diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index ab98f07aee3..f80b9302b86 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -1525,6 +1525,9 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) syncPod(pod *api.Pod, mirrorPod *api.Pod, runningPod kubecont
 	} else {
 		var err error
 		podStatus, err = kl.generatePodStatus(pod)
+		// TODO (random-liu) It's strange that generatePodStatus generates some podStatus in
+		// the phase Failed, Pending etc, even with empty ContainerStatuses but still keep going
+		// on. Maybe need refactor here.
 		if err != nil {
 			glog.Errorf("Unable to get status for pod %q (uid %q): %v", podFullName, uid, err)
 			return err
@@ -1776,6 +1779,31 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) pastActiveDeadline(pod *api.Pod) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+// Get pods which should be resynchronized. Currently, the following pod should be resynchronized:
+//   * pod whose work is ready.
+//   * pod past the active deadline.
+func (kl *Kubelet) getPodsToSync() []*api.Pod {
+	allPods := kl.podManager.GetPods()
+	podUIDs := kl.workQueue.GetWork()
+	podUIDSet := sets.NewString()
+	for _, podUID := range podUIDs {
+		podUIDSet.Insert(string(podUID))
+	}
+	var podsToSync []*api.Pod
+	for _, pod := range allPods {
+		if kl.pastActiveDeadline(pod) {
+			// The pod has passed the active deadline
+			podsToSync = append(podsToSync, pod)
+			continue
+		}
+		if podUIDSet.Has(string(pod.UID)) {
+			// The work of the pod is ready
+			podsToSync = append(podsToSync, pod)
+		}
+	}
+	return podsToSync
+}
+
 // Returns true if pod is in the terminated state ("Failed" or "Succeeded").
 func (kl *Kubelet) podIsTerminated(pod *api.Pod) bool {
 	var status api.PodStatus
@@ -2130,13 +2158,7 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) syncLoopIteration(updates <-chan kubetypes.PodUpdate, handler
 			glog.Errorf("Kubelet does not support snapshot update")
 		}
 	case <-syncCh:
-		podUIDs := kl.workQueue.GetWork()
-		var podsToSync []*api.Pod
-		for _, uid := range podUIDs {
-			if pod, ok := kl.podManager.GetPodByUID(uid); ok {
-				podsToSync = append(podsToSync, pod)
-			}
-		}
+		podsToSync := kl.getPodsToSync()
 		if len(podsToSync) == 0 {
 			break
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
index f9bfeb28b75..cdec7b9447d 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
@@ -4014,3 +4014,56 @@ func TestExtractBandwidthResources(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestGetPodsToSync(t *testing.T) {
+	testKubelet := newTestKubelet(t)
+	kubelet := testKubelet.kubelet
+	pods := newTestPods(5)
+	podUIDs := []types.UID{}
+	for _, pod := range pods {
+		podUIDs = append(podUIDs, pod.UID)
+	}
+
+	exceededActiveDeadlineSeconds := int64(30)
+	notYetActiveDeadlineSeconds := int64(120)
+	now := unversioned.Now()
+	startTime := unversioned.NewTime(now.Time.Add(-1 * time.Minute))
+	pods[0].Status.StartTime = &startTime
+	pods[0].Spec.ActiveDeadlineSeconds = &exceededActiveDeadlineSeconds
+	pods[1].Status.StartTime = &startTime
+	pods[1].Spec.ActiveDeadlineSeconds = &notYetActiveDeadlineSeconds
+	pods[2].Status.StartTime = &startTime
+	pods[2].Spec.ActiveDeadlineSeconds = &exceededActiveDeadlineSeconds
+
+	kubelet.podManager.SetPods(pods)
+	kubelet.workQueue.Enqueue(pods[2].UID, 0)
+	kubelet.workQueue.Enqueue(pods[3].UID, 0)
+	kubelet.workQueue.Enqueue(pods[4].UID, time.Hour)
+
+	expectedPodsUID := []types.UID{pods[0].UID, pods[2].UID, pods[3].UID}
+
+	podsToSync := kubelet.getPodsToSync()
+
+	if len(podsToSync) == len(expectedPodsUID) {
+		var rightNum int
+		for _, podUID := range expectedPodsUID {
+			for _, podToSync := range podsToSync {
+				if podToSync.UID == podUID {
+					rightNum++
+					break
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		if rightNum != len(expectedPodsUID) {
+			// Just for report error
+			podsToSyncUID := []types.UID{}
+			for _, podToSync := range podsToSync {
+				podsToSyncUID = append(podsToSyncUID, podToSync.UID)
+			}
+			t.Errorf("expected pods %v to sync, got %v", expectedPodsUID, podsToSyncUID)
+		}
+
+	} else {
+		t.Errorf("expected %d pods to sync, got %d", 3, len(podsToSync))
+	}
+}