diff -u b/core/lib/Drupal.php b/core/lib/Drupal.php
--- b/core/lib/Drupal.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal.php
@@ -116,10 +116,10 @@
    * @return \Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerInterface
    */
   public static function getContainer($check_only = FALSE) {
-    if (!$check_only && !static::$container) {
-      throw new Exception('Container not found');
+    if (static::$container || $check_only) {
+      return static::$container;
     }
-    return static::$container;
+    throw new Exception('Container not found');
   }
 
   /**