diff --git a/api/grpc/server/server.go b/api/grpc/server/server.go
index 1b8736ecc..bc696e7b4 100644
--- a/api/grpc/server/server.go
+++ b/api/grpc/server/server.go
@@ -146,7 +146,11 @@ func createAPIContainer(c runtime.Container, getPids bool) (*types.Container, er
 		procs = append(procs, appendToProcs)
 	}
 	var pids []int
-	state := c.State()
+	state, err := c.Status()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, grpc.Errorf(codes.Internal, "get status for container: "+err.Error())
+	}
+
 	if getPids && (state == runtime.Running || state == runtime.Paused) {
 		if pids, err = c.Pids(); err != nil {
 			return nil, grpc.Errorf(codes.Internal, "get all pids for container: "+err.Error())
diff --git a/runtime/container.go b/runtime/container.go
index 2a962890b..6a3db7d33 100644
--- a/runtime/container.go
+++ b/runtime/container.go
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ type Container interface {
 	OOM() (OOM, error)
 	// UpdateResource updates the containers resources to new values
 	UpdateResources(*Resource) error
+
+	// Status return the current status of the container.
+	Status() (State, error)
 }
 
 type OOM interface {
diff --git a/runtime/container_linux.go b/runtime/container_linux.go
index 5bc5abea4..2c6bc7fb1 100644
--- a/runtime/container_linux.go
+++ b/runtime/container_linux.go
@@ -284,6 +284,26 @@ func (c *container) Stats() (*Stat, error) {
 	}, nil
 }
 
+// Status implements the runtime Container interface.
+func (c *container) Status() (State, error) {
+	args := c.runtimeArgs
+	args = append(args, "state", c.id)
+
+	out, err := exec.Command(c.runtime, args...).CombinedOutput()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf(string(out))
+	}
+
+	// We only require the runtime json output to have a top level Status field.
+	var s struct {
+		Status State `json:"status"`
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(out, &s); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	return s.Status, nil
+}
+
 func (c *container) OOM() (OOM, error) {
 	container, err := c.getLibctContainer()
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/runtime/container_windows.go b/runtime/container_windows.go
index 47b6b492a..6a354003c 100644
--- a/runtime/container_windows.go
+++ b/runtime/container_windows.go
@@ -61,6 +61,11 @@ func (c *container) Stats() (*Stat, error) {
 	return nil, errors.New("Stats not yet implemented on Windows")
 }
 
+// Status implements the runtime Container interface.
+func (c *container) Status() (State, error) {
+	return "", errors.New("Status not yet implemented on Windows")
+}
+
 func (c *container) OOM() (OOM, error) {
 	return nil, errors.New("OOM not yet implemented on Windows")
 }
diff --git a/supervisor/get_containers.go b/supervisor/get_containers.go
index 3e24783a8..23f49c789 100644
--- a/supervisor/get_containers.go
+++ b/supervisor/get_containers.go
@@ -9,16 +9,20 @@ type GetContainersTask struct {
 }
 
 func (s *Supervisor) getContainers(t *GetContainersTask) error {
+
 	if t.ID != "" {
-		ci := s.containers[t.ID]
-		if ci == nil {
+		ci, ok := s.containers[t.ID]
+		if !ok {
 			return ErrContainerNotFound
 		}
 		t.Containers = append(t.Containers, ci.container)
+
 		return nil
 	}
-	for _, i := range s.containers {
-		t.Containers = append(t.Containers, i.container)
+
+	for _, ci := range s.containers {
+		t.Containers = append(t.Containers, ci.container)
 	}
+
 	return nil
 }