diff --git a/paunch/builder/base.py b/paunch/builder/base.py
index 40d74bb..f9fee2a 100644
--- a/paunch/builder/base.py
+++ b/paunch/builder/base.py
@@ -11,8 +11,10 @@
 #   under the License.
 #
 
+import distutils.spawn
 import json
 import re
+import shutil
 import tenacity
 
 from paunch.utils import common
@@ -57,6 +59,13 @@ class BaseBuilder(object):
                                and action == 'run')
             start_cmd = 'create' if systemd_managed else 'run'
 
+            # When upgrading from Docker to Podman, we want to stop the
+            # container that runs under Docker first before starting it with
+            # Podman. The container will be removed later in THT during
+            # upgrade_tasks.
+            if self.runner.cont_cmd == 'podman' and self.which('docker'):
+                self.runner.stop_container(container, 'docker')
+
             if action == 'run':
                 if container in desired_names:
                     self.log.debug('Skipping existing container: %s' %
@@ -251,6 +260,13 @@ class BaseBuilder(object):
     def lower(self, a):
         return str(a).lower()
 
+    def which(self, program):
+        try:
+            pgm = shutil.which(program)
+        except AttributeError:
+            pgm = distutils.spawn.find_executable(program)
+        return pgm
+
     def duration(self, a):
         if isinstance(a, (int, float)):
             return a
diff --git a/paunch/runner.py b/paunch/runner.py
index f751bee..14abbf8 100644
--- a/paunch/runner.py
+++ b/paunch/runner.py
@@ -169,6 +169,14 @@ class BaseRunner(object):
             self.log.error('Error removing container: %s' % container)
             self.log.error(cmd_stderr)
 
+    def stop_container(self, container, cont_cmd=None):
+        cont_cmd = cont_cmd or self.cont_cmd
+        cmd = [cont_cmd, 'stop', container]
+        cmd_stdout, cmd_stderr, returncode = self.execute(cmd)
+        if returncode != 0:
+            self.log.error('Error stopping container: %s' % container)
+            self.log.error(cmd_stderr)
+
     def rename_containers(self):
         current_containers = []
         need_renaming = {}
diff --git a/paunch/tests/test_runner.py b/paunch/tests/test_runner.py
index 40bfbb3..0a71e16 100644
--- a/paunch/tests/test_runner.py
+++ b/paunch/tests/test_runner.py
@@ -212,6 +212,24 @@ class TestBaseRunner(base.TestCase):
             popen, ['docker', 'rm', '-f', 'one']
         )
 
+    @mock.patch('subprocess.Popen')
+    def test_stop_container(self, popen):
+        self.mock_execute(popen, '', '', 0)
+
+        self.runner.stop_container('one')
+        self.assert_execute(
+            popen, ['docker', 'stop', 'one']
+        )
+
+    @mock.patch('subprocess.Popen')
+    def test_stop_container_override(self, popen):
+        self.mock_execute(popen, '', '', 0)
+
+        self.runner.stop_container('one', 'podman')
+        self.assert_execute(
+            popen, ['podman', 'stop', 'one']
+        )
+
     @mock.patch('subprocess.Popen')
     def test_container_names(self, popen):
         ps_result = '''one one