diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_termination_order.go b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_termination_order.go
index 0e8a2a6adf8..21fff12d46d 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_termination_order.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_termination_order.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 package kuberuntime
 
 import (
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
@@ -34,6 +35,8 @@ type terminationOrdering struct {
 	// prereqs is a map from container name to a list of channel that the container
 	// must wait on to ensure termination ordering
 	prereqs map[string][]chan struct{}
+
+	lock sync.Mutex
 }
 
 // newTerminationOrdering constructs a terminationOrdering based on the pod spec and the currently running containers.
@@ -114,9 +117,12 @@ func (o *terminationOrdering) waitForTurn(name string, gracePeriod int64) float6
 	return time.Since(start).Seconds()
 }
 
-// containerTerminated should be called once the container with the speecified name has exited.
+// containerTerminated should be called once the container with the specified name has exited.
 func (o *terminationOrdering) containerTerminated(name string) {
+	o.lock.Lock()
+	defer o.lock.Unlock()
 	if ch, ok := o.terminated[name]; ok {
 		close(ch)
+		delete(o.terminated, name)
 	}
 }