diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/sync/sync.go b/pkg/skaffold/sync/sync.go
index c89196e53c5..528133589ea 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/sync/sync.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/sync/sync.go
@@ -337,16 +337,14 @@ func Perform(ctx context.Context, image string, files syncMap, cmdFn func(contex
 
 	numSynced := 0
 	for _, ns := range namespaces {
-		pods, err := client.CoreV1().Pods(ns).List(ctx, metav1.ListOptions{})
+		pods, err := client.CoreV1().Pods(ns).List(ctx, metav1.ListOptions{
+			FieldSelector: fmt.Sprintf("status.phase=%s", v1.PodRunning),
+		})
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("getting pods for namespace %q: %w", ns, err)
 		}
 
 		for _, p := range pods.Items {
-			if p.Status.Phase != v1.PodRunning {
-				continue
-			}
-
 			for _, c := range p.Spec.Containers {
 				if c.Image != image {
 					continue
diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/sync/sync_test.go b/pkg/skaffold/sync/sync_test.go
index 43078cc1346..6ed0baf1bb8 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/sync/sync_test.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/sync/sync_test.go
@@ -920,23 +920,6 @@ var pod = &v1.Pod{
 	},
 }
 
-var nonRunningPod = &v1.Pod{
-	ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-		Name: "podname",
-	},
-	Status: v1.PodStatus{
-		Phase: v1.PodPending,
-	},
-	Spec: v1.PodSpec{
-		Containers: []v1.Container{
-			{
-				Name:  "container_name",
-				Image: "gcr.io/k8s-skaffold:123",
-			},
-		},
-	},
-}
-
 func TestPerform(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		description string
@@ -983,14 +966,6 @@ func TestPerform(t *testing.T) {
 			cmdFn:       fakeCmd,
 			shouldErr:   true,
 		},
-		{
-			description: "Skip sync when pod is not running",
-			image:       "gcr.io/k8s-skaffold:123",
-			files:       syncMap{"test.go": {"/test.go"}},
-			pod:         nonRunningPod,
-			cmdFn:       fakeCmd,
-			shouldErr:   true,
-		},
 	}
 	for _, test := range tests {
 		testutil.Run(t, test.description, func(t *testutil.T) {