diff --git a/libpod/runtime_ctr.go b/libpod/runtime_ctr.go
index 4757471c98..4d13d7ffb1 100644
--- a/libpod/runtime_ctr.go
+++ b/libpod/runtime_ctr.go
@@ -741,7 +741,7 @@ func (r *Runtime) removeContainer(ctx context.Context, c *Container, force, remo
 	}
 
 	// Check that the container's in a good state to be removed.
-	if c.state.State == define.ContainerStateRunning {
+	if c.ensureState(define.ContainerStateRunning, define.ContainerStateStopping) {
 		time := c.StopTimeout()
 		if timeout != nil {
 			time = *timeout
diff --git a/test/system/055-rm.bats b/test/system/055-rm.bats
index 6b682c0e28..a8028ee440 100644
--- a/test/system/055-rm.bats
+++ b/test/system/055-rm.bats
@@ -113,9 +113,8 @@ load helpers
     is "$output" "" "Should print no output"
 }
 
-@test "podman container rm doesn't affect stopping containers" {
-    local cname=c$(random_string 30)
-    run_podman run -d --name $cname \
+function __run_healthcheck_container() {
+    run_podman run -d --name $1 \
                --health-cmd /bin/false \
                --health-interval 1s \
                --health-retries 2 \
@@ -125,6 +124,11 @@ load helpers
                --health-start-period 0 \
                --stop-signal SIGTERM \
                $IMAGE sleep infinity
+}
+
+@test "podman container rm doesn't affect stopping containers" {
+    local cname=c$(random_string 30)
+    __run_healthcheck_container $cname
     local cid=$output
 
     # We'll use the PID later to confirm that container is not running
@@ -159,4 +163,29 @@ load helpers
     fi
 }
 
+@test "podman container rm --force doesn't leave running processes" {
+    local cname=c$(random_string 30)
+    __run_healthcheck_container $cname
+    local cid=$output
+
+    # We'll use the PID later to confirm that container is not running
+    run_podman inspect --format '{{.State.Pid}}' $cname
+    local pid=$output
+
+    for i in {1..10}; do
+        run_podman inspect $cname --format '{{.State.Status}}'
+        if [ "$output" = "stopping" ]; then
+            break
+        fi
+
+	sleep 0.5
+    done
+
+    run_podman rm -f $cname
+
+    if kill -0 $pid; then
+        die "Container $cname process is still running (pid $pid)"
+    fi
+}
+
 # vim: filetype=sh