diff --git a/hadoop-hdds/server-scm/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/safemode/ContainerSafeModeRule.java b/hadoop-hdds/server-scm/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/safemode/ContainerSafeModeRule.java
index 496d481b61..8eadeb3554 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdds/server-scm/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/safemode/ContainerSafeModeRule.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdds/server-scm/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/safemode/ContainerSafeModeRule.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
 
@@ -63,19 +64,18 @@ public ContainerSafeModeRule(String ruleName, EventQueue eventQueue,
             " value should be >= 0.0 and <= 1.0");
 
     containerMap = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
-    if(containers != null) {
-      containers.forEach(c -> {
-        // TODO: There can be containers in OPEN state which were never
-        // created by the client. We are not considering these containers for
-        // now. These containers can be handled by tracking pipelines.
-        if (c != null && c.getState() != null &&
-            !c.getState().equals(HddsProtos.LifeCycleState.OPEN)) {
-          containerMap.put(c.getContainerID(), c);
-        }
-      });
-      maxContainer = containerMap.size();
-    }
+    containers.forEach(container -> {
+      // There can be containers in OPEN/CLOSING state which were never
+      // created by the client. We are not considering these containers for
+      // now. These containers can be handled by tracking pipelines.
 
+      Optional.ofNullable(container.getState())
+          .filter(state -> state != HddsProtos.LifeCycleState.OPEN)
+          .filter(state -> state != HddsProtos.LifeCycleState.CLOSING)
+          .ifPresent(s -> containerMap.put(container.getContainerID(),
+              container));
+    });
+    maxContainer = containerMap.size();
     long cutOff = (long) Math.ceil(maxContainer * safeModeCutoff);
     getSafeModeMetrics().setNumContainerWithOneReplicaReportedThreshold(cutOff);
   }
diff --git a/hadoop-hdds/server-scm/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/safemode/TestSCMSafeModeManager.java b/hadoop-hdds/server-scm/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/safemode/TestSCMSafeModeManager.java
index ba92035466..247b38afc7 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdds/server-scm/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/safemode/TestSCMSafeModeManager.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdds/server-scm/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdds/scm/safemode/TestSCMSafeModeManager.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.UUID;
 
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@ public class TestSCMSafeModeManager {
   private static EventQueue queue;
   private SCMSafeModeManager scmSafeModeManager;
   private static Configuration config;
-  private List<ContainerInfo> containers;
+  private List<ContainerInfo> containers = Collections.emptyList();
 
   @Rule
   public Timeout timeout = new Timeout(1000 * 300);
@@ -85,7 +86,8 @@ public void testSafeModeState() throws Exception {
 
   @Test
   public void testSafeModeStateWithNullContainers() {
-    new SCMSafeModeManager(config, null, null, queue);
+    new SCMSafeModeManager(config, Collections.emptyList(),
+        null, queue);
   }
 
   private void testSafeMode(int numContainers) throws Exception {