diff --git a/libpod/container_api.go b/libpod/container_api.go
index 9e225940d5..cae6817ec3 100644
--- a/libpod/container_api.go
+++ b/libpod/container_api.go
@@ -543,6 +543,8 @@ func (c *Container) Wait(ctx context.Context) (int32, error) {
 
 // WaitForExit blocks until the container exits and returns its exit code. The
 // argument is the interval at which checks the container's status.
+// If the argument is less than or equal to 0 Nanoseconds a default interval is
+// used.
 func (c *Container) WaitForExit(ctx context.Context, pollInterval time.Duration) (int32, error) {
 	id := c.ID()
 	if !c.valid {
@@ -593,6 +595,10 @@ func (c *Container) WaitForExit(ctx context.Context, pollInterval time.Duration)
 		defer unix.Close(conmonPidFd)
 	}
 
+	if pollInterval <= 0 {
+		pollInterval = DefaultWaitInterval
+	}
+
 	// we cannot wait locked as we would hold the lock forever, so we unlock and then lock again
 	c.lock.Unlock()
 	err := waitForConmonExit(ctx, conmonPID, conmonPidFd, pollInterval)