diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/eviction_manager.go b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/eviction_manager.go
index fe7800da4c..ba7c82c9e7 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/eviction_manager.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/eviction_manager.go
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ func (m *managerImpl) Admit(attrs *lifecycle.PodAdmitAttributes) lifecycle.PodAd
 	glog.Warningf("Failed to admit pod %s - node has conditions: %v", format.Pod(attrs.Pod), m.nodeConditions)
 	return lifecycle.PodAdmitResult{
 		Admit:   false,
-		Reason:  reason,
+		Reason:  Reason,
 		Message: fmt.Sprintf(message, m.nodeConditions),
 	}
 }
@@ -569,10 +569,10 @@ func (m *managerImpl) evictPod(pod *v1.Pod, gracePeriodOverride int64, evictMsg
 	status := v1.PodStatus{
 		Phase:   v1.PodFailed,
 		Message: evictMsg,
-		Reason:  reason,
+		Reason:  Reason,
 	}
 	// record that we are evicting the pod
-	m.recorder.Eventf(pod, v1.EventTypeWarning, reason, evictMsg)
+	m.recorder.Eventf(pod, v1.EventTypeWarning, Reason, evictMsg)
 	// this is a blocking call and should only return when the pod and its containers are killed.
 	err := m.killPodFunc(pod, status, &gracePeriodOverride)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers.go b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers.go
index 6f75a84244..fd862ea1ce 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers.go
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	unsupportedEvictionSignal = "unsupported eviction signal %v"
-	// the reason reported back in status.
-	reason = "Evicted"
+	// Reason is the reason reported back in status.
+	Reason = "Evicted"
 	// the message associated with the reason.
 	message = "The node was low on resource: %v. "
 	// additional information for containers exceeding requests
@@ -1028,7 +1028,7 @@ func buildSignalToRankFunc(withImageFs bool) map[evictionapi.Signal]rankFunc {
 
 // PodIsEvicted returns true if the reported pod status is due to an eviction.
 func PodIsEvicted(podStatus v1.PodStatus) bool {
-	return podStatus.Phase == v1.PodFailed && podStatus.Reason == reason
+	return podStatus.Phase == v1.PodFailed && podStatus.Reason == Reason
 }
 
 // buildSignalToNodeReclaimFuncs returns reclaim functions associated with resources.
diff --git a/test/e2e_node/BUILD b/test/e2e_node/BUILD
index 892d09ee9d..9a2f910ed6 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/BUILD
+++ b/test/e2e_node/BUILD
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ go_test(
         "//pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/kubelet/cm/cpuset:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/kubelet/container:go_default_library",
+        "//pkg/kubelet/eviction:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/kubelet/images:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/kubelet/kubeletconfig:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/kubelet/kubeletconfig/status:go_default_library",
diff --git a/test/e2e_node/eviction_test.go b/test/e2e_node/eviction_test.go
index fb59ca781f..21962c62f3 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/eviction_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/eviction_test.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/features"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/apis/kubeletconfig"
 	stats "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/apis/stats/v1alpha1"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/eviction"
 	kubeletmetrics "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/metrics"
 	kubetypes "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/types"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/test/e2e/framework"
@@ -505,6 +506,8 @@ func verifyEvictionOrdering(f *framework.Framework, testSpecs []podEvictSpec) er
 			}
 		}
 		Expect(priorityPod).NotTo(BeNil())
+		Expect(priorityPod.Status.Phase).NotTo(Equal(v1.PodSucceeded),
+			fmt.Sprintf("pod: %s succeeded unexpectedly", priorityPod.Name))
 
 		// Check eviction ordering.
 		// Note: it is alright for a priority 1 and priority 2 pod (for example) to fail in the same round,
@@ -524,6 +527,11 @@ func verifyEvictionOrdering(f *framework.Framework, testSpecs []podEvictSpec) er
 			}
 		}
 
+		if priorityPod.Status.Phase == v1.PodFailed {
+			Expect(priorityPod.Status.Reason, eviction.Reason, "pod %s failed; expected Status.Reason to be %s, but got %s",
+				priorityPod.Name, eviction.Reason, priorityPod.Status.Reason)
+		}
+
 		// EvictionPriority 0 pods should not fail
 		if priorityPodSpec.evictionPriority == 0 {
 			Expect(priorityPod.Status.Phase).NotTo(Equal(v1.PodFailed),