diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/status/status_manager.go b/pkg/kubelet/status/status_manager.go
index 4ff8e7b00a7..efd4abc8f19 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/status/status_manager.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/status/status_manager.go
@@ -135,6 +135,8 @@ func (m *manager) Start() {
 	go wait.Forever(func() {
 		select {
 		case syncRequest := <-m.podStatusChannel:
+			glog.V(5).Infof("Status Manager: syncing pod: %q, with status: (%d, %v) from podStatusChannel",
+				syncRequest.podUID, syncRequest.status.version, syncRequest.status.status)
 			m.syncPod(syncRequest.podUID, syncRequest.status)
 		case <-syncTicker:
 			m.syncBatch()
@@ -260,7 +262,7 @@ func (m *manager) TerminatePod(pod *v1.Pod) {
 			Terminated: &v1.ContainerStateTerminated{},
 		}
 	}
-	m.updateStatusInternal(pod, pod.Status, true)
+	m.updateStatusInternal(pod, status, true)
 }
 
 // updateStatusInternal updates the internal status cache, and queues an update to the api server if
@@ -326,6 +328,8 @@ func (m *manager) updateStatusInternal(pod *v1.Pod, status v1.PodStatus, forceUp
 
 	select {
 	case m.podStatusChannel <- podStatusSyncRequest{pod.UID, newStatus}:
+		glog.V(5).Infof("Status Manager: adding pod: %q, with status: (%q, %v) to podStatusChannel",
+			pod.UID, newStatus.version, newStatus.status)
 		return true
 	default:
 		// Let the periodic syncBatch handle the update if the channel is full.
@@ -395,6 +399,7 @@ func (m *manager) syncBatch() {
 	}()
 
 	for _, update := range updatedStatuses {
+		glog.V(5).Infof("Status Manager: syncPod in syncbatch. pod UID: %q", update.podUID)
 		m.syncPod(update.podUID, update.status)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/status/status_manager_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/status/status_manager_test.go
index 0ae1929c948..7a53194fa7e 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/status/status_manager_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/status/status_manager_test.go
@@ -583,6 +583,34 @@ func TestStaticPod(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestTerminatePod(t *testing.T) {
+	syncer := newTestManager(&fake.Clientset{})
+	testPod := getTestPod()
+	// update the pod's status to Failed.  TerminatePod should preserve this status update.
+	firstStatus := getRandomPodStatus()
+	firstStatus.Phase = v1.PodFailed
+	syncer.SetPodStatus(testPod, firstStatus)
+
+	// set the testPod to a pod with Phase running, to simulate a stale pod
+	testPod.Status = getRandomPodStatus()
+	testPod.Status.Phase = v1.PodRunning
+
+	syncer.TerminatePod(testPod)
+
+	// we expect the container statuses to have changed to terminated
+	newStatus := expectPodStatus(t, syncer, testPod)
+	for i := range newStatus.ContainerStatuses {
+		assert.False(t, newStatus.ContainerStatuses[i].State.Terminated == nil, "expected containers to be terminated")
+	}
+	for i := range newStatus.InitContainerStatuses {
+		assert.False(t, newStatus.InitContainerStatuses[i].State.Terminated == nil, "expected init containers to be terminated")
+	}
+
+	// we expect the previous status update to be preserved.
+	assert.Equal(t, newStatus.Phase, firstStatus.Phase)
+	assert.Equal(t, newStatus.Message, firstStatus.Message)
+}
+
 func TestSetContainerReadiness(t *testing.T) {
 	cID1 := kubecontainer.ContainerID{Type: "test", ID: "1"}
 	cID2 := kubecontainer.ContainerID{Type: "test", ID: "2"}