diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/openstack/openstack_instances.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/openstack/openstack_instances.go
index 638b78508d8..61669e904df 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/openstack/openstack_instances.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/openstack/openstack_instances.go
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ func (i *Instances) NodeAddressesByProviderID(ctx context.Context, providerID st
 	return addresses, nil
 }
 
-// InstanceExistsByProviderID returns true if the instance with the given provider id still exists and is running.
+// InstanceExistsByProviderID returns true if the instance with the given provider id still exist.
 // If false is returned with no error, the instance will be immediately deleted by the cloud controller manager.
 func (i *Instances) InstanceExistsByProviderID(ctx context.Context, providerID string) (bool, error) {
 	instanceID, err := instanceIDFromProviderID(providerID)
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func (i *Instances) InstanceExistsByProviderID(ctx context.Context, providerID s
 		return false, err
 	}
 
-	server, err := servers.Get(i.compute, instanceID).Extract()
+	_, err := servers.Get(i.compute, instanceID).Extract()
 	if err != nil {
 		if isNotFound(err) {
 			return false, nil
@@ -122,11 +122,6 @@ func (i *Instances) InstanceExistsByProviderID(ctx context.Context, providerID s
 		return false, err
 	}
 
-	if server.Status != "ACTIVE" {
-		glog.Warningf("the instance %s is not active", instanceID)
-		return false, nil
-	}
-
 	return true, nil
 }