diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/container/runtime.go b/pkg/kubelet/container/runtime.go
index 73f5919486a..93454b6b9fb 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/container/runtime.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/container/runtime.go
@@ -154,6 +154,11 @@ type Pod struct {
 	// List of containers that belongs to this pod. It may contain only
 	// running containers, or mixed with dead ones (when GetPods(true)).
 	Containers []*Container
+	// List of sandboxes associated with this pod. The sandboxes are converted
+	// to Container temporariliy to avoid substantial changes to other
+	// components. This is only populated by kuberuntime.
+	// TODO: use the runtimeApi.PodSandbox type directly.
+	Sandboxes []*Container
 }
 
 // PodPair contains both runtime#Pod and api#Pod
@@ -463,6 +468,15 @@ func (p *Pod) FindContainerByID(id ContainerID) *Container {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (p *Pod) FindSandboxByID(id ContainerID) *Container {
+	for _, c := range p.Sandboxes {
+		if c.ID == id {
+			return c
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // ToAPIPod converts Pod to api.Pod. Note that if a field in api.Pod has no
 // corresponding field in Pod, the field would not be populated.
 func (p *Pod) ToAPIPod() *api.Pod {
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/helpers.go b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/helpers.go
index 69634956459..c7909b49d78 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/helpers.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/helpers.go
@@ -77,6 +77,21 @@ func toKubeContainerState(state runtimeApi.ContainerState) kubecontainer.Contain
 	return kubecontainer.ContainerStateUnknown
 }
 
+// sandboxToKubeContainerState converts runtimeApi.PodSandboxState to
+// kubecontainer.ContainerState.
+// This is only needed because we need to return sandboxes as if they were
+// kubecontainer.Containers to avoid substantial changes to PLEG.
+// TODO: Remove this once it becomes obsolete.
+func sandboxToKubeContainerState(state runtimeApi.PodSandBoxState) kubecontainer.ContainerState {
+	switch state {
+	case runtimeApi.PodSandBoxState_READY:
+		return kubecontainer.ContainerStateRunning
+	case runtimeApi.PodSandBoxState_NOTREADY:
+		return kubecontainer.ContainerStateExited
+	}
+	return kubecontainer.ContainerStateUnknown
+}
+
 // toRuntimeProtocol converts api.Protocol to runtimeApi.Protocol.
 func toRuntimeProtocol(protocol api.Protocol) runtimeApi.Protocol {
 	switch protocol {
@@ -107,6 +122,21 @@ func (m *kubeGenericRuntimeManager) toKubeContainer(c *runtimeApi.Container) (*k
 	}, nil
 }
 
+// sandboxToKubeContainer converts runtimeApi.PodSandbox to kubecontainer.Container.
+// This is only needed because we need to return sandboxes as if they were
+// kubecontainer.Containers to avoid substantial changes to PLEG.
+// TODO: Remove this once it becomes obsolete.
+func (m *kubeGenericRuntimeManager) sandboxToKubeContainer(s *runtimeApi.PodSandbox) (*kubecontainer.Container, error) {
+	if s == nil || s.Id == nil || s.State == nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to convert a nil pointer to a runtime container")
+	}
+
+	return &kubecontainer.Container{
+		ID:    kubecontainer.ContainerID{Type: m.runtimeName, ID: s.GetId()},
+		State: sandboxToKubeContainerState(s.GetState()),
+	}, nil
+}
+
 // milliCPUToShares converts milliCPU to CPU shares
 func milliCPUToShares(milliCPU int64) int64 {
 	if milliCPU == 0 {
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_manager.go b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_manager.go
index fe5d5112190..636e0f6c7dc 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_manager.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_manager.go
@@ -230,20 +230,40 @@ func (m *kubeGenericRuntimeManager) GetPods(all bool) ([]*kubecontainer.Pod, err
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	for _, s := range sandboxes {
-		podUID := kubetypes.UID(s.Metadata.GetUid())
-		pods[podUID] = &kubecontainer.Pod{
-			ID:        podUID,
-			Name:      s.Metadata.GetName(),
-			Namespace: s.Metadata.GetNamespace(),
+	for i := range sandboxes {
+		s := sandboxes[i]
+		if s.Metadata == nil {
+			glog.V(4).Infof("Sandbox does not have metadata: %+v", s)
+			continue
 		}
+		podUID := kubetypes.UID(s.Metadata.GetUid())
+		if _, ok := pods[podUID]; !ok {
+			pods[podUID] = &kubecontainer.Pod{
+				ID:        podUID,
+				Name:      s.Metadata.GetName(),
+				Namespace: s.Metadata.GetNamespace(),
+			}
+		}
+		p := pods[podUID]
+		converted, err := m.sandboxToKubeContainer(s)
+		if err != nil {
+			glog.V(4).Infof("Convert %q sandbox %v of pod %q failed: %v", m.runtimeName, s, podUID, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		p.Sandboxes = append(p.Sandboxes, converted)
 	}
 
 	containers, err := m.getKubeletContainers(all)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	for _, c := range containers {
+	for i := range containers {
+		c := containers[i]
+		if c.Metadata == nil {
+			glog.V(4).Infof("Container does not have metadata: %+v", c)
+			continue
+		}
+
 		labelledInfo := getContainerInfoFromLabels(c.Labels)
 		pod, found := pods[labelledInfo.PodUID]
 		if !found {
@@ -257,7 +277,7 @@ func (m *kubeGenericRuntimeManager) GetPods(all bool) ([]*kubecontainer.Pod, err
 
 		converted, err := m.toKubeContainer(c)
 		if err != nil {
-			glog.Warningf("Convert %s container %v of pod %q failed: %v", m.runtimeName, c, labelledInfo.PodUID, err)
+			glog.V(4).Infof("Convert %s container %v of pod %q failed: %v", m.runtimeName, c, labelledInfo.PodUID, err)
 			continue
 		}
 
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_manager_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_manager_test.go
index 49d526cefcb..33003652550 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_manager_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_manager_test.go
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ func TestGetPods(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// Set fake sandbox and fake containers to fakeRuntime.
-	_, fakeContainers, err := makeAndSetFakePod(m, fakeRuntime, pod)
+	fakeSandbox, fakeContainers, err := makeAndSetFakePod(m, fakeRuntime, pod)
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 
 	// Convert the fakeContainers to kubecontainer.Container
@@ -259,12 +259,25 @@ func TestGetPods(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 		containers[i] = c
 	}
+	// Convert fakeSandbox to kubecontainer.Container
+	sandbox, err := m.sandboxToKubeContainer(&runtimeApi.PodSandbox{
+		Id:        fakeSandbox.Id,
+		Metadata:  fakeSandbox.Metadata,
+		State:     fakeSandbox.State,
+		CreatedAt: fakeSandbox.CreatedAt,
+		Labels:    fakeSandbox.Labels,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error %v", err)
+	}
+
 	expected := []*kubecontainer.Pod{
 		{
 			ID:         kubetypes.UID("12345678"),
 			Name:       "foo",
 			Namespace:  "new",
 			Containers: []*kubecontainer.Container{containers[0], containers[1]},
+			Sandboxes:  []*kubecontainer.Container{sandbox},
 		},
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic.go b/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic.go
index 212debbe84d..5967185e64c 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic.go
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ func generateEvents(podID types.UID, cid string, oldState, newState plegContaine
 	if newState == oldState {
 		return nil
 	}
+
 	glog.V(4).Infof("GenericPLEG: %v/%v: %v -> %v", podID, cid, oldState, newState)
 	switch newState {
 	case plegContainerRunning:
@@ -294,6 +295,17 @@ func getContainersFromPods(pods ...*kubecontainer.Pod) []*kubecontainer.Containe
 			cidSet.Insert(cid)
 			containers = append(containers, c)
 		}
+		// Update sandboxes as containers
+		// TODO: keep track of sandboxes explicitly.
+		for _, c := range p.Sandboxes {
+			cid := string(c.ID.ID)
+			if cidSet.Has(cid) {
+				continue
+			}
+			cidSet.Insert(cid)
+			containers = append(containers, c)
+		}
+
 	}
 	return containers
 }
@@ -345,11 +357,17 @@ func getContainerState(pod *kubecontainer.Pod, cid *kubecontainer.ContainerID) p
 	if pod == nil {
 		return state
 	}
-	container := pod.FindContainerByID(*cid)
-	if container == nil {
-		return state
+	c := pod.FindContainerByID(*cid)
+	if c != nil {
+		return convertState(c.State)
 	}
-	return convertState(container.State)
+	// Search through sandboxes too.
+	c = pod.FindSandboxByID(*cid)
+	if c != nil {
+		return convertState(c.State)
+	}
+
+	return state
 }
 
 func (pr podRecords) getOld(id types.UID) *kubecontainer.Pod {
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic_test.go
index 6b5cce5110c..3536e9f48cc 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic_test.go
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ func TestRelisting(t *testing.T) {
 	actual := getEventsFromChannel(ch)
 	verifyEvents(t, expected, actual)
 
-	// The second relist should not send out any event because no container
+	// The second relist should not send out any event because no container has
 	// changed.
 	pleg.relist()
 	verifyEvents(t, expected, actual)
@@ -430,3 +430,69 @@ func TestRelistWithReinspection(t *testing.T) {
 	// containers was the same as relist #1, nothing "changed", so there are no new events.
 	assert.Exactly(t, []*PodLifecycleEvent{}, actualEvents)
 }
+
+// Test detecting sandbox state changes.
+func TestRelistingWithSandboxes(t *testing.T) {
+	testPleg := newTestGenericPLEG()
+	pleg, runtime := testPleg.pleg, testPleg.runtime
+	ch := pleg.Watch()
+	// The first relist should send a PodSync event to each pod.
+	runtime.AllPodList = []*containertest.FakePod{
+		{Pod: &kubecontainer.Pod{
+			ID: "1234",
+			Sandboxes: []*kubecontainer.Container{
+				createTestContainer("c1", kubecontainer.ContainerStateExited),
+				createTestContainer("c2", kubecontainer.ContainerStateRunning),
+				createTestContainer("c3", kubecontainer.ContainerStateUnknown),
+			},
+		}},
+		{Pod: &kubecontainer.Pod{
+			ID: "4567",
+			Sandboxes: []*kubecontainer.Container{
+				createTestContainer("c1", kubecontainer.ContainerStateExited),
+			},
+		}},
+	}
+	pleg.relist()
+	// Report every running/exited container if we see them for the first time.
+	expected := []*PodLifecycleEvent{
+		{ID: "1234", Type: ContainerStarted, Data: "c2"},
+		{ID: "4567", Type: ContainerDied, Data: "c1"},
+		{ID: "1234", Type: ContainerDied, Data: "c1"},
+	}
+	actual := getEventsFromChannel(ch)
+	verifyEvents(t, expected, actual)
+
+	// The second relist should not send out any event because no container has
+	// changed.
+	pleg.relist()
+	verifyEvents(t, expected, actual)
+
+	runtime.AllPodList = []*containertest.FakePod{
+		{Pod: &kubecontainer.Pod{
+			ID: "1234",
+			Sandboxes: []*kubecontainer.Container{
+				createTestContainer("c2", kubecontainer.ContainerStateExited),
+				createTestContainer("c3", kubecontainer.ContainerStateRunning),
+			},
+		}},
+		{Pod: &kubecontainer.Pod{
+			ID: "4567",
+			Sandboxes: []*kubecontainer.Container{
+				createTestContainer("c4", kubecontainer.ContainerStateRunning),
+			},
+		}},
+	}
+	pleg.relist()
+	// Only report containers that transitioned to running or exited status.
+	expected = []*PodLifecycleEvent{
+		{ID: "1234", Type: ContainerRemoved, Data: "c1"},
+		{ID: "1234", Type: ContainerDied, Data: "c2"},
+		{ID: "1234", Type: ContainerStarted, Data: "c3"},
+		{ID: "4567", Type: ContainerRemoved, Data: "c1"},
+		{ID: "4567", Type: ContainerStarted, Data: "c4"},
+	}
+
+	actual = getEventsFromChannel(ch)
+	verifyEvents(t, expected, actual)
+}