diff --git a/server/container_list.go b/server/container_list.go
index 85681489..10a451f5 100644
--- a/server/container_list.go
+++ b/server/container_list.go
@@ -30,9 +30,7 @@ func filterContainer(c *pb.Container, filter *pb.ContainerFilter) bool {
 
 // filterContainerList applies a protobuf-defined filter to retrieve only intended containers. Not matching
 // the filter is not considered an error but will return an empty response.
-func (s *Server) filterContainerList(filter *pb.ContainerFilter, origCtrList []*oci.Container) (ctrList []*oci.Container, err error) {
-	ctrList = origCtrList
-
+func (s *Server) filterContainerList(filter *pb.ContainerFilter, origCtrList []*oci.Container) []*oci.Container {
 	// Filter using container id and pod id first.
 	if filter.Id != "" {
 		id, err := s.CtrIDIndex().Get(filter.Id)
@@ -40,32 +38,26 @@ func (s *Server) filterContainerList(filter *pb.ContainerFilter, origCtrList []*
 			// If we don't find a container ID with a filter, it should not
 			// be considered an error.  Log a warning and return an empty struct
 			logrus.Warn("unable to find container ID %s", filter.Id)
-			return []*oci.Container{}, nil
+			return []*oci.Container{}
 		}
 		c := s.ContainerServer.GetContainer(id)
 		if c != nil {
-			if filter.PodSandboxId != "" {
-				if c.Sandbox() == filter.PodSandboxId {
-					ctrList = []*oci.Container{c}
-				} else {
-					ctrList = []*oci.Container{}
-				}
-
-			} else {
-				ctrList = []*oci.Container{c}
+			if filter.PodSandboxId == "" || c.Sandbox() == filter.PodSandboxId {
+				return []*oci.Container{}
 			}
+			return []*oci.Container{c}
 		}
 	} else {
 		if filter.PodSandboxId != "" {
 			pod := s.ContainerServer.GetSandbox(filter.PodSandboxId)
 			if pod == nil {
-				ctrList = []*oci.Container{}
+				return []*oci.Container{}
 			} else {
-				ctrList = pod.Containers().List()
+				return pod.Containers().List()
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	return
+	return origCtrList
 }
 
 // ListContainers lists all containers by filters.
@@ -85,10 +77,7 @@ func (s *Server) ListContainers(ctx context.Context, req *pb.ListContainersReque
 	}
 
 	if filter != nil {
-		ctrList, err = s.filterContainerList(filter, ctrList)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
+		ctrList = s.filterContainerList(filter, ctrList)
 	}
 
 	for _, ctr := range ctrList {
diff --git a/server/container_stats_list.go b/server/container_stats_list.go
index b6a81f6b..558b1e82 100644
--- a/server/container_stats_list.go
+++ b/server/container_stats_list.go
@@ -28,10 +28,7 @@ func (s *Server) ListContainerStats(ctx context.Context, req *pb.ListContainerSt
 			PodSandboxId:  req.Filter.PodSandboxId,
 			LabelSelector: req.Filter.LabelSelector,
 		}
-		ctrList, err = s.filterContainerList(cFilter, ctrList)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
+		ctrList = s.filterContainerList(cFilter, ctrList)
 	}
 
 	var allStats []*pb.ContainerStats