diff --git a/userspace/libsinsp/container_engine/cri.cpp b/userspace/libsinsp/container_engine/cri.cpp
index 1ecc283afc..0a80afb6e7 100644
--- a/userspace/libsinsp/container_engine/cri.cpp
+++ b/userspace/libsinsp/container_engine/cri.cpp
@@ -245,6 +245,9 @@ bool cri::resolve(sinsp_threadinfo *tinfo, bool query_os_for_missing_info)
 					container_id.c_str());
 			// `lookup_sync` function directly invokes the container engine specific parser `parse`
 			done = m_async_source->lookup_sync(key, result);
+			// note: The container image is the most crucial field from a security incident response perspective. 
+			// We aim to raise the bar for successful container lookups. Conversely, pod sandboxes do not include  
+			// a container image in the API response.
 			if(!result.m_image.empty() || result.is_pod_sandbox())
 			{
 				/*
@@ -267,6 +270,7 @@ bool cri::resolve(sinsp_threadinfo *tinfo, bool query_os_for_missing_info)
 				* issues noted by adopters, such as the absence of container images in syscall events even when 
 				* disabling async lookups.
 				*/
+				result.set_lookup_status(sinsp_container_lookup::state::STARTED);
 				cache->replace_container(std::make_shared<sinsp_container_info>(result));
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/userspace/libsinsp/parsers.cpp b/userspace/libsinsp/parsers.cpp
index 76167bdead..617cf75c37 100644
--- a/userspace/libsinsp/parsers.cpp
+++ b/userspace/libsinsp/parsers.cpp
@@ -5223,11 +5223,6 @@ void sinsp_parser::parse_container_json_evt(sinsp_evt *evt)
 			}
 		}
 
-		if(!container_info->is_successful())
-		{
-			SINSP_DEBUG("Filtering container event for failed lookup of %s (but calling callbacks anyway)", container_info->m_id.c_str());
-			evt->set_filtered_out(true);
-		}
 		evt->set_tinfo_ref(container_info->get_tinfo(m_inspector));
 		evt->set_tinfo(evt->get_tinfo_ref().get());
 		container_info->set_lookup_status(static_cast<sinsp_container_lookup::state>(lookup_state.asUInt()));
@@ -5239,6 +5234,9 @@ void sinsp_parser::parse_container_json_evt(sinsp_evt *evt)
 			break;
 		default:
 			{
+				// note: The container image is the most crucial field from a security incident response perspective. 
+				// We aim to raise the bar for successful container lookups. Conversely, pod sandboxes do not include  
+				// a container image in the API response.
 				if (!container_info->m_image.empty() || container_info->is_pod_sandbox())
 				{
 					// Marked as SUCCESSFUL if and only if the container image field present or 
@@ -5250,6 +5248,14 @@ void sinsp_parser::parse_container_json_evt(sinsp_evt *evt)
 				}
 			}
 		}
+
+		// note: Important, only set event filtering flag after all final state updates are done
+		if(!container_info->is_successful())
+		{
+			SINSP_DEBUG("Filtering container event for failed lookup of %s (but calling callbacks anyway)", container_info->m_id.c_str());
+			evt->set_filtered_out(true);
+		}
+
 		// `add_container` also triggers the callbacks, therefore always continue even if the
 		// lookup_status was set to FAILED
 		m_inspector->m_container_manager.add_container(container_info, evt->get_thread_info(true));