diff --git a/cluster/addons/fluentd-gcp/fluentd-gcp-ds.yaml b/cluster/addons/fluentd-gcp/fluentd-gcp-ds.yaml
index fce4eb58fc8..cd0a0129588 100644
--- a/cluster/addons/fluentd-gcp/fluentd-gcp-ds.yaml
+++ b/cluster/addons/fluentd-gcp/fluentd-gcp-ds.yaml
@@ -61,14 +61,14 @@ spec:
               then
                 exit 1;
               fi;
-              LAST_MODIFIED_DATE=`stat /var/log/fluentd-buffers | grep Modify | sed -r "s/Modify: (.*)/\1/"`;
-              LAST_MODIFIED_TIMESTAMP=`date -d "$LAST_MODIFIED_DATE" +%s`;
-              if [ `date +%s` -gt `expr $LAST_MODIFIED_TIMESTAMP + $STUCK_THRESHOLD_SECONDS` ];
+              touch -d "${STUCK_THRESHOLD_SECONDS} seconds ago" /tmp/marker-stuck;
+              if [[ -z "$(find /var/log/fluentd-buffers -type f -newer /tmp/marker-stuck -print -quit)" ]];
               then
                 rm -rf /var/log/fluentd-buffers;
                 exit 1;
               fi;
-              if [ `date +%s` -gt `expr $LAST_MODIFIED_TIMESTAMP + $LIVENESS_THRESHOLD_SECONDS` ];
+              touch -d "${LIVENESS_THRESHOLD_SECONDS} seconds ago" /tmp/marker-liveness;
+              if [[ -z "$(find /var/log/fluentd-buffers -type f -newer /tmp/marker-liveness -print -quit)" ]];
               then
                 exit 1;
               fi;