diff --git a/pkg/controller/nodelifecycle/BUILD b/pkg/controller/nodelifecycle/BUILD
index 4647d724ca8..b0ac82c6737 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/nodelifecycle/BUILD
+++ b/pkg/controller/nodelifecycle/BUILD
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ go_test(
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/equality:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/resource:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1:go_default_library",
+        "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/fields:go_default_library",
+        "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/feature:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/informers:go_default_library",
diff --git a/pkg/controller/nodelifecycle/node_lifecycle_controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/nodelifecycle/node_lifecycle_controller_test.go
index bb36b1a7890..8165c3b4060 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/nodelifecycle/node_lifecycle_controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/nodelifecycle/node_lifecycle_controller_test.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 package nodelifecycle
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -27,6 +28,8 @@ import (
 	apiequality "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/equality"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/resource"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/fields"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff"
 	utilfeature "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/feature"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/informers"
@@ -60,6 +63,20 @@ const (
 
 func alwaysReady() bool { return true }
 
+func fakeGetPodsAssignedToNode(c *fake.Clientset) func(string) ([]v1.Pod, error) {
+	return func(nodeName string) ([]v1.Pod, error) {
+		selector := fields.SelectorFromSet(fields.Set{"spec.nodeName": nodeName})
+		pods, err := c.CoreV1().Pods(v1.NamespaceAll).List(metav1.ListOptions{
+			FieldSelector: selector.String(),
+			LabelSelector: labels.Everything().String(),
+		})
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get Pods assigned to node %v", nodeName)
+		}
+		return pods.Items, nil
+	}
+}
+
 type nodeLifecycleController struct {
 	*Controller
 	leaseInformer     coordinformers.LeaseInformer
@@ -646,6 +663,7 @@ func TestMonitorNodeHealthEvictPods(t *testing.T) {
 			false)
 		nodeController.now = func() metav1.Time { return fakeNow }
 		nodeController.recorder = testutil.NewFakeRecorder()
+		nodeController.getPodsAssignedToNode = fakeGetPodsAssignedToNode(item.fakeNodeHandler.Clientset)
 		for _, ds := range item.daemonSets {
 			nodeController.daemonSetInformer.Informer().GetStore().Add(&ds)
 		}
@@ -806,6 +824,7 @@ func TestPodStatusChange(t *testing.T) {
 			false)
 		nodeController.now = func() metav1.Time { return fakeNow }
 		nodeController.recorder = testutil.NewFakeRecorder()
+		nodeController.getPodsAssignedToNode = fakeGetPodsAssignedToNode(item.fakeNodeHandler.Clientset)
 		if err := nodeController.syncNodeStore(item.fakeNodeHandler); err != nil {
 			t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
 		}
@@ -1329,10 +1348,11 @@ func TestMonitorNodeHealthEvictPodsWithDisruption(t *testing.T) {
 			testNodeMonitorPeriod,
 			false)
 		nodeController.now = func() metav1.Time { return fakeNow }
+		nodeController.recorder = testutil.NewFakeRecorder()
+		nodeController.getPodsAssignedToNode = fakeGetPodsAssignedToNode(fakeNodeHandler.Clientset)
 		nodeController.enterPartialDisruptionFunc = func(nodeNum int) float32 {
 			return testRateLimiterQPS
 		}
-		nodeController.recorder = testutil.NewFakeRecorder()
 		nodeController.enterFullDisruptionFunc = func(nodeNum int) float32 {
 			return testRateLimiterQPS
 		}
@@ -1615,6 +1635,7 @@ func TestMonitorNodeHealthUpdateStatus(t *testing.T) {
 			false)
 		nodeController.now = func() metav1.Time { return fakeNow }
 		nodeController.recorder = testutil.NewFakeRecorder()
+		nodeController.getPodsAssignedToNode = fakeGetPodsAssignedToNode(item.fakeNodeHandler.Clientset)
 		if err := nodeController.syncNodeStore(item.fakeNodeHandler); err != nil {
 			t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
 		}
@@ -2159,6 +2180,7 @@ func TestMonitorNodeHealthUpdateNodeAndPodStatusWithLease(t *testing.T) {
 				false)
 			nodeController.now = func() metav1.Time { return fakeNow }
 			nodeController.recorder = testutil.NewFakeRecorder()
+			nodeController.getPodsAssignedToNode = fakeGetPodsAssignedToNode(item.fakeNodeHandler.Clientset)
 			if err := nodeController.syncNodeStore(item.fakeNodeHandler); err != nil {
 				t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
 			}
@@ -2322,6 +2344,7 @@ func TestMonitorNodeHealthMarkPodsNotReady(t *testing.T) {
 			false)
 		nodeController.now = func() metav1.Time { return fakeNow }
 		nodeController.recorder = testutil.NewFakeRecorder()
+		nodeController.getPodsAssignedToNode = fakeGetPodsAssignedToNode(item.fakeNodeHandler.Clientset)
 		if err := nodeController.syncNodeStore(item.fakeNodeHandler); err != nil {
 			t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
 		}
@@ -2451,6 +2474,7 @@ func TestApplyNoExecuteTaints(t *testing.T) {
 		true)
 	nodeController.now = func() metav1.Time { return fakeNow }
 	nodeController.recorder = testutil.NewFakeRecorder()
+	nodeController.getPodsAssignedToNode = fakeGetPodsAssignedToNode(fakeNodeHandler.Clientset)
 	if err := nodeController.syncNodeStore(fakeNodeHandler); err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -2591,6 +2615,7 @@ func TestSwapUnreachableNotReadyTaints(t *testing.T) {
 		true)
 	nodeController.now = func() metav1.Time { return fakeNow }
 	nodeController.recorder = testutil.NewFakeRecorder()
+	nodeController.getPodsAssignedToNode = fakeGetPodsAssignedToNode(fakeNodeHandler.Clientset)
 	if err := nodeController.syncNodeStore(fakeNodeHandler); err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -2692,6 +2717,7 @@ func TestTaintsNodeByCondition(t *testing.T) {
 		true)
 	nodeController.now = func() metav1.Time { return fakeNow }
 	nodeController.recorder = testutil.NewFakeRecorder()
+	nodeController.getPodsAssignedToNode = fakeGetPodsAssignedToNode(fakeNodeHandler.Clientset)
 
 	networkUnavailableTaint := &v1.Taint{
 		Key:    schedulerapi.TaintNodeNetworkUnavailable,
@@ -2886,6 +2912,7 @@ func TestNodeEventGeneration(t *testing.T) {
 	nodeController.now = func() metav1.Time { return fakeNow }
 	fakeRecorder := testutil.NewFakeRecorder()
 	nodeController.recorder = fakeRecorder
+	nodeController.getPodsAssignedToNode = fakeGetPodsAssignedToNode(fakeNodeHandler.Clientset)
 
 	if err := nodeController.syncNodeStore(fakeNodeHandler); err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
@@ -2955,6 +2982,7 @@ func TestReconcileNodeLabels(t *testing.T) {
 		true)
 	nodeController.now = func() metav1.Time { return fakeNow }
 	nodeController.recorder = testutil.NewFakeRecorder()
+	nodeController.getPodsAssignedToNode = fakeGetPodsAssignedToNode(fakeNodeHandler.Clientset)
 
 	tests := []struct {
 		Name           string
@@ -3098,6 +3126,7 @@ func TestTryUpdateNodeHealth(t *testing.T) {
 		true)
 	nodeController.now = func() metav1.Time { return fakeNow }
 	nodeController.recorder = testutil.NewFakeRecorder()
+	nodeController.getPodsAssignedToNode = fakeGetPodsAssignedToNode(fakeNodeHandler.Clientset)
 
 	getStatus := func(cond *v1.NodeCondition) *v1.ConditionStatus {
 		if cond == nil {