diff --git a/pkg/controller/node/controller_utils.go b/pkg/controller/node/controller_utils.go
index 7a708efd606..b54506f695a 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/node/controller_utils.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/node/controller_utils.go
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func cleanupOrphanedPods(pods []*api.Pod, nodeStore cache.Store, forcefulDeleteP
 }
 
 // deletePods will delete all pods from master running on given node, and return true
-// if any pods were deleted.
+// if any pods were deleted, or were found pending deletion.
 func deletePods(kubeClient clientset.Interface, recorder record.EventRecorder, nodeName, nodeUID string, daemonStore cache.StoreToDaemonSetLister) (bool, error) {
 	remaining := false
 	selector := fields.OneTermEqualSelector(api.PodHostField, nodeName)
@@ -76,8 +76,9 @@ func deletePods(kubeClient clientset.Interface, recorder record.EventRecorder, n
 		if pod.Spec.NodeName != nodeName {
 			continue
 		}
-		// if the pod has already been deleted, ignore it
+		// if the pod has already been marked for deletion, we still return true that there are remaining pods.
 		if pod.DeletionGracePeriodSeconds != nil {
+			remaining = true
 			continue
 		}
 		// if the pod is managed by a daemonset, ignore it