diff --git a/pkg/drivers/kic/kic.go b/pkg/drivers/kic/kic.go
index 78f9733d84..14873fe0e7 100644
--- a/pkg/drivers/kic/kic.go
+++ b/pkg/drivers/kic/kic.go
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/cruntime"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/download"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/sysinit"
+	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/util/retry"
 )
 
 // Driver represents a kic driver https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/reference/drivers/docker
@@ -258,9 +259,14 @@ func (d *Driver) Kill() error {
 	if err := sysinit.New(d.exec).ForceStop("kubelet"); err != nil {
 		glog.Warningf("couldn't force stop kubelet. will continue with kill anyways: %v", err)
 	}
-	cmd := exec.Command(d.NodeConfig.OCIBinary, "kill", d.MachineName)
-	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
-		return errors.Wrapf(err, "killing kic node %s", d.MachineName)
+
+	if err := oci.ShutDown(d.OCIBinary, d.MachineName); err != nil {
+		glog.Warningf("couldn't shutdown the container, will contineu with kill anyways: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	cr := command.NewExecRunner() // using exec runner for interacting with dameon.
+	if _, err := cr.RunCmd(exec.Command(d.NodeConfig.OCIBinary, "kill", d.MachineName)); err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrapf(err, "killing %q", d.MachineName)
 	}
 	return nil
 }
@@ -292,40 +298,43 @@ func (d *Driver) Remove() error {
 func (d *Driver) Restart() error {
 	s, err := d.GetState()
 	if err != nil {
-		return errors.Wrap(err, "get kic state")
+		glog.Warningf("get state during restart: %v", err)
 	}
-	switch s {
-	case state.Stopped:
+	if s == state.Stopped { // don't stop if already stopped
 		return d.Start()
-	case state.Running, state.Error:
-		if err = d.Stop(); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("restarting a kic stop phase %v", err)
-		}
-		if err = d.Start(); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("restarting a kic start phase %v", err)
-		}
-		return nil
 	}
+	if err = d.Stop(); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("stop during restart %v", err)
+	}
+	if err = d.Start(); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("start during restart %v", err)
+	}
+	return nil
 
-	return fmt.Errorf("restarted not implemented for kic state %s yet", s)
 }
 
-// Start a _stopped_ kic container
-// not meant to be used for Create().
+// Start an already created kic container
 func (d *Driver) Start() error {
-	s, err := d.GetState()
-	if err != nil {
-		return errors.Wrap(err, "get kic state")
+	cr := command.NewExecRunner() // using exec runner for interacting with
+	if _, err := cr.RunCmd(exec.Command(d.NodeConfig.OCIBinary, "start", d.MachineName)); err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
-	if s == state.Stopped {
-		cmd := exec.Command(d.NodeConfig.OCIBinary, "start", d.MachineName)
-		if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
-			return errors.Wrapf(err, "starting a stopped kic node %s", d.MachineName)
+	checkRunning := func() error {
+		s, err := oci.ContainerStatus(d.NodeConfig.OCIBinary, d.MachineName)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
 		}
+		if s != state.Running {
+			return fmt.Errorf("expected container state be running but got %q", s)
+		}
+		glog.Infof("container %q state is running.", d.MachineName)
 		return nil
 	}
-	// TODO:medyagh maybe make it idempotent
-	return fmt.Errorf("cant start a not-stopped (%s) kic node", s)
+
+	if err := retry.Expo(checkRunning, 500*time.Microsecond, time.Second*30); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
 }
 
 // Stop a host gracefully, including any containers that we are managing.
diff --git a/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/oci.go b/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/oci.go
index ea739fff90..44da3a0955 100644
--- a/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/oci.go
+++ b/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/oci.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"bufio"
 	"bytes"
 
+	"github.com/docker/machine/libmachine/state"
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/constants"
@@ -171,7 +172,7 @@ func CreateContainerNode(p CreateParams) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("temporary error checking status for %q : %v", p.Name, err)
 		}
-		if s != "running" {
+		if s != state.Running {
 			return fmt.Errorf("temporary error created container %q is not running yet", p.Name)
 		}
 		glog.Infof("the created container %q has a running status.", p.Name)
@@ -488,9 +489,23 @@ func PointToHostDockerDaemon() error {
 }
 
 // ContainerStatus returns status of a container running,exited,...
-func ContainerStatus(ociBin string, name string) (string, error) {
+func ContainerStatus(ociBin string, name string) (state.State, error) {
 	out, err := WarnIfSlow(ociBin, "inspect", name, "--format={{.State.Status}}")
-	return strings.TrimSpace(string(out)), err
+	o := strings.TrimSpace(string(out))
+	switch o {
+	case "running":
+		return state.Running, nil
+	case "exited":
+		return state.Stopped, nil
+	case "paused":
+		return state.Paused, nil
+	case "restarting":
+		return state.Starting, nil
+	case "dead":
+		return state.Error, nil
+	default:
+		return state.None, errors.Wrapf(err, "unknown state %q", name)
+	}
 }
 
 // Shutdown will run command to shut down the container