A method for operating an internal combustion engine comprising an emission control system that includes at least one catalytic and/or filter-effective emission control component. In conjunction with a cold start and/or a warm-up of the internal combustion engine, the internal combustion engine is operated using a cold start engine operation process having predefined values for predefined operating parameters of the internal combustion engine. An amount of hydrocarbons (HC) stored in one or more of the at least one emission control component is estimated, and the cold start engine operation process is activated when the estimation indicates that the amount of stored HC exceeds a predefined maximum amount of stored HC.