diff --git a/node/podcontroller.go b/node/podcontroller.go
index 99a641d13..d70e90360 100644
--- a/node/podcontroller.go
+++ b/node/podcontroller.go
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import (
 	"reflect"
 	"strconv"
 	"sync"
-	"time"
 
 	pkgerrors "github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/virtual-kubelet/virtual-kubelet/errdefs"
@@ -29,7 +28,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/virtual-kubelet/virtual-kubelet/trace"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
 	corev1informers "k8s.io/client-go/informers/core/v1"
 	corev1client "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/typed/core/v1"
 	corev1listers "k8s.io/client-go/listers/core/v1"
@@ -203,10 +201,13 @@ func NewPodController(cfg PodControllerConfig) (*PodController, error) {
 // Run will set up the event handlers for types we are interested in, as well
 // as syncing informer caches and starting workers.  It will block until the
 // context is cancelled, at which point it will shutdown the work queue and
-// wait for workers to finish processing their current work items.
+// wait for workers to finish processing their current work items prior to
+// returning.
 //
 // Once this returns, you should not re-use the controller.
 func (pc *PodController) Run(ctx context.Context, podSyncWorkers int) (retErr error) {
+	// Shutdowns are idempotent, so we can call it multiple times. This is in case we have to bail out early for some reason.
+
 	defer func() {
 		pc.k8sQ.ShutDown()
 
@@ -273,13 +274,25 @@ func (pc *PodController) Run(ctx context.Context, podSyncWorkers int) (retErr er
 	pc.deleteDanglingPods(ctx, podSyncWorkers)
 
 	log.G(ctx).Info("starting workers")
-	pc.runProviderSyncWorkers(ctx, podStatusQueue, podSyncWorkers)
+	wg := sync.WaitGroup{}
+
+	// Use the worker's "index" as its ID so we can use it for tracing.
 	for id := 0; id < podSyncWorkers; id++ {
+		wg.Add(1)
 		workerID := strconv.Itoa(id)
-		go wait.Until(func() {
-			// Use the worker's "index" as its ID so we can use it for tracing.
-			pc.runWorker(ctx, workerID, pc.k8sQ)
-		}, time.Second, ctx.Done())
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			pc.runSyncPodStatusFromProviderWorker(ctx, workerID, podStatusQueue)
+		}()
+	}
+
+	for id := 0; id < podSyncWorkers; id++ {
+		wg.Add(1)
+		workerID := strconv.Itoa(id)
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			pc.runSyncPodsFromKubernetesWorker(ctx, workerID, pc.k8sQ)
+		}()
 	}
 
 	close(pc.ready)
@@ -287,7 +300,10 @@ func (pc *PodController) Run(ctx context.Context, podSyncWorkers int) (retErr er
 	log.G(ctx).Info("started workers")
 	<-ctx.Done()
 	log.G(ctx).Info("shutting down workers")
+	pc.k8sQ.ShutDown()
+	podStatusQueue.ShutDown()
 
+	wg.Wait()
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -311,8 +327,9 @@ func (pc *PodController) Err() error {
 	return pc.err
 }
 
-// runWorker is a long-running function that will continually call the processNextWorkItem function in order to read and process an item on the work queue.
-func (pc *PodController) runWorker(ctx context.Context, workerID string, q workqueue.RateLimitingInterface) {
+// runSyncPodsFromKubernetesWorker is a long-running function that will continually call the processNextWorkItem function
+// in order to read and process an item on the work queue that is generated by the pod informer.
+func (pc *PodController) runSyncPodsFromKubernetesWorker(ctx context.Context, workerID string, q workqueue.RateLimitingInterface) {
 	for pc.processNextWorkItem(ctx, workerID, q) {
 	}
 }
diff --git a/node/queue.go b/node/queue.go
index 891ef2edd..540d6a4ad 100644
--- a/node/queue.go
+++ b/node/queue.go
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ package node
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"strconv"
 	"time"
 
 	pkgerrors "github.com/pkg/errors"
@@ -92,16 +91,7 @@ func handleQueueItem(ctx context.Context, q workqueue.RateLimitingInterface, han
 	return true
 }
 
-func (pc *PodController) runProviderSyncWorkers(ctx context.Context, q workqueue.RateLimitingInterface, numWorkers int) {
-	for i := 0; i < numWorkers; i++ {
-		go func(index int) {
-			workerID := strconv.Itoa(index)
-			pc.runProviderSyncWorker(ctx, workerID, q)
-		}(i)
-	}
-}
-
-func (pc *PodController) runProviderSyncWorker(ctx context.Context, workerID string, q workqueue.RateLimitingInterface) {
+func (pc *PodController) runSyncPodStatusFromProviderWorker(ctx context.Context, workerID string, q workqueue.RateLimitingInterface) {
 	for pc.processPodStatusUpdate(ctx, workerID, q) {
 	}
 }