diff --git a/deploy/kubernetes/nfs_services_start.sh b/deploy/kubernetes/nfs_services_start.sh
index a77fe4f8c..eb7ca800b 100755
--- a/deploy/kubernetes/nfs_services_start.sh
+++ b/deploy/kubernetes/nfs_services_start.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,19 @@ set -o errexit
 trap "{ exit 0 }" TERM
 
 service rpcbind start
-service nfs-common start
+
+# If statd is already running, for example becuase of an existing nfs mount, we will fail
+# to service nfs-common start. If we successfully query the statd service (rpc program
+# number 100024), that means it's running, and we don't need to start it. This command
+# is put in /etc/default/nfs-common as the NEED_STATD variable must be set there.
+
+if rpcinfo -T udp 127.0.0.1 100024; then
+  echo statd already running
+  echo NEED_STATD=no >> /etc/default/nfs-common
+else
+  echo no statd found
+fi
+
+service nfs-common start  
 
 sleep infinity