diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index 383d1a1aed8..43cafe1330f 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -1894,31 +1894,6 @@ 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 {
@@ -2110,10 +2085,6 @@ 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
@@ -2374,6 +2345,13 @@ 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 ae1871a6f63..e6e4b2ca72b 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/status/manager.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/status/manager.go
@@ -83,10 +83,9 @@ type Manager interface {
 	// triggers a status update.
 	SetContainerReadiness(podUID types.UID, containerID kubecontainer.ContainerID, ready bool)
 
-	// 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
+	// TerminatePod resets the container status for the provided pod to terminated and triggers
+	// a status update.
+	TerminatePod(pod *api.Pod)
 
 	// RemoveOrphanedStatuses scans the status cache and removes any entries for pods not included in
 	// the provided podUIDs.
@@ -147,7 +146,7 @@ func (m *manager) SetPodStatus(pod *api.Pod, status api.PodStatus) {
 	m.podStatusesLock.Lock()
 	defer m.podStatusesLock.Unlock()
 
-	m.updateStatusInternal(pod, status)
+	m.updateStatusInternal(pod, status, false)
 }
 
 func (m *manager) SetContainerReadiness(podUID types.UID, containerID kubecontainer.ContainerID, ready bool) {
@@ -187,13 +186,10 @@ func (m *manager) SetContainerReadiness(podUID types.UID, containerID kubecontai
 		return
 	}
 
-	// Make sure we're not updating the cached version.
-	clone, err := api.Scheme.DeepCopy(&oldStatus.status)
+	status, err := copyStatus(&oldStatus.status)
 	if err != nil {
-		glog.Errorf("Failed to clone status %+v: %v", oldStatus.status, err)
 		return
 	}
-	status := *clone.(*api.PodStatus)
 	status.ContainerStatuses[containerIndex].Ready = ready
 
 	// Update pod condition.
@@ -212,31 +208,32 @@ func (m *manager) SetContainerReadiness(podUID types.UID, containerID kubecontai
 		status.Conditions = append(status.Conditions, readyCondition)
 	}
 
-	m.updateStatusInternal(pod, status)
+	m.updateStatusInternal(pod, status, false)
 }
 
-func (m *manager) TerminatePods(pods []*api.Pod) bool {
-	allSent := true
+func (m *manager) TerminatePod(pod *api.Pod) {
 	m.podStatusesLock.Lock()
 	defer m.podStatusesLock.Unlock()
-	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
+	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{},
 		}
 	}
-	return allSent
+	m.updateStatusInternal(pod, pod.Status, true)
 }
 
 // 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) bool {
+func (m *manager) updateStatusInternal(pod *api.Pod, status api.PodStatus, forceUpdate bool) bool {
 	var oldStatus api.PodStatus
 	cachedStatus, isCached := m.podStatuses[pod.UID]
 	if isCached {
@@ -269,7 +266,7 @@ func (m *manager) updateStatusInternal(pod *api.Pod, status api.PodStatus) bool
 
 	// 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) && pod.DeletionTimestamp == nil {
+	if isCached && isStatusEqual(&cachedStatus.status, &status) && !forceUpdate {
 		glog.V(3).Infof("Ignoring same status for pod %q, status: %+v", format.Pod(pod), status)
 		return false // No new status.
 	}
@@ -288,6 +285,8 @@ func (m *manager) updateStatusInternal(pod *api.Pod, status api.PodStatus) bool
 	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
 	}
 }
@@ -495,3 +494,13 @@ func notRunning(statuses []api.ContainerStatus) bool {
 	}
 	return true
 }
+
+func copyStatus(source *api.PodStatus) (api.PodStatus, error) {
+	clone, err := api.Scheme.DeepCopy(source)
+	if err != nil {
+		glog.Errorf("Failed to clone status %+v: %v", source, err)
+		return api.PodStatus{}, err
+	}
+	status := *clone.(*api.PodStatus)
+	return status, nil
+}