diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_container.go b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_container.go
index bd7a5ba6c92..7a999913e0a 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_container.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_container.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 package kuberuntime
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"math/rand"
@@ -48,6 +49,12 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/tail"
 )
 
+var (
+	ErrCreateContainerConfig = errors.New("CreateContainerConfigError")
+	ErrCreateContainer       = errors.New("CreateContainerError")
+	ErrPostStartHook         = errors.New("PostStartHookError")
+)
+
 // recordContainerEvent should be used by the runtime manager for all container related events.
 // it has sanity checks to ensure that we do not write events that can abuse our masters.
 // in particular, it ensures that a containerID never appears in an event message as that
@@ -102,12 +109,12 @@ func (m *kubeGenericRuntimeManager) startContainer(podSandboxID string, podSandb
 	containerConfig, err := m.generateContainerConfig(container, pod, restartCount, podIP, imageRef)
 	if err != nil {
 		m.recordContainerEvent(pod, container, "", v1.EventTypeWarning, events.FailedToCreateContainer, "Error: %v", grpc.ErrorDesc(err))
-		return "Generate Container Config Failed", err
+		return grpc.ErrorDesc(err), ErrCreateContainerConfig
 	}
 	containerID, err := m.runtimeService.CreateContainer(podSandboxID, containerConfig, podSandboxConfig)
 	if err != nil {
 		m.recordContainerEvent(pod, container, containerID, v1.EventTypeWarning, events.FailedToCreateContainer, "Error: %v", grpc.ErrorDesc(err))
-		return "Create Container Failed", err
+		return grpc.ErrorDesc(err), ErrCreateContainer
 	}
 	m.recordContainerEvent(pod, container, containerID, v1.EventTypeNormal, events.CreatedContainer, "Created container")
 
@@ -122,7 +129,7 @@ func (m *kubeGenericRuntimeManager) startContainer(podSandboxID string, podSandb
 	err = m.runtimeService.StartContainer(containerID)
 	if err != nil {
 		m.recordContainerEvent(pod, container, containerID, v1.EventTypeWarning, events.FailedToStartContainer, "Error: %v", grpc.ErrorDesc(err))
-		return "Start Container Failed", err
+		return grpc.ErrorDesc(err), kubecontainer.ErrRunContainer
 	}
 	m.recordContainerEvent(pod, container, containerID, v1.EventTypeNormal, events.StartedContainer, "Started container")
 
@@ -149,7 +156,7 @@ func (m *kubeGenericRuntimeManager) startContainer(podSandboxID string, podSandb
 		if handlerErr != nil {
 			m.recordContainerEvent(pod, container, kubeContainerID.ID, v1.EventTypeWarning, events.FailedPostStartHook, msg)
 			m.killContainer(pod, kubeContainerID, container.Name, "FailedPostStartHook", nil)
-			return "PostStart Hook Failed", err
+			return msg, ErrPostStartHook
 		}
 	}