diff --git a/cmd/crio/wipe.go b/cmd/crio/wipe.go
index e283459227d..cf1d2d4e5d6 100644
--- a/cmd/crio/wipe.go
+++ b/cmd/crio/wipe.go
@@ -37,9 +37,18 @@ func crioWipe(c *cli.Context) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	// first, check whether crio has shutdown with time to sync
-	// if not, we should clear the storage directory
-	if config.CleanShutdownFile != "" {
+	// First, check if the node was rebooted.
+	// We know this happened because the VersionFile (which lives in a tmpfs)
+	// will not be there.
+	shouldWipeContainers, err := version.ShouldCrioWipe(config.VersionFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		logrus.Infof("checking whether cri-o should wipe containers: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Then, check whether crio has shutdown with time to sync.
+	// Note: this is only needed if the node rebooted.
+	// If there wasn't time to sync, we should clear the storage directory
+	if shouldWipeContainers && config.CleanShutdownFile != "" {
 		if _, err := os.Stat(config.CleanShutdownFile); err != nil {
 			logrus.Infof("file %s not found. Wiping storage directory %s because of suspected dirty shutdown", config.CleanShutdownFile, store.GraphRoot())
 			// If we do not do this, we may leak other resources that are not directly in the graphroot.
@@ -60,16 +69,11 @@ func crioWipe(c *cli.Context) error {
 	}
 
 	shouldWipeImages := true
-	shouldWipeContainers := true
 	// First, check if we need to upgrade at all
 	if !c.IsSet("force") {
 		// there are two locations we check before wiping:
 		// one in a temporary directory. This is to check whether the node has rebooted.
 		// if so, we should remove containers
-		shouldWipeContainers, err = version.ShouldCrioWipe(config.VersionFile)
-		if err != nil {
-			logrus.Infof("%v: triggering wipe of containers", err.Error())
-		}
 		// another is needed in a persistent directory. This is to check whether we've upgraded
 		// if we've upgraded, we should wipe images
 		shouldWipeImages, err = version.ShouldCrioWipe(config.VersionFilePersist)
diff --git a/test/crio-wipe.bats b/test/crio-wipe.bats
index 6eb436d2760..624cae8dfe3 100644
--- a/test/crio-wipe.bats
+++ b/test/crio-wipe.bats
@@ -117,25 +117,12 @@ function start_crio_with_stopped_pod() {
 	run_podman_with_args ps -a | grep test
 }
 
-@test "don't clear everything when not asked to check shutdown" {
-	start_crio_with_stopped_pod
-	stop_crio_no_clean
-
-	rm "$CONTAINER_CLEAN_SHUTDOWN_FILE"
-
-	CONTAINER_CLEAN_SHUTDOWN_FILE="" run_crio_wipe
-
-	start_crio_no_setup
-
-	test_crio_did_not_wipe_containers
-	test_crio_did_not_wipe_images
-}
-
 @test "do clear everything when shutdown file not found" {
 	start_crio_with_stopped_pod
 	stop_crio_no_clean
 
 	rm "$CONTAINER_CLEAN_SHUTDOWN_FILE"
+	rm "$CONTAINER_VERSION_FILE"
 
 	run_crio_wipe
 
@@ -158,6 +145,7 @@ function start_crio_with_stopped_pod() {
 	run_podman_with_args stop -a
 
 	rm "$CONTAINER_CLEAN_SHUTDOWN_FILE"
+	rm "$CONTAINER_VERSION_FILE"
 
 	run_crio_wipe
 
@@ -177,9 +165,22 @@ function start_crio_with_stopped_pod() {
 	run_podman_with_args run --name test -d quay.io/crio/busybox:latest top
 
 	rm "$CONTAINER_CLEAN_SHUTDOWN_FILE"
+	rm "$CONTAINER_VERSION_FILE"
 
 	run "$CRIO_BINARY_PATH" --config "$CRIO_CONFIG" wipe
 	echo "$status"
 	echo "$output"
 	[ "$status" -ne 0 ]
 }
+
+@test "don't clear containers on a forced restart of crio" {
+	start_crio_with_stopped_pod
+	stop_crio_no_clean "-9" || true
+
+	run_crio_wipe
+
+	start_crio_no_setup
+
+	test_crio_did_not_wipe_containers
+	test_crio_did_not_wipe_images
+}
diff --git a/test/helpers.bash b/test/helpers.bash
index e24686f1b49..1d1f16a3b8f 100644
--- a/test/helpers.bash
+++ b/test/helpers.bash
@@ -362,8 +362,9 @@ function cleanup_pods() {
 }
 
 function stop_crio_no_clean() {
+    local signal="$1"
     if [ -n "${CRIO_PID+x}" ]; then
-        kill "$CRIO_PID" >/dev/null 2>&1
+        kill "$signal" "$CRIO_PID" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
         wait "$CRIO_PID"
         unset CRIO_PID
     fi
@@ -371,7 +372,7 @@ function stop_crio_no_clean() {
 
 # Stop crio.
 function stop_crio() {
-    stop_crio_no_clean
+    stop_crio_no_clean ""
     cleanup_network_conf
 }