diff --git a/tests/integration/helpers.bash b/tests/integration/helpers.bash
index d099acae2..236f86528 100644
--- a/tests/integration/helpers.bash
+++ b/tests/integration/helpers.bash
@@ -103,13 +103,21 @@ function init_cgroup_paths() {
 
 	if stat -f -c %t /sys/fs/cgroup | grep -qFw 63677270; then
 		CGROUP_UNIFIED=yes
+		local controllers="/sys/fs/cgroup/cgroup.controllers"
+		# For rootless + systemd case, controllers delegation is required,
+		# so check the controllers that the current user has, not the top one.
+		# NOTE: delegation of cpuset requires systemd >= 244 (Fedora >= 32, Ubuntu >= 20.04).
+		if [[ "$ROOTLESS" -ne 0 && -n "$RUNC_USE_SYSTEMD" ]]; then
+			controllers="/sys/fs/cgroup/user.slice/user-$(id -u).slice/user@$(id -u).service/cgroup.controllers"
+		fi
+
 		# "pseudo" controllers do not appear in /sys/fs/cgroup/cgroup.controllers.
 		# - devices (since kernel 4.15) we must assume to be supported because
 		#   it's quite hard to test.
 		# - freezer (since kernel 5.2) we can auto-detect by looking for the
 		#   "cgroup.freeze" file a *non-root* cgroup.
 		CGROUP_SUBSYSTEMS=$(
-			cat /sys/fs/cgroup/cgroup.controllers
+			cat "$controllers"
 			echo devices
 		)
 		CGROUP_BASE_PATH=/sys/fs/cgroup
diff --git a/tests/integration/update.bats b/tests/integration/update.bats
index 9e4d702f0..bc9005663 100644
--- a/tests/integration/update.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/update.bats
@@ -22,15 +22,7 @@ function setup() {
 # v1 and v2: memory/swap, pids, and cpuset.
 @test "update cgroup v1/v2 common limits" {
 	[[ "$ROOTLESS" -ne 0 && -z "$RUNC_USE_SYSTEMD" ]] && requires rootless_cgroup
-	if [[ "$ROOTLESS" -ne 0 && -n "$RUNC_USE_SYSTEMD" ]]; then
-		file="/sys/fs/cgroup/user.slice/user-$(id -u).slice/user@$(id -u).service/cgroup.controllers"
-		# NOTE: delegation of cpuset requires systemd >= 244 (Fedora >= 32, Ubuntu >= 20.04).
-		for f in memory pids cpuset; do
-			if grep -qwv $f "$file"; then
-				skip "$f is not enabled in $file"
-			fi
-		done
-	fi
+	requires cgroups_memory cgroups_pids cgroups_cpuset
 	init_cgroup_paths
 
 	# run a few busyboxes detached
@@ -70,10 +62,6 @@ function setup() {
 	fi
 
 	# check that initial values were properly set
-	if [[ "$CGROUP_UNIFIED" = "yes" ]] && ! grep -qw memory "$CGROUP_PATH/cgroup.controllers"; then
-		# This happen on containerized environment because "echo +memory > /sys/fs/cgroup/cgroup.subtree_control" fails with EINVAL
-		skip "memory controller not available"
-	fi
 	check_cgroup_value $MEM_LIMIT 33554432
 	check_systemd_value $SD_MEM_LIMIT 33554432
 
@@ -83,7 +71,7 @@ function setup() {
 	check_cgroup_value "pids.max" 20
 	check_systemd_value "TasksMax" 20
 
-	# update cpuset if supported (i.e. we're running on a multicore cpu)
+	# update cpuset if possible (i.e. we're running on a multicore cpu)
 	cpu_count=$(grep -c '^processor' /proc/cpuinfo)
 	if [ "$cpu_count" -gt 1 ]; then
 		runc update test_update --cpuset-cpus "1"
@@ -426,7 +414,7 @@ EOF
 
 @test "update cpuset parameters via resources.CPU" {
 	[[ "$ROOTLESS" -ne 0 ]] && requires rootless_cgroup
-	requires smp
+	requires smp cgroups_cpuset
 
 	local AllowedCPUs='AllowedCPUs' AllowedMemoryNodes='AllowedMemoryNodes'
 	# these properties require systemd >= v244
@@ -482,7 +470,7 @@ EOF
 @test "update cpuset parameters via v2 unified map" {
 	# This test assumes systemd >= v244
 	[[ "$ROOTLESS" -ne 0 ]] && requires rootless_cgroup
-	requires cgroups_v2 smp
+	requires cgroups_v2 smp cgroups_cpuset
 
 	update_config ' .linux.resources.unified |= {
 				"cpuset.cpus": "0",