e/common/node/container.go
@@ -91,7 +91,8 @@ func (cc *ConformanceContainer) IsReady() (bool, error) {
 func (cc *ConformanceContainer) GetPhase() (v1.PodPhase, error) {
 	pod, err := cc.PodClient.Get(context.TODO(), cc.podName, metav1.GetOptions{})
 	if err != nil {
-		return v1.PodUnknown, err
+		// it doesn't matter what phase to return as error would not be nil
+		return v1.PodSucceeded, err
 	}
 	return pod.Status.Phase, nil
 }
diff --git a/test/e2e/storage/persistent_volumes-local.go b/test/e2e/storage/persistent_volumes-local.go
index 61a0202d5fc..afb94a53742 100644
--- a/test/e2e/storage/persistent_volumes-local.go
+++ b/test/e2e/storage/persistent_volumes-local.go
@@ -605,8 +605,7 @@ var _ = utils.SIGDescribe("PersistentVolumes-local ", func() {
 				defer podsLock.Unlock()
 
 				for _, pod := range podsList.Items {
-					switch pod.Status.Phase {
-					case v1.PodSucceeded:
+					if pod.Status.Phase == v1.PodSucceeded {
 						// Delete pod and its PVCs
 						if err := deletePodAndPVCs(config, &pod); err != nil {
 							return false, err
@@ -614,9 +613,6 @@ var _ = utils.SIGDescribe("PersistentVolumes-local ", func() {
 						delete(pods, pod.Name)
 						numFinished++
 						framework.Logf("%v/%v pods finished", numFinished, totalPods)
-					case v1.PodUnknown:
-						return false, fmt.Errorf("pod %v is in %v phase", pod.Name, pod.Status.Phase)
-					case v1.PodFailed:
 					}
 				}