diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index 319b5cb6fec..156a81cf16e 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -1851,11 +1851,11 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) SyncPod(ctx context.Context, updateType kubetypes.SyncPodType
 		if !pcm.Exists(pod) && !firstSync {
 			p := kubecontainer.ConvertPodStatusToRunningPod(kl.getRuntime().Type(), podStatus)
 			if err := kl.killPod(ctx, pod, p, nil); err == nil {
-				if wait.Interrupted(err) {
-					return false, err
-				}
 				podKilled = true
 			} else {
+				if wait.Interrupted(err) {
+					return false, nil
+				}
 				klog.ErrorS(err, "KillPod failed", "pod", klog.KObj(pod), "podStatus", podStatus)
 			}
 		}