diff --git a/pkg/controller/nodelifecycle/node_lifecycle_controller.go b/pkg/controller/nodelifecycle/node_lifecycle_controller.go
index f721145b773..4784e404894 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/nodelifecycle/node_lifecycle_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/nodelifecycle/node_lifecycle_controller.go
@@ -206,6 +206,8 @@ type Controller struct {
 	nodeLister          corelisters.NodeLister
 	nodeInformerSynced  cache.InformerSynced
 
+	getPodsAssignedToNode func(nodeName string) ([]v1.Pod, error)
+
 	recorder record.EventRecorder
 
 	// Value controlling Controller monitoring period, i.e. how often does Controller
@@ -363,42 +365,42 @@ func NewNodeLifecycleController(
 		},
 	})
 	nc.podInformerSynced = podInformer.Informer().HasSynced
+	podInformer.Informer().AddIndexers(cache.Indexers{
+		nodeNameKeyIndex: func(obj interface{}) ([]string, error) {
+			pod, ok := obj.(*v1.Pod)
+			if !ok {
+				return []string{}, nil
+			}
+			if len(pod.Spec.NodeName) == 0 {
+				return []string{}, nil
+			}
+			return []string{pod.Spec.NodeName}, nil
+		},
+	})
+
+	podIndexer := podInformer.Informer().GetIndexer()
+	nc.getPodsAssignedToNode = func(nodeName string) ([]v1.Pod, error) {
+		objs, err := podIndexer.ByIndex(nodeNameKeyIndex, nodeName)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		pods := make([]v1.Pod, 0, len(objs))
+		for _, obj := range objs {
+			pod, ok := obj.(*v1.Pod)
+			if !ok {
+				continue
+			}
+			pods = append(pods, *pod)
+		}
+		return pods, nil
+	}
 
 	if nc.runTaintManager {
-		podInformer.Informer().AddIndexers(cache.Indexers{
-			nodeNameKeyIndex: func(obj interface{}) ([]string, error) {
-				pod, ok := obj.(*v1.Pod)
-				if !ok {
-					return []string{}, nil
-				}
-				if len(pod.Spec.NodeName) == 0 {
-					return []string{}, nil
-				}
-				return []string{pod.Spec.NodeName}, nil
-			},
-		})
-
-		podIndexer := podInformer.Informer().GetIndexer()
 		podLister := podInformer.Lister()
 		podGetter := func(name, namespace string) (*v1.Pod, error) { return podLister.Pods(namespace).Get(name) }
-		podByNodeNameLister := func(nodeName string) ([]v1.Pod, error) {
-			objs, err := podIndexer.ByIndex(nodeNameKeyIndex, nodeName)
-			if err != nil {
-				return nil, err
-			}
-			pods := make([]v1.Pod, 0, len(objs))
-			for _, obj := range objs {
-				pod, ok := obj.(*v1.Pod)
-				if !ok {
-					continue
-				}
-				pods = append(pods, *pod)
-			}
-			return pods, nil
-		}
 		nodeLister := nodeInformer.Lister()
 		nodeGetter := func(name string) (*v1.Node, error) { return nodeLister.Get(name) }
-		nc.taintManager = scheduler.NewNoExecuteTaintManager(kubeClient, podGetter, nodeGetter, podByNodeNameLister)
+		nc.taintManager = scheduler.NewNoExecuteTaintManager(kubeClient, podGetter, nodeGetter, nc.getPodsAssignedToNode)
 		nodeInformer.Informer().AddEventHandler(cache.ResourceEventHandlerFuncs{
 			AddFunc: nodeutil.CreateAddNodeHandler(func(node *v1.Node) error {
 				nc.taintManager.NodeUpdated(nil, node)