diff --git a/pkg/nfd-master/updater-pool.go b/pkg/nfd-master/updater-pool.go
index fec6027137..cf4419d35b 100644
--- a/pkg/nfd-master/updater-pool.go
+++ b/pkg/nfd-master/updater-pool.go
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 type updaterPool struct {
+	started  bool
 	queue    workqueue.RateLimitingInterface
 	nfgQueue workqueue.RateLimitingInterface
 	sync.RWMutex
@@ -129,16 +130,11 @@ func (u *updaterPool) start(parallelism int) {
 	u.Lock()
 	defer u.Unlock()
 
-	if u.queue != nil && !u.queue.ShuttingDown() {
+	if u.started {
 		klog.InfoS("the NFD master updater pool is already running.")
 		return
 	}
 
-	if u.nfgQueue != nil && !u.nfgQueue.ShuttingDown() {
-		klog.InfoS("the NFD master node feature group updater pool is already running.")
-		return
-	}
-
 	klog.InfoS("starting the NFD master updater pool", "parallelism", parallelism)
 
 	// Create ratelimiter. Mimic workqueue.DefaultControllerRateLimiter() but
@@ -158,18 +154,14 @@ func (u *updaterPool) start(parallelism int) {
 			go u.runNodeFeatureGroupUpdater(u.nfgQueue)
 		}
 	}
+	u.started = true
 }
 
 func (u *updaterPool) stop() {
 	u.Lock()
 	defer u.Unlock()
 
-	if u.queue == nil || u.queue.ShuttingDown() {
-		klog.InfoS("the NFD master updater pool is not running.")
-		return
-	}
-
-	if u.nfgQueue == nil || u.nfgQueue.ShuttingDown() {
+	if !u.started {
 		klog.InfoS("the NFD master updater pool is not running.")
 		return
 	}
@@ -179,6 +171,13 @@ func (u *updaterPool) stop() {
 	u.wg.Wait()
 	u.nfgQueue.ShutDown()
 	u.nfgWg.Wait()
+	u.started = false
+}
+
+func (u *updaterPool) running() bool {
+	u.RLock()
+	defer u.RUnlock()
+	return u.started
 }
 
 func (u *updaterPool) addNode(nodeName string) {
diff --git a/pkg/nfd-master/updater-pool_test.go b/pkg/nfd-master/updater-pool_test.go
index efeab40434..7430d5a1df 100644
--- a/pkg/nfd-master/updater-pool_test.go
+++ b/pkg/nfd-master/updater-pool_test.go
@@ -37,8 +37,15 @@ func TestUpdaterStart(t *testing.T) {
 	fakeMaster := newFakeMaster()
 	updaterPool := newFakeupdaterPool(fakeMaster)
 
+	Convey("New node updater pool should report running=false", t, func() {
+		So(updaterPool.running(), ShouldBeFalse)
+	})
+
 	Convey("When starting the node updater pool", t, func() {
 		updaterPool.start(10)
+		Convey("Running node updater pool should report running=true", func() {
+			So(updaterPool.running(), ShouldBeTrue)
+		})
 		q := updaterPool.queue
 		Convey("Node updater pool queue properties should change", func() {
 			So(q, ShouldNotBeNil)
@@ -57,9 +64,15 @@ func TestNodeUpdaterStop(t *testing.T) {
 	updaterPool := newFakeupdaterPool(fakeMaster)
 
 	updaterPool.start(10)
+	Convey("Running node updater pool should report running=true", t, func() {
+		So(updaterPool.running(), ShouldBeTrue)
+	})
 
 	Convey("When stoping the node updater pool", t, func() {
 		updaterPool.stop()
+		Convey("Stopped node updater pool should report running=false", func() {
+			So(updaterPool.running(), ShouldBeFalse)
+		})
 		Convey("Node updater pool queue should be removed", func() {
 			// Wait for the wg.Done()
 			So(func() interface{} {