diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/dockertools/fake_docker_client.go b/pkg/kubelet/dockertools/fake_docker_client.go
index ac2d5a7bbe0..00d7be003bf 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/dockertools/fake_docker_client.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/dockertools/fake_docker_client.go
@@ -297,8 +297,6 @@ func (f *FakeDockerClient) StopContainer(id string, timeout uint) error {
 		return err
 	}
 	f.Stopped = append(f.Stopped, id)
-	// Container status should be Updated before container moved to ExitedContainerList
-	f.updateContainerStatus(id, statusExitedPrefix)
 	var newList []docker.APIContainers
 	for _, container := range f.ContainerList {
 		if container.ID == id {
@@ -325,6 +323,7 @@ func (f *FakeDockerClient) StopContainer(id string, timeout uint) error {
 		container.State.Running = false
 	}
 	f.ContainerMap[id] = container
+	f.updateContainerStatus(id, statusExitedPrefix)
 	f.normalSleep(200, 50, 50)
 	return nil
 }
@@ -334,20 +333,11 @@ func (f *FakeDockerClient) RemoveContainer(opts docker.RemoveContainerOptions) e
 	defer f.Unlock()
 	f.called = append(f.called, "remove")
 	err := f.popError("remove")
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
+	if err == nil {
+		f.Removed = append(f.Removed, opts.ID)
 	}
-	for i := range f.ExitedContainerList {
-		if f.ExitedContainerList[i].ID == opts.ID {
-			delete(f.ContainerMap, opts.ID)
-			f.ExitedContainerList = append(f.ExitedContainerList[:i], f.ExitedContainerList[i+1:]...)
-			f.Removed = append(f.Removed, opts.ID)
-			return nil
-		}
-
-	}
-	// To be a good fake, report error if container is not stopped.
-	return fmt.Errorf("container not stopped")
+	delete(f.ContainerMap, opts.ID)
+	return err
 }
 
 // Logs is a test-spy implementation of DockerInterface.Logs.
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index 34eaefb0cd7..ed7aca8791b 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -1945,6 +1945,31 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) cleanupOrphanedVolumes(pods []*api.Pod, runningPods []*kubeco
 	return nil
 }
 
+// Delete any pods that are no longer running and are marked for deletion.
+func (kl *Kubelet) cleanupTerminatedPods(pods []*api.Pod, runningPods []*kubecontainer.Pod) error {
+	var terminating []*api.Pod
+	for _, pod := range pods {
+		if pod.DeletionTimestamp != nil {
+			found := false
+			for _, runningPod := range runningPods {
+				if runningPod.ID == pod.UID {
+					found = true
+					break
+				}
+			}
+			if found {
+				glog.V(5).Infof("Keeping terminated pod %q, still running", format.Pod(pod))
+				continue
+			}
+			terminating = append(terminating, pod)
+		}
+	}
+	if !kl.statusManager.TerminatePods(terminating) {
+		return errors.New("not all pods were successfully terminated")
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // pastActiveDeadline returns true if the pod has been active for more than
 // ActiveDeadlineSeconds.
 func (kl *Kubelet) pastActiveDeadline(pod *api.Pod) bool {
@@ -2136,6 +2161,10 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) HandlePodCleanups() error {
 	// Remove any orphaned mirror pods.
 	kl.podManager.DeleteOrphanedMirrorPods()
 
+	if err := kl.cleanupTerminatedPods(allPods, runningPods); err != nil {
+		glog.Errorf("Failed to cleanup terminated pods: %v", err)
+	}
+
 	// Clear out any old bandwidth rules
 	if err = kl.cleanupBandwidthLimits(allPods); err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -2396,13 +2425,6 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) syncLoopIteration(updates <-chan kubetypes.PodUpdate, handler
 
 func (kl *Kubelet) dispatchWork(pod *api.Pod, syncType kubetypes.SyncPodType, mirrorPod *api.Pod, start time.Time) {
 	if kl.podIsTerminated(pod) {
-		if pod.DeletionTimestamp != nil {
-			// If the pod is in a termianted state, there is no pod worker to
-			// handle the work item. Check if the DeletionTimestamp has been
-			// set, and force a status update to trigger a pod deletion request
-			// to the apiserver.
-			kl.statusManager.TerminatePod(pod)
-		}
 		return
 	}
 	// Run the sync in an async worker.
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/status/manager.go b/pkg/kubelet/status/manager.go
index 20d2df64b5a..03396261431 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/status/manager.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/status/manager.go
@@ -83,9 +83,10 @@ type Manager interface {
 	// triggers a status update.
 	SetContainerReadiness(podUID types.UID, containerID kubecontainer.ContainerID, ready bool)
 
-	// TerminatePod resets the container status for the provided pod to terminated and triggers
-	// a status update.
-	TerminatePod(pod *api.Pod)
+	// TerminatePods resets the container status for the provided pods to terminated and triggers
+	// a status update. This function may not enqueue all the provided pods, in which case it will
+	// return false
+	TerminatePods(pods []*api.Pod) bool
 
 	// RemoveOrphanedStatuses scans the status cache and removes any entries for pods not included in
 	// the provided podUIDs.
@@ -148,7 +149,7 @@ func (m *manager) SetPodStatus(pod *api.Pod, status api.PodStatus) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return
 	}
-	m.updateStatusInternal(pod, status, false)
+	m.updateStatusInternal(pod, status)
 }
 
 func (m *manager) SetContainerReadiness(podUID types.UID, containerID kubecontainer.ContainerID, ready bool) {
@@ -211,32 +212,31 @@ func (m *manager) SetContainerReadiness(podUID types.UID, containerID kubecontai
 		status.Conditions = append(status.Conditions, readyCondition)
 	}
 
-	m.updateStatusInternal(pod, status, false)
+	m.updateStatusInternal(pod, status)
 }
 
-func (m *manager) TerminatePod(pod *api.Pod) {
+func (m *manager) TerminatePods(pods []*api.Pod) bool {
+	allSent := true
 	m.podStatusesLock.Lock()
 	defer m.podStatusesLock.Unlock()
-	oldStatus := &pod.Status
-	if cachedStatus, ok := m.podStatuses[pod.UID]; ok {
-		oldStatus = &cachedStatus.status
-	}
-	status, err := copyStatus(oldStatus)
-	if err != nil {
-		return
-	}
-	for i := range status.ContainerStatuses {
-		status.ContainerStatuses[i].State = api.ContainerState{
-			Terminated: &api.ContainerStateTerminated{},
+	for _, pod := range pods {
+		for i := range pod.Status.ContainerStatuses {
+			pod.Status.ContainerStatuses[i].State = api.ContainerState{
+				Terminated: &api.ContainerStateTerminated{},
+			}
+		}
+		if sent := m.updateStatusInternal(pod, pod.Status); !sent {
+			glog.V(4).Infof("Termination notice for %q was dropped because the status channel is full", format.Pod(pod))
+			allSent = false
 		}
 	}
-	m.updateStatusInternal(pod, pod.Status, true)
+	return allSent
 }
 
 // updateStatusInternal updates the internal status cache, and queues an update to the api server if
 // necessary. Returns whether an update was triggered.
 // This method IS NOT THREAD SAFE and must be called from a locked function.
-func (m *manager) updateStatusInternal(pod *api.Pod, status api.PodStatus, forceUpdate bool) bool {
+func (m *manager) updateStatusInternal(pod *api.Pod, status api.PodStatus) bool {
 	var oldStatus api.PodStatus
 	cachedStatus, isCached := m.podStatuses[pod.UID]
 	if isCached {
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ func (m *manager) updateStatusInternal(pod *api.Pod, status api.PodStatus, force
 	normalizeStatus(&status)
 	// The intent here is to prevent concurrent updates to a pod's status from
 	// clobbering each other so the phase of a pod progresses monotonically.
-	if isCached && isStatusEqual(&cachedStatus.status, &status) && !forceUpdate {
+	if isCached && isStatusEqual(&cachedStatus.status, &status) && pod.DeletionTimestamp == nil {
 		glog.V(3).Infof("Ignoring same status for pod %q, status: %+v", format.Pod(pod), status)
 		return false // No new status.
 	}
@@ -289,8 +289,6 @@ func (m *manager) updateStatusInternal(pod *api.Pod, status api.PodStatus, force
 	default:
 		// Let the periodic syncBatch handle the update if the channel is full.
 		// We can't block, since we hold the mutex lock.
-		glog.V(4).Infof("Skpping the status update for pod %q for now because the channel is full; status: %+v",
-			format.Pod(pod), status)
 		return false
 	}
 }