diff --git a/libpod/define/annotations.go b/libpod/define/annotations.go
index 29796533bd..f805b31daf 100644
--- a/libpod/define/annotations.go
+++ b/libpod/define/annotations.go
@@ -153,6 +153,10 @@ const (
 	// of the container
 	UlimitAnnotation = "io.podman.annotations.ulimit"
 
+	// KubeHealthCheckAnnotation is used by kube play to tell podman that any health checks should follow
+	// the k8s behavior of waiting for the intialDelaySeconds to be over before updating the status
+	KubeHealthCheckAnnotation = "io.podman.annotations.kube.health.check"
+
 	// MaxKubeAnnotation is the max length of annotations allowed by Kubernetes.
 	MaxKubeAnnotation = 63
 )
diff --git a/libpod/healthcheck.go b/libpod/healthcheck.go
index f906562bc9..2df8b670e1 100644
--- a/libpod/healthcheck.go
+++ b/libpod/healthcheck.go
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ func (c *Container) runHealthCheck(ctx context.Context, isStartup bool) (define.
 	}
 
 	hcl := newHealthCheckLog(timeStart, timeEnd, returnCode, eventLog)
-	logStatus, err := c.updateHealthCheckLog(hcl, inStartPeriod)
+	logStatus, err := c.updateHealthCheckLog(hcl, inStartPeriod, isStartup)
 	if err != nil {
 		return hcResult, "", fmt.Errorf("unable to update health check log %s for %s: %w", c.healthCheckLogPath(), c.ID(), err)
 	}
@@ -375,10 +375,17 @@ func (c *Container) isUnhealthy() (bool, error) {
 }
 
 // UpdateHealthCheckLog parses the health check results and writes the log
-func (c *Container) updateHealthCheckLog(hcl define.HealthCheckLog, inStartPeriod bool) (string, error) {
+func (c *Container) updateHealthCheckLog(hcl define.HealthCheckLog, inStartPeriod, isStartup bool) (string, error) {
 	c.lock.Lock()
 	defer c.lock.Unlock()
 
+	// If we are playing a kube yaml then let's honor the start period time for
+	// both failing and succeeding cases to match kube behavior.
+	// So don't update the health check log till the start period is over
+	if _, ok := c.config.Spec.Annotations[define.KubeHealthCheckAnnotation]; ok && inStartPeriod && !isStartup {
+		return "", nil
+	}
+
 	healthCheck, err := c.getHealthCheckLog()
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
diff --git a/pkg/specgen/generate/kube/kube.go b/pkg/specgen/generate/kube/kube.go
index cebf3e5d13..f3e0b4920e 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/generate/kube/kube.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/generate/kube/kube.go
@@ -431,6 +431,8 @@ func ToSpecGen(ctx context.Context, opts *CtrSpecGenOptions) (*specgen.SpecGener
 		s.Annotations[define.InspectAnnotationPublishAll] = publishAll
 	}
 
+	s.Annotations[define.KubeHealthCheckAnnotation] = "true"
+
 	// Environment Variables
 	envs := map[string]string{}
 	for _, env := range imageData.Config.Env {
diff --git a/test/system/700-play.bats b/test/system/700-play.bats
index a036abfdb3..af7c2cf12a 100644
--- a/test/system/700-play.bats
+++ b/test/system/700-play.bats
@@ -829,3 +829,109 @@ EOF
 
     run_podman rmi $local_image
 }
+
+@test "podman kube play healthcheck should wait initialDelaySeconds before updating status (healthy)" {
+    fname="$PODMAN_TMPDIR/play_kube_healthy_$(random_string 6).yaml"
+    echo "
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Pod
+metadata:
+  labels:
+  name: liveness-exec
+spec:
+  containers:
+  - name: liveness
+    image: $IMAGE
+    args:
+    - /bin/sh
+    - -c
+    - touch /tmp/healthy && sleep 100
+    livenessProbe:
+      exec:
+        command:
+        - cat
+        - /tmp/healthy
+      initialDelaySeconds: 3
+      failureThreshold: 1
+      periodSeconds: 1
+" > $fname
+
+    run_podman kube play $fname
+    ctrName="liveness-exec-liveness"
+
+    # Keep checking status. For the first 2 seconds it must be 'starting'
+    t0=$SECONDS
+    while [[ $SECONDS -le $((t0 + 2)) ]]; do
+        run_podman inspect $ctrName --format "1-{{.State.Health.Status}}"
+        assert "$output" == "1-starting" "Health.Status at $((SECONDS - t0))"
+        sleep 0.5
+    done
+
+    # After 3 seconds it may take another second to go healthy. Wait.
+    t0=$SECONDS
+    while [[ $SECONDS -le $((t0 + 3)) ]]; do
+        run_podman inspect $ctrName --format "2-{{.State.Health.Status}}"
+        if [[ "$output" = "2-healthy" ]]; then
+            break;
+        fi
+        sleep 0.5
+    done
+    assert $output == "2-healthy" "After 3 seconds"
+
+    run_podman kube down $fname
+    run_podman pod rm -a
+    run_podman rm -a
+}
+
+@test "podman kube play healthcheck should wait initialDelaySeconds before updating status (unhealthy)" {
+    fname="$PODMAN_TMPDIR/play_kube_unhealthy_$(random_string 6).yaml"
+    echo "
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Pod
+metadata:
+  labels:
+  name: liveness-exec
+spec:
+  containers:
+  - name: liveness
+    image: $IMAGE
+    args:
+    - /bin/sh
+    - -c
+    - touch /tmp/healthy && sleep 100
+    livenessProbe:
+      exec:
+        command:
+        - cat
+        - /tmp/randomfile
+      initialDelaySeconds: 3
+      failureThreshold: 1
+      periodSeconds: 1
+" > $fname
+
+    run_podman kube play $fname
+    ctrName="liveness-exec-liveness"
+
+    # Keep checking status. For the first 2 seconds it must be 'starting'
+    t0=$SECONDS
+    while [[ $SECONDS -le $((t0 + 2)) ]]; do
+        run_podman inspect $ctrName --format "1-{{.State.Health.Status}}"
+        assert "$output" == "1-starting" "Health.Status at $((SECONDS - t0))"
+        sleep 0.5
+    done
+
+    # After 3 seconds it may take another second to go unhealthy. Wait.
+    t0=$SECONDS
+    while [[ $SECONDS -le $((t0 + 3)) ]]; do
+        run_podman inspect $ctrName --format "2-{{.State.Health.Status}}"
+        if [[ "$output" = "2-unhealthy" ]]; then
+            break;
+        fi
+        sleep 0.5
+    done
+    assert $output == "2-unhealthy" "After 3 seconds"
+
+    run_podman kube down $fname
+    run_podman pod rm -a
+    run_podman rm -a
+}