diff --git a/internal/oci/container.go b/internal/oci/container.go
index 78a9ba66b6da..dd60ed3046c5 100644
--- a/internal/oci/container.go
+++ b/internal/oci/container.go
@@ -586,20 +586,6 @@ func (c *Container) verifyPid() (string, error) {
 	return state, nil
 }
 
-// ShouldBeStopped checks whether the container state is in a place
-// where attempting to stop it makes sense
-// a container is not stoppable if it's paused or stopped
-// if it's paused, that's an error, and is reported as such
-func (c *Container) ShouldBeStopped() error {
-	switch c.State().Status {
-	case ContainerStateStopped: // no-op
-		return ErrContainerStopped
-	case ContainerStatePaused:
-		return errors.New("cannot stop paused container")
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
 // Spoofed returns whether this container is spoofed.
 // A container should be spoofed when it doesn't have to exist in the container runtime,
 // but does need to exist in the storage. The main use of this is when an infra container
diff --git a/internal/oci/container_test.go b/internal/oci/container_test.go
index ecf1d25982bc..9cd5ecda4975 100644
--- a/internal/oci/container_test.go
+++ b/internal/oci/container_test.go
@@ -427,42 +427,6 @@ var _ = t.Describe("Container", func() {
 			Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
 		})
 	})
-	t.Describe("ShouldBeStopped", func() {
-		It("should fail to stop if already stopped", func() {
-			// Given
-			state := &oci.ContainerState{}
-			state.Status = oci.ContainerStateStopped
-			sut.SetState(state)
-			// When
-			err := sut.ShouldBeStopped()
-
-			// Then
-			Expect(err).To(Equal(oci.ErrContainerStopped))
-		})
-		It("should fail to stop if paused", func() {
-			// Given
-			state := &oci.ContainerState{}
-			state.Status = oci.ContainerStatePaused
-			sut.SetState(state)
-			// When
-			err := sut.ShouldBeStopped()
-
-			// Then
-			Expect(err).NotTo(Equal(oci.ErrContainerStopped))
-			Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
-		})
-		It("should succeed to stop if started", func() {
-			// Given
-			state := &oci.ContainerState{}
-			state.Status = oci.ContainerStateRunning
-			sut.SetState(state)
-			// When
-			err := sut.ShouldBeStopped()
-
-			// Then
-			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
-		})
-	})
 	t.Describe("Living", func() {
 		It("should be false if pid uninitialized", func() {
 			// Given
diff --git a/internal/oci/runtime_oci.go b/internal/oci/runtime_oci.go
index 3db835e845ac..b67908873fca 100644
--- a/internal/oci/runtime_oci.go
+++ b/internal/oci/runtime_oci.go
@@ -830,13 +830,6 @@ func (r *runtimeOCI) StopContainer(ctx context.Context, c *Container, timeout in
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	if err := c.ShouldBeStopped(); err != nil {
-		if errors.Is(err, ErrContainerStopped) {
-			err = nil
-		}
-		return err
-	}
-
 	// The initial container process either doesn't exist, or isn't ours.
 	if err := c.Living(); err != nil {
 		c.state.Finished = time.Now()
diff --git a/internal/oci/runtime_oci_test.go b/internal/oci/runtime_oci_test.go
index ea25bfeebe73..31852ed6ff53 100644
--- a/internal/oci/runtime_oci_test.go
+++ b/internal/oci/runtime_oci_test.go
@@ -73,20 +73,6 @@ var _ = t.Describe("Oci", func() {
 			cmdrunner.ResetPrependedCmd()
 		})
 
-		It("should fail to stop if container paused", func() {
-			state := &oci.ContainerState{}
-			state.Status = oci.ContainerStatePaused
-			sut.SetState(state)
-
-			Expect(sut.ShouldBeStopped()).NotTo(Succeed())
-		})
-		It("should fail to stop if container stopped", func() {
-			state := &oci.ContainerState{}
-			state.Status = oci.ContainerStateStopped
-			sut.SetState(state)
-
-			Expect(sut.ShouldBeStopped()).To(Equal(oci.ErrContainerStopped))
-		})
 		It("should return early if runtime command fails and process stopped", func() {
 			// Given
 			gomock.InOrder(
diff --git a/internal/oci/runtime_vm.go b/internal/oci/runtime_vm.go
index 68765b4400f5..94f6979a88e5 100644
--- a/internal/oci/runtime_vm.go
+++ b/internal/oci/runtime_vm.go
@@ -608,7 +608,7 @@ func (r *runtimeVM) StopContainer(ctx context.Context, c *Container, timeout int
 	log.Debugf(ctx, "RuntimeVM.StopContainer() start")
 	defer log.Debugf(ctx, "RuntimeVM.StopContainer() end")
 
-	if err := c.ShouldBeStopped(); err != nil {
+	if err := shouldBeStopped(c); err != nil {
 		if errors.Is(err, ErrContainerStopped) {
 			err = nil
 		}
@@ -669,6 +669,21 @@ func (r *runtimeVM) StopContainer(ctx context.Context, c *Container, timeout int
 	return nil
 }
 
+// shouldBeStopped checks whether the container's state permits
+// stopping. It determines if stopping the container makes sense
+// based on its current state. A container cannot be stopped if
+// it is already stopped or paused. If the container is paused,
+// the function attempts to unpause it and update its status.
+func shouldBeStopped(c *Container) error {
+	switch c.State().Status {
+	case ContainerStateStopped: // no-op
+		return ErrContainerStopped
+	case ContainerStatePaused:
+		return errors.New("cannot stop paused container")
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (r *runtimeVM) waitCtrTerminate(sig syscall.Signal, stopCh chan error, timeout time.Duration) error {
 	select {
 	case err := <-stopCh: