diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/status_manager.go b/pkg/kubelet/status_manager.go
index f3d16106a8a..3065a79ec14 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/status_manager.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/status_manager.go
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@ limitations under the License.
 package kubelet
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
 	"sync"
-	"time"
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/client"
@@ -52,8 +52,13 @@ func newStatusManager(kubeClient client.Interface) *statusManager {
 }
 
 func (s *statusManager) Start() {
-	// We can run SyncBatch() often because it will block until we have some updates to send.
-	go util.Forever(s.SyncBatch, 0)
+	// syncBatch blocks when no updates are available, we can run it in a tight loop.
+	go util.Forever(func() {
+		err := s.syncBatch()
+		if err != nil {
+			glog.Warningf("Failed to updated pod status: %v", err)
+		}
+	}, 0)
 }
 
 func (s *statusManager) GetPodStatus(podFullName string) (api.PodStatus, bool) {
@@ -94,28 +99,23 @@ func (s *statusManager) RemoveOrphanedStatuses(podFullNames map[string]bool) {
 	}
 }
 
-// SyncBatch syncs pods statuses with the apiserver. It will loop until channel
-// s.podStatusChannel is empty for at least 1s.
-func (s *statusManager) SyncBatch() {
-	for {
-		select {
-		case syncRequest := <-s.podStatusChannel:
-			pod := syncRequest.pod
-			podFullName := kubecontainer.GetPodFullName(pod)
-			status := syncRequest.status
-			glog.V(3).Infof("Syncing status for %s", podFullName)
-			_, err := s.kubeClient.Pods(pod.Namespace).UpdateStatus(pod.Name, &status)
-			if err != nil {
-				// We failed to update status. In order to make sure we retry next time
-				// we delete cached value. This may result in an additional update, but
-				// this is ok.
-				s.DeletePodStatus(podFullName)
-				glog.Warningf("Error updating status for pod %q: %v", podFullName, err)
-			} else {
-				glog.V(3).Infof("Status for pod %q updated successfully", podFullName)
-			}
-		case <-time.After(1 * time.Second):
-			return
-		}
+// syncBatch syncs pods statuses with the apiserver.
+func (s *statusManager) syncBatch() error {
+	syncRequest := <-s.podStatusChannel
+	pod := syncRequest.pod
+	podFullName := kubecontainer.GetPodFullName(pod)
+	status := syncRequest.status
+
+	_, err := s.kubeClient.Pods(pod.Namespace).UpdateStatus(pod.Name, &status)
+	if err != nil {
+		// We failed to update status. In order to make sure we retry next time
+		// we delete cached value. This may result in an additional update, but
+		// this is ok.
+		s.DeletePodStatus(podFullName)
+		return fmt.Errorf("error updating status for pod %q: %v", pod.Name, err)
+	} else {
+		glog.V(3).Infof("Status for pod %q updated successfully", pod.Name)
 	}
+
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/status_manager_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/status_manager_test.go
index 32977e663db..ced98525bb4 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/status_manager_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/status_manager_test.go
@@ -60,28 +60,55 @@ func verifyActions(t *testing.T, kubeClient client.Interface, expectedActions []
 	}
 }
 
+func verifyUpdates(t *testing.T, manager *statusManager, expectedUpdates int) {
+	// Consume all updates in the channel.
+	numUpdates := 0
+	for {
+		hasUpdate := true
+		select {
+		case <-manager.podStatusChannel:
+			numUpdates++
+		default:
+			hasUpdate = false
+		}
+
+		if !hasUpdate {
+			break
+		}
+	}
+
+	if numUpdates != expectedUpdates {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected number of updates %d, expected %s", numUpdates, expectedUpdates)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestNewStatus(t *testing.T) {
 	syncer := newTestStatusManager()
 	syncer.SetPodStatus(testPod, getRandomPodStatus())
-	syncer.SyncBatch()
-	verifyActions(t, syncer.kubeClient, []string{"update-status-pod"})
+	verifyUpdates(t, syncer, 1)
 }
 
 func TestChangedStatus(t *testing.T) {
 	syncer := newTestStatusManager()
 	syncer.SetPodStatus(testPod, getRandomPodStatus())
-	syncer.SyncBatch()
 	syncer.SetPodStatus(testPod, getRandomPodStatus())
-	syncer.SyncBatch()
-	verifyActions(t, syncer.kubeClient, []string{"update-status-pod", "update-status-pod"})
+	verifyUpdates(t, syncer, 2)
 }
 
 func TestUnchangedStatus(t *testing.T) {
 	syncer := newTestStatusManager()
 	podStatus := getRandomPodStatus()
 	syncer.SetPodStatus(testPod, podStatus)
-	syncer.SyncBatch()
 	syncer.SetPodStatus(testPod, podStatus)
-	syncer.SyncBatch()
+	verifyUpdates(t, syncer, 1)
+}
+
+func TestSyncBatch(t *testing.T) {
+	syncer := newTestStatusManager()
+	syncer.SetPodStatus(testPod, getRandomPodStatus())
+	err := syncer.syncBatch()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected syncing error: %v", err)
+	}
 	verifyActions(t, syncer.kubeClient, []string{"update-status-pod"})
 }