diff --git a/src/bentoml/_internal/container/podman.py b/src/bentoml/_internal/container/podman.py
index 06b20565db..221a77e4fc 100644
--- a/src/bentoml/_internal/container/podman.py
+++ b/src/bentoml/_internal/container/podman.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def health() -> bool:
         .strip("\n"")  # strip quotation marks from JSON format.
         .lower()
     )
-    return output == "running"
+    return output == '"running"'
 
 
 def parse_dict_opt(d: dict[str, str]) -> str: