diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_container.go b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_container.go
index d01b91e8ba7..f9f5b03898a 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_container.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_container.go
@@ -385,34 +385,11 @@ func (m *kubeGenericRuntimeManager) getPodContainerStatuses(uid kubetypes.UID, n
 			glog.Errorf("ContainerStatus for %s error: %v", c.Id, err)
 			return nil, err
 		}
-
-		annotatedInfo := getContainerInfoFromAnnotations(c.Annotations)
-		labeledInfo := getContainerInfoFromLabels(c.Labels)
-		cStatus := &kubecontainer.ContainerStatus{
-			ID: kubecontainer.ContainerID{
-				Type: m.runtimeName,
-				ID:   c.Id,
-			},
-			Name:         labeledInfo.ContainerName,
-			Image:        status.Image.Image,
-			ImageID:      status.ImageRef,
-			Hash:         annotatedInfo.Hash,
-			RestartCount: annotatedInfo.RestartCount,
-			State:        toKubeContainerState(c.State),
-			CreatedAt:    time.Unix(0, status.CreatedAt),
-		}
-
-		if c.State != runtimeapi.ContainerState_CONTAINER_CREATED {
-			// If container is not in the created state, we have tried and
-			// started the container. Set the StartedAt time.
-			cStatus.StartedAt = time.Unix(0, status.StartedAt)
-		}
-		if c.State == runtimeapi.ContainerState_CONTAINER_EXITED {
-			cStatus.Reason = status.Reason
-			cStatus.Message = status.Message
-			cStatus.ExitCode = int(status.ExitCode)
-			cStatus.FinishedAt = time.Unix(0, status.FinishedAt)
-
+		cStatus := toKubeContainerStatus(status, m.runtimeName)
+		if status.State == runtimeapi.ContainerState_CONTAINER_EXITED {
+			// Populate the termination message if needed.
+			annotatedInfo := getContainerInfoFromAnnotations(status.Annotations)
+			labeledInfo := getContainerInfoFromLabels(status.Labels)
 			fallbackToLogs := annotatedInfo.TerminationMessagePolicy == v1.TerminationMessageFallbackToLogsOnError && (cStatus.ExitCode != 0 || cStatus.Reason == "OOMKilled")
 			tMessage, checkLogs := getTerminationMessage(status, annotatedInfo.TerminationMessagePath, fallbackToLogs)
 			if checkLogs {
@@ -424,7 +401,6 @@ func (m *kubeGenericRuntimeManager) getPodContainerStatuses(uid kubetypes.UID, n
 				cStatus.Message = tMessage
 			}
 		}
-
 		statuses[i] = cStatus
 	}
 
@@ -432,6 +408,37 @@ func (m *kubeGenericRuntimeManager) getPodContainerStatuses(uid kubetypes.UID, n
 	return statuses, nil
 }
 
+func toKubeContainerStatus(status *runtimeapi.ContainerStatus, runtimeName string) *kubecontainer.ContainerStatus {
+	annotatedInfo := getContainerInfoFromAnnotations(status.Annotations)
+	labeledInfo := getContainerInfoFromLabels(status.Labels)
+	cStatus := &kubecontainer.ContainerStatus{
+		ID: kubecontainer.ContainerID{
+			Type: runtimeName,
+			ID:   status.Id,
+		},
+		Name:         labeledInfo.ContainerName,
+		Image:        status.Image.Image,
+		ImageID:      status.ImageRef,
+		Hash:         annotatedInfo.Hash,
+		RestartCount: annotatedInfo.RestartCount,
+		State:        toKubeContainerState(status.State),
+		CreatedAt:    time.Unix(0, status.CreatedAt),
+	}
+
+	if status.State != runtimeapi.ContainerState_CONTAINER_CREATED {
+		// If container is not in the created state, we have tried and
+		// started the container. Set the StartedAt time.
+		cStatus.StartedAt = time.Unix(0, status.StartedAt)
+	}
+	if status.State == runtimeapi.ContainerState_CONTAINER_EXITED {
+		cStatus.Reason = status.Reason
+		cStatus.Message = status.Message
+		cStatus.ExitCode = int(status.ExitCode)
+		cStatus.FinishedAt = time.Unix(0, status.FinishedAt)
+	}
+	return cStatus
+}
+
 // generateContainerEvent generates an event for the container.
 func (m *kubeGenericRuntimeManager) generateContainerEvent(containerID kubecontainer.ContainerID, eventType, reason, message string) {
 	ref, ok := m.containerRefManager.GetRef(containerID)
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_container_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_container_test.go
index a28faaecc87..3f0d99ffcc9 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_container_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/kuberuntime_container_test.go
@@ -19,11 +19,14 @@ package kuberuntime
 import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/v1"
 	runtimeapi "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/apis/cri/v1alpha1"
+	kubecontainer "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/container"
 	containertest "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/container/testing"
 )
 
@@ -65,3 +68,100 @@ func TestRemoveContainer(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 	assert.Empty(t, containers)
 }
+
+// TestToKubeContainerStatus tests the converting the CRI container status to
+// the internal type (i.e., toKubeContainerStatus()) for containers in
+// different states.
+func TestToKubeContainerStatus(t *testing.T) {
+	cid := &kubecontainer.ContainerID{Type: "testRuntime", ID: "dummyid"}
+	meta := &runtimeapi.ContainerMetadata{Name: "cname", Attempt: 3}
+	imageSpec := &runtimeapi.ImageSpec{Image: "fimage"}
+	var (
+		createdAt  int64 = 327
+		startedAt  int64 = 999
+		finishedAt int64 = 1278
+	)
+
+	for desc, test := range map[string]struct {
+		input    *runtimeapi.ContainerStatus
+		expected *kubecontainer.ContainerStatus
+	}{
+		"created container": {
+			input: &runtimeapi.ContainerStatus{
+				Id:        cid.ID,
+				Metadata:  meta,
+				Image:     imageSpec,
+				State:     runtimeapi.ContainerState_CONTAINER_CREATED,
+				CreatedAt: createdAt,
+			},
+			expected: &kubecontainer.ContainerStatus{
+				ID:        *cid,
+				Image:     imageSpec.Image,
+				State:     kubecontainer.ContainerStateCreated,
+				CreatedAt: time.Unix(0, createdAt),
+			},
+		},
+		"running container": {
+			input: &runtimeapi.ContainerStatus{
+				Id:        cid.ID,
+				Metadata:  meta,
+				Image:     imageSpec,
+				State:     runtimeapi.ContainerState_CONTAINER_RUNNING,
+				CreatedAt: createdAt,
+				StartedAt: startedAt,
+			},
+			expected: &kubecontainer.ContainerStatus{
+				ID:        *cid,
+				Image:     imageSpec.Image,
+				State:     kubecontainer.ContainerStateRunning,
+				CreatedAt: time.Unix(0, createdAt),
+				StartedAt: time.Unix(0, startedAt),
+			},
+		},
+		"exited container": {
+			input: &runtimeapi.ContainerStatus{
+				Id:         cid.ID,
+				Metadata:   meta,
+				Image:      imageSpec,
+				State:      runtimeapi.ContainerState_CONTAINER_EXITED,
+				CreatedAt:  createdAt,
+				StartedAt:  startedAt,
+				FinishedAt: finishedAt,
+				ExitCode:   int32(121),
+				Reason:     "GotKilled",
+				Message:    "The container was killed",
+			},
+			expected: &kubecontainer.ContainerStatus{
+				ID:         *cid,
+				Image:      imageSpec.Image,
+				State:      kubecontainer.ContainerStateExited,
+				CreatedAt:  time.Unix(0, createdAt),
+				StartedAt:  time.Unix(0, startedAt),
+				FinishedAt: time.Unix(0, finishedAt),
+				ExitCode:   121,
+				Reason:     "GotKilled",
+				Message:    "The container was killed",
+			},
+		},
+		"unknown container": {
+			input: &runtimeapi.ContainerStatus{
+				Id:        cid.ID,
+				Metadata:  meta,
+				Image:     imageSpec,
+				State:     runtimeapi.ContainerState_CONTAINER_UNKNOWN,
+				CreatedAt: createdAt,
+				StartedAt: startedAt,
+			},
+			expected: &kubecontainer.ContainerStatus{
+				ID:        *cid,
+				Image:     imageSpec.Image,
+				State:     kubecontainer.ContainerStateUnknown,
+				CreatedAt: time.Unix(0, createdAt),
+				StartedAt: time.Unix(0, startedAt),
+			},
+		},
+	} {
+		actual := toKubeContainerStatus(test.input, cid.Type)
+		assert.Equal(t, test.expected, actual, desc)
+	}
+}