diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index 608deca39c7..5f7e6449173 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -914,7 +914,9 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) initializeModules() error {
 // initializeRuntimeDependentModules will initialize internal modules that require the container runtime to be up.
 func (kl *Kubelet) initializeRuntimeDependentModules() {
 	if err := kl.cadvisor.Start(); err != nil {
-		kl.runtimeState.setInternalError(fmt.Errorf("failed to start cAdvisor %v", err))
+		// Fail kubelet and rely on the babysitter to retry starting kubelet.
+		// TODO(random-liu): Add backoff logic in the babysitter
+		glog.Fatalf("Failed to start cAdvisor %v", err)
 	}
 	// eviction manager must start after cadvisor because it needs to know if the container runtime has a dedicated imagefs
 	if err := kl.evictionManager.Start(kl, kl.getActivePods, evictionMonitoringPeriod); err != nil {