diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static.go b/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static.go
index 2120b5f789005..5688ca67862c7 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static.go
@@ -205,7 +205,8 @@ func (p *staticPolicy) validateState(s state.State) error {
 	tmpDefaultCPUset := s.GetDefaultCPUSet()
 
 	allCPUs := p.topology.CPUDetails.CPUs()
-	if p.options.StrictCPUReservation {
+	strictCPUReservation := p.options.StrictCPUReservation || managed.IsEnabled()
+	if strictCPUReservation {
 		allCPUs = allCPUs.Difference(p.reservedCPUs)
 	}
 
@@ -217,10 +218,6 @@ func (p *staticPolicy) validateState(s state.State) error {
 		// state is empty initialize
 		s.SetDefaultCPUSet(allCPUs)
 		klog.InfoS("Static policy initialized", "defaultCPUSet", allCPUs)
-		if managed.IsEnabled() {
-			defaultCpus := s.GetDefaultCPUSet().Difference(p.reservedCPUs)
-			s.SetDefaultCPUSet(defaultCpus)
-		}
 		return nil
 	}
 
@@ -228,7 +225,7 @@ func (p *staticPolicy) validateState(s state.State) error {
 	// 1. Check if the reserved cpuset is not part of default cpuset because:
 	// - kube/system reserved have changed (increased) - may lead to some containers not being able to start
 	// - user tampered with file
-	if p.options.StrictCPUReservation {
+	if strictCPUReservation {
 		if !p.reservedCPUs.Intersection(tmpDefaultCPUset).IsEmpty() {
 			return fmt.Errorf("some of strictly reserved cpus: \"%s\" are present in defaultCpuSet: \"%s\"",
 				p.reservedCPUs.Intersection(tmpDefaultCPUset).String(), tmpDefaultCPUset.String())
@@ -236,7 +233,7 @@ func (p *staticPolicy) validateState(s state.State) error {
 	} else {
 		// 2. This only applies when managed mode is disabled. Active workload partitioning feature
 		//    removes the reserved cpus from the default cpu mask on purpose.
-		if !managed.IsEnabled() && !p.reservedCPUs.Intersection(tmpDefaultCPUset).Equals(p.reservedCPUs) {
+		if !p.reservedCPUs.Intersection(tmpDefaultCPUset).Equals(p.reservedCPUs) {
 			return fmt.Errorf("not all reserved cpus: \"%s\" are present in defaultCpuSet: \"%s\"",
 				p.reservedCPUs.String(), tmpDefaultCPUset.String())
 		}
@@ -268,17 +265,9 @@ func (p *staticPolicy) validateState(s state.State) error {
 		}
 	}
 	totalKnownCPUs = totalKnownCPUs.Union(tmpCPUSets...)
-	availableCPUs := p.topology.CPUDetails.CPUs()
-
-	// CPU (workload) partitioning removes reserved cpus
-	// from the default mask intentionally
-	if managed.IsEnabled() {
-		availableCPUs = availableCPUs.Difference(p.reservedCPUs)
-	}
-
-	if !totalKnownCPUs.Equals(availableCPUs) {
+	if !totalKnownCPUs.Equals(allCPUs) {
 		return fmt.Errorf("current set of available CPUs \"%s\" doesn't match with CPUs in state \"%s\"",
-			availableCPUs.String(), totalKnownCPUs.String())
+			allCPUs.String(), totalKnownCPUs.String())
 	}
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static_test.go
index e51f7336b57b6..54cf988070302 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/policy_static_test.go
@@ -1021,6 +1021,18 @@ func TestStaticPolicyStartWithResvList(t *testing.T) {
 			stDefaultCPUSet:  cpuset.New(),
 			expCSet:          cpuset.New(2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11),
 		},
+		{
+			// context issue: https://issues.redhat.com/browse/OCPBUGS-77659
+			// start, record state before run any pods, restart empty
+			description:      "empty cpuset with StrictCPUReservationOption enabled, simulate restart from empty",
+			topo:             topoDualSocketHT,
+			numReservedCPUs:  2,
+			reserved:         cpuset.New(0, 1),
+			cpuPolicyOptions: map[string]string{StrictCPUReservationOption: "true"},
+			stAssignments:    state.ContainerCPUAssignments{},
+			stDefaultCPUSet:  cpuset.New(2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11),
+			expCSet:          cpuset.New(2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11),
+		},
 		{
 			description:     "reserved cores 0 & 1 are not present in available cpuset",
 			topo:            topoDualSocketHT,