diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/prober/worker.go b/pkg/kubelet/prober/worker.go
index 86200fe1538..dbd723332dc 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/prober/worker.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/prober/worker.go
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ func (w *worker) doProbe(ctx context.Context) (keepGoing bool) {
 
 	w.resultsManager.Set(w.containerID, result, w.pod)
 
-	if (w.probeType == liveness && result == results.Failure) || (w.probeType == startup && (result == results.Success || result == results.Failure)) {
+	if (w.probeType == liveness && result == results.Failure) || w.probeType == startup {
 		// The container fails a liveness/startup check, it will need to be restarted.
 		// Stop probing until we see a new container ID. This is to reduce the
 		// chance of hitting #21751, where running `docker exec` when a