diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static.go b/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static.go
index 58996d18b13..651e5fe79c9 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static.go
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ func (p *staticPolicy) validateState(s state.State) error {
 	}
 
 	// State has already been initialized from file (is not empty)
-	// 1 Check if the reserved cpuset is not part of default cpuset because:
+	// 1. Check if the reserved cpuset is not part of default cpuset because:
 	// - kube/system reserved have changed (increased) - may lead to some containers not being able to start
 	// - user tampered with file
 	if !p.reserved.Intersection(tmpDefaultCPUset).Equals(p.reserved) {
@@ -145,6 +145,23 @@ func (p *staticPolicy) validateState(s state.State) error {
 				cID, cset.String(), tmpDefaultCPUset.String())
 		}
 	}
+
+	// 3. It's possible that the set of available CPUs has changed since
+	// the state was written. This can be due to for example
+	// offlining a CPU when kubelet is not running. If this happens,
+	// CPU manager will run into trouble when later it tries to
+	// assign non-existent CPUs to containers. Validate that the
+	// topology that was received during CPU manager startup matches with
+	// the set of CPUs stored in the state.
+	totalKnownCPUs := tmpDefaultCPUset.Clone()
+	for _, cset := range tmpAssignments {
+		totalKnownCPUs = totalKnownCPUs.Union(cset)
+	}
+	if !totalKnownCPUs.Equals(p.topology.CPUDetails.CPUs()) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("current set of available CPUs \"%s\" doesn't match with CPUs in state \"%s\"",
+			p.topology.CPUDetails.CPUs().String(), totalKnownCPUs.String())
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static_test.go
index a1bc3517baf..d4d84d0da19 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static_test.go
@@ -87,6 +87,26 @@ func TestStaticPolicyStart(t *testing.T) {
 			stDefaultCPUSet: cpuset.NewCPUSet(2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11),
 			expPanic:        true,
 		},
+		{
+			description: "core 12 is not present in topology but is in state cpuset",
+			topo:        topoDualSocketHT,
+			stAssignments: state.ContainerCPUAssignments{
+				"0": cpuset.NewCPUSet(0, 1, 2),
+				"1": cpuset.NewCPUSet(3, 4),
+			},
+			stDefaultCPUSet: cpuset.NewCPUSet(5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12),
+			expPanic:        true,
+		},
+		{
+			description: "core 11 is present in topology but is not in state cpuset",
+			topo:        topoDualSocketHT,
+			stAssignments: state.ContainerCPUAssignments{
+				"0": cpuset.NewCPUSet(0, 1, 2),
+				"1": cpuset.NewCPUSet(3, 4),
+			},
+			stDefaultCPUSet: cpuset.NewCPUSet(5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10),
+			expPanic:        true,
+		},
 	}
 	for _, testCase := range testCases {
 		t.Run(testCase.description, func(t *testing.T) {