diff --git a/daemon/container.go b/daemon/container.go
index 7917c89070..72e4dfd63e 100644
--- a/daemon/container.go
+++ b/daemon/container.go
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import (
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
-	"sync"
 	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
@@ -43,7 +42,7 @@ var (
 )
 
 type Container struct {
-	sync.Mutex
+	*State
 	root   string // Path to the "home" of the container, including metadata.
 	basefs string // Path to the graphdriver mountpoint
 
@@ -55,7 +54,6 @@ type Container struct {
 	Args []string
 
 	Config *runconfig.Config
-	State  *State
 	Image  string
 
 	NetworkSettings *NetworkSettings
@@ -276,7 +274,7 @@ func (container *Container) Start() (err error) {
 	container.Lock()
 	defer container.Unlock()
 
-	if container.State.IsRunning() {
+	if container.State.Running {
 		return nil
 	}
 
@@ -526,11 +524,11 @@ func (container *Container) KillSig(sig int) error {
 	defer container.Unlock()
 
 	// We could unpause the container for them rather than returning this error
-	if container.State.IsPaused() {
+	if container.State.Paused {
 		return fmt.Errorf("Container %s is paused. Unpause the container before stopping", container.ID)
 	}
 
-	if !container.State.IsRunning() {
+	if !container.State.Running {
 		return nil
 	}
 
@@ -541,7 +539,7 @@ func (container *Container) KillSig(sig int) error {
 	// if the container is currently restarting we do not need to send the signal
 	// to the process.  Telling the monitor that it should exit on it's next event
 	// loop is enough
-	if container.State.IsRestarting() {
+	if container.State.Restarting {
 		return nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/daemon/list.go b/daemon/list.go
index 2da5254866..f24b8be2bd 100644
--- a/daemon/list.go
+++ b/daemon/list.go
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ func (daemon *Daemon) Containers(job *engine.Job) engine.Status {
 	writeCont := func(container *Container) error {
 		container.Lock()
 		defer container.Unlock()
-		if !container.State.IsRunning() && !all && n <= 0 && since == "" && before == "" {
+		if !container.State.Running && !all && n <= 0 && since == "" && before == "" {
 			return nil
 		}
 		if before != "" && !foundBefore {
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ func (daemon *Daemon) Containers(job *engine.Job) engine.Status {
 				return errLast
 			}
 		}
-		if len(filt_exited) > 0 && !container.State.IsRunning() {
+		if len(filt_exited) > 0 && !container.State.Running {
 			should_skip := true
 			for _, code := range filt_exited {
 				if code == container.State.GetExitCode() {
diff --git a/daemon/monitor.go b/daemon/monitor.go
index 7ce6a6e7af..3d5a3de771 100644
--- a/daemon/monitor.go
+++ b/daemon/monitor.go
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ func (m *containerMonitor) Start() error {
 	defer func() {
 		if afterRun {
 			m.container.Lock()
-			m.container.State.SetStopped(exitStatus)
+			m.container.State.setStopped(exitStatus)
 			defer m.container.Unlock()
 		}
 		m.Close()
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ func (m *containerMonitor) Start() error {
 		m.container.RestartCount++
 
 		if err := m.container.startLoggingToDisk(); err != nil {
-			m.resetContainer()
+			m.resetContainer(false)
 
 			return err
 		}
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ func (m *containerMonitor) Start() error {
 			// if we receive an internal error from the initial start of a container then lets
 			// return it instead of entering the restart loop
 			if m.container.RestartCount == 0 {
-				m.resetContainer()
+				m.resetContainer(false)
 
 				return err
 			}
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ func (m *containerMonitor) Start() error {
 		if m.shouldRestart(exitStatus) {
 			m.container.State.SetRestarting(exitStatus)
 			m.container.LogEvent("die")
-			m.resetContainer()
+			m.resetContainer(true)
 
 			// sleep with a small time increment between each restart to help avoid issues cased by quickly
 			// restarting the container because of some types of errors ( networking cut out, etc... )
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ func (m *containerMonitor) Start() error {
 			continue
 		}
 		m.container.LogEvent("die")
-		m.resetContainer()
+		m.resetContainer(true)
 		return err
 	}
 }
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ func (m *containerMonitor) callback(command *execdriver.Command) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	m.container.State.SetRunning(command.Pid())
+	m.container.State.setRunning(command.Pid())
 
 	// signal that the process has started
 	// close channel only if not closed
@@ -260,8 +260,13 @@ func (m *containerMonitor) callback(command *execdriver.Command) {
 
 // resetContainer resets the container's IO and ensures that the command is able to be executed again
 // by copying the data into a new struct
-func (m *containerMonitor) resetContainer() {
+// if lock is true, then container locked during reset
+func (m *containerMonitor) resetContainer(lock bool) {
 	container := m.container
+	if lock {
+		container.Lock()
+		defer container.Unlock()
+	}
 
 	if container.Config.OpenStdin {
 		if err := container.stdin.Close(); err != nil {
diff --git a/daemon/state.go b/daemon/state.go
index 44742b78c9..a5557cff29 100644
--- a/daemon/state.go
+++ b/daemon/state.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package daemon
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
@@ -10,7 +9,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 type State struct {
-	sync.RWMutex
+	sync.Mutex
 	Running    bool
 	Paused     bool
 	Restarting bool
@@ -29,9 +28,6 @@ func NewState() *State {
 
 // String returns a human-readable description of the state
 func (s *State) String() string {
-	s.RLock()
-	defer s.RUnlock()
-
 	if s.Running {
 		if s.Paused {
 			return fmt.Sprintf("Up %s (Paused)", units.HumanDuration(time.Now().UTC().Sub(s.StartedAt)))
@@ -50,16 +46,6 @@ func (s *State) String() string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("Exited (%d) %s ago", s.ExitCode, units.HumanDuration(time.Now().UTC().Sub(s.FinishedAt)))
 }
 
-type jState State
-
-// MarshalJSON for state is needed to avoid race conditions on inspect
-func (s *State) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
-	s.RLock()
-	b, err := json.Marshal(jState(*s))
-	s.RUnlock()
-	return b, err
-}
-
 func wait(waitChan <-chan struct{}, timeout time.Duration) error {
 	if timeout < 0 {
 		<-waitChan
@@ -77,14 +63,14 @@ func wait(waitChan <-chan struct{}, timeout time.Duration) error {
 // immediatly. If you want wait forever you must supply negative timeout.
 // Returns pid, that was passed to SetRunning
 func (s *State) WaitRunning(timeout time.Duration) (int, error) {
-	s.RLock()
-	if s.IsRunning() {
+	s.Lock()
+	if s.Running {
 		pid := s.Pid
-		s.RUnlock()
+		s.Unlock()
 		return pid, nil
 	}
 	waitChan := s.waitChan
-	s.RUnlock()
+	s.Unlock()
 	if err := wait(waitChan, timeout); err != nil {
 		return -1, err
 	}
@@ -95,14 +81,14 @@ func (s *State) WaitRunning(timeout time.Duration) (int, error) {
 // immediatly. If you want wait forever you must supply negative timeout.
 // Returns exit code, that was passed to SetStopped
 func (s *State) WaitStop(timeout time.Duration) (int, error) {
-	s.RLock()
+	s.Lock()
 	if !s.Running {
 		exitCode := s.ExitCode
-		s.RUnlock()
+		s.Unlock()
 		return exitCode, nil
 	}
 	waitChan := s.waitChan
-	s.RUnlock()
+	s.Unlock()
 	if err := wait(waitChan, timeout); err != nil {
 		return -1, err
 	}
@@ -110,28 +96,33 @@ func (s *State) WaitStop(timeout time.Duration) (int, error) {
 }
 
 func (s *State) IsRunning() bool {
-	s.RLock()
+	s.Lock()
 	res := s.Running
-	s.RUnlock()
+	s.Unlock()
 	return res
 }
 
 func (s *State) GetPid() int {
-	s.RLock()
+	s.Lock()
 	res := s.Pid
-	s.RUnlock()
+	s.Unlock()
 	return res
 }
 
 func (s *State) GetExitCode() int {
-	s.RLock()
+	s.Lock()
 	res := s.ExitCode
-	s.RUnlock()
+	s.Unlock()
 	return res
 }
 
 func (s *State) SetRunning(pid int) {
 	s.Lock()
+	s.setRunning(pid)
+	s.Unlock()
+}
+
+func (s *State) setRunning(pid int) {
 	s.Running = true
 	s.Paused = false
 	s.Restarting = false
@@ -140,11 +131,15 @@ func (s *State) SetRunning(pid int) {
 	s.StartedAt = time.Now().UTC()
 	close(s.waitChan) // fire waiters for start
 	s.waitChan = make(chan struct{})
-	s.Unlock()
 }
 
 func (s *State) SetStopped(exitCode int) {
 	s.Lock()
+	s.setStopped(exitCode)
+	s.Unlock()
+}
+
+func (s *State) setStopped(exitCode int) {
 	s.Running = false
 	s.Restarting = false
 	s.Pid = 0
@@ -152,7 +147,6 @@ func (s *State) SetStopped(exitCode int) {
 	s.ExitCode = exitCode
 	close(s.waitChan) // fire waiters for stop
 	s.waitChan = make(chan struct{})
-	s.Unlock()
 }
 
 // SetRestarting is when docker hanldes the auto restart of containers when they are
@@ -172,9 +166,9 @@ func (s *State) SetRestarting(exitCode int) {
 }
 
 func (s *State) IsRestarting() bool {
-	s.RLock()
+	s.Lock()
 	res := s.Restarting
-	s.RUnlock()
+	s.Unlock()
 	return res
 }
 
@@ -191,8 +185,8 @@ func (s *State) SetUnpaused() {
 }
 
 func (s *State) IsPaused() bool {
-	s.RLock()
+	s.Lock()
 	res := s.Paused
-	s.RUnlock()
+	s.Unlock()
 	return res
 }