diff --git a/server/container_stop.go b/server/container_stop.go
index 762c3d9a..1aba8801 100644
--- a/server/container_stop.go
+++ b/server/container_stop.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/kubernetes-incubator/cri-o/oci"
 	"golang.org/x/net/context"
 	pb "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/api/v1alpha1/runtime"
 )
@@ -16,8 +17,14 @@ func (s *Server) StopContainer(ctx context.Context, req *pb.StopContainerRequest
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	if err := s.runtime.StopContainer(c); err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to stop container %s: %v", c.ID(), err)
+	if err := s.runtime.UpdateStatus(c); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	cStatus := s.runtime.ContainerStatus(c)
+	if cStatus.Status != oci.ContainerStateStopped {
+		if err := s.runtime.StopContainer(c); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to stop container %s: %v", c.ID(), err)
+		}
 	}
 
 	resp := &pb.StopContainerResponse{}
diff --git a/server/sandbox_stop.go b/server/sandbox_stop.go
index 42dac4ca..9853b17c 100644
--- a/server/sandbox_stop.go
+++ b/server/sandbox_stop.go
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ func (s *Server) StopPodSandbox(ctx context.Context, req *pb.StopPodSandboxReque
 	containers = append(containers, podInfraContainer)
 
 	for _, c := range containers {
+		if err := s.runtime.UpdateStatus(c); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
 		cStatus := s.runtime.ContainerStatus(c)
 		if cStatus.Status != oci.ContainerStateStopped {
 			if err := s.runtime.StopContainer(c); err != nil {
diff --git a/test/ctr.bats b/test/ctr.bats
index 51d17292..aa73da41 100644
--- a/test/ctr.bats
+++ b/test/ctr.bats
@@ -393,3 +393,33 @@ function teardown() {
 	cleanup_pods
 	stop_ocid
 }
+
+@test "ctr stop idempotent" {
+	# this test requires docker, thus it can't yet be run in a container
+	if [ "$TRAVIS" = "true" ]; then # instead of $TRAVIS, add a function is_containerized to skip here
+		skip "cannot yet run this test in a container, use sudo make localintegration"
+	fi
+
+	start_ocid
+	run ocic pod create --config "$TESTDATA"/sandbox_config.json
+	echo "$output"
+	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+	pod_id="$output"
+	run ocic ctr create --config "$TESTDATA"/container_redis.json --pod "$pod_id"
+	echo "$output"
+	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+	ctr_id="$output"
+	run ocic ctr start --id "$ctr_id"
+	echo "$output"
+	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+	run ocic ctr stop --id "$ctr_id"
+	echo "$output"
+	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+	run ocic ctr stop --id "$ctr_id"
+	echo "$output"
+	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+
+	cleanup_ctrs
+	cleanup_pods
+	stop_ocid
+}
diff --git a/test/pod.bats b/test/pod.bats
index 56cfcc22..fc70b2aa 100644
--- a/test/pod.bats
+++ b/test/pod.bats
@@ -233,3 +233,53 @@ function teardown() {
 	cleanup_pods
 	stop_ocid
 }
+
+@test "pod stop idempotent" {
+	# this test requires docker, thus it can't yet be run in a container
+	if [ "$TRAVIS" = "true" ]; then # instead of $TRAVIS, add a function is_containerized to skip here
+		skip "cannot yet run this test in a container, use sudo make localintegration"
+	fi
+
+	start_ocid
+	run ocic pod create --config "$TESTDATA"/sandbox_config.json
+	echo "$output"
+	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+	pod_id="$output"
+	run ocic pod stop --id "$pod_id"
+	echo "$output"
+	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+	run ocic pod stop --id "$pod_id"
+	echo "$output"
+	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+
+	cleanup_ctrs
+	cleanup_pods
+	stop_ocid
+}
+
+@test "pod stop idempotent with ctrs already stopped" {
+	# this test requires docker, thus it can't yet be run in a container
+	if [ "$TRAVIS" = "true" ]; then # instead of $TRAVIS, add a function is_containerized to skip here
+		skip "cannot yet run this test in a container, use sudo make localintegration"
+	fi
+
+	start_ocid
+	run ocic pod create --config "$TESTDATA"/sandbox_config.json
+	echo "$output"
+	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+	pod_id="$output"
+	run ocic ctr create --config "$TESTDATA"/container_config.json --pod "$pod_id"
+	echo "$output"
+	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+	ctr_id="$output"
+	run ocic ctr start --id "$ctr_id"
+	echo "$output"
+	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+	run ocic pod stop --id "$pod_id"
+	echo "$output"
+	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+
+	cleanup_ctrs
+	cleanup_pods
+	stop_ocid
+}