diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 336624526c7..9ded088a90b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ generate: gen-cli-doc gen-test-framework  ## Run all generate targets
 .PHONY: install release_builds release
 
 install: ## Build & install the Operator SDK CLI binary
-	$(Q)go install \
+	$(Q)go1.13.4 install \
 		-gcflags "all=-trimpath=${GOPATH}" \
 		-asmflags "all=-trimpath=${GOPATH}" \
 		-ldflags " \
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 59ffe57291c..2bc95caac78 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/elazarl/goproxy/ext v0.0.0-20190421051319-9d40249d3c2f // indirect
 	github.com/fatih/camelcase v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/ghodss/yaml v1.0.1-0.20180820084758-c7ce16629ff4
+	github.com/go-logfmt/logfmt v0.4.0 // indirect
 	github.com/go-logr/logr v0.1.0
 	github.com/go-logr/zapr v0.1.1
 	github.com/gobuffalo/packr v1.30.1 // indirect
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/mitchellh/copystructure v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/mitchellh/go-homedir v1.1.0
 	github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.1.2
+	github.com/opencontainers/go-digest v1.0.0-rc1 // indirect
 	github.com/operator-framework/operator-lifecycle-manager v0.0.0-20190605231540-b8a4faf68e36
 	github.com/operator-framework/operator-registry v1.1.1
 	github.com/pborman/uuid v1.2.0
@@ -49,7 +51,9 @@ require (
 	github.com/ziutek/mymysql v1.5.4 // indirect
 	go.uber.org/zap v1.10.0
 	golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20191018212557-ed542cd5b28a
+	google.golang.org/genproto v0.0.0-20181016170114-94acd270e44e // indirect
 	gopkg.in/gorp.v1 v1.7.2 // indirect
+	gopkg.in/natefinch/lumberjack.v2 v2.0.0 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.2.2
 	k8s.io/api v0.0.0
 	k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver v0.0.0
diff --git a/pkg/leader/leader.go b/pkg/leader/leader.go
index 7baad819438..efc29cd5216 100644
--- a/pkg/leader/leader.go
+++ b/pkg/leader/leader.go
@@ -109,7 +109,32 @@ func Become(ctx context.Context, lockName string) error {
 			log.Info("Became the leader.")
 			return nil
 		case apierrors.IsAlreadyExists(err):
-			log.Info("Not the leader. Waiting.")
+			log.Info("Checking status of leader.")
+			existing := &corev1.ConfigMap{}
+			key := crclient.ObjectKey{Namespace: ns, Name: lockName}
+			err := client.Get(ctx, key, existing)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			leaderPod := &corev1.Pod{}
+			key = crclient.ObjectKey{Namespace: ns, Name: existing.ObjectMeta.OwnerReferences[0].Name}
+			err = client.Get(ctx, key, leaderPod)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			// TODO Should this be configurable?
+			if leaderPod.Status.Phase == corev1.PodFailed && leaderPod.Status.Reason == "Evicted" {
+				err := client.Delete(ctx, leaderPod)
+				if err == nil {
+					log.Info("Evicted leader pod has been deleted.")
+				} else {
+					log.Info("Evicted leader pod could not be deleted.")
+					return err
+				}
+			} else {
+				log.Info("Not the leader. Waiting.")
+			}
 			select {
 			case <-time.After(wait.Jitter(backoff, .2)):
 				if backoff < maxBackoffInterval {