diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/cgroups.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/cgroups.go
index a16a68e97..c418fbae9 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/cgroups.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/cgroups.go
@@ -48,4 +48,7 @@ type Manager interface {
 
 	// Whether the cgroup path exists or not
 	Exists() bool
+
+	// OOMKillCount reports OOM kill count for the cgroup.
+	OOMKillCount() (uint64, error)
 }
diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/fs.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/fs.go
index a42ce4535..bede91e2f 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/fs.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/fs.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/cgroups"
+	"github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/cgroups/fscommon"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/configs"
 	libcontainerUtils "github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/utils"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
@@ -421,3 +422,11 @@ func (m *manager) GetFreezerState() (configs.FreezerState, error) {
 func (m *manager) Exists() bool {
 	return cgroups.PathExists(m.Path("devices"))
 }
+
+func OOMKillCount(path string) (uint64, error) {
+	return fscommon.GetValueByKey(path, "memory.oom_control", "oom_kill")
+}
+
+func (m *manager) OOMKillCount() (uint64, error) {
+	return OOMKillCount(m.Path("memory"))
+}
diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/fs2.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/fs2.go
index 3f0b9e0d7..733f9dcfd 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/fs2.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/fs2.go
@@ -257,3 +257,11 @@ func (m *manager) GetFreezerState() (configs.FreezerState, error) {
 func (m *manager) Exists() bool {
 	return cgroups.PathExists(m.dirPath)
 }
+
+func OOMKillCount(path string) (uint64, error) {
+	return fscommon.GetValueByKey(path, "memory.events", "oom_kill")
+}
+
+func (m *manager) OOMKillCount() (uint64, error) {
+	return OOMKillCount(m.dirPath)
+}
diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v1.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v1.go
index 2ad1347e5..59a8b1e72 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v1.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v1.go
@@ -450,3 +450,7 @@ func (m *legacyManager) GetFreezerState() (configs.FreezerState, error) {
 func (m *legacyManager) Exists() bool {
 	return cgroups.PathExists(m.Path("devices"))
 }
+
+func (m *legacyManager) OOMKillCount() (uint64, error) {
+	return fs.OOMKillCount(m.Path("memory"))
+}
diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v2.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v2.go
index 6f1422659..65abc0592 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v2.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v2.go
@@ -495,3 +495,7 @@ func (m *unifiedManager) GetFreezerState() (configs.FreezerState, error) {
 func (m *unifiedManager) Exists() bool {
 	return cgroups.PathExists(m.path)
 }
+
+func (m *unifiedManager) OOMKillCount() (uint64, error) {
+	return fs2.OOMKillCount(m.path)
+}
diff --git a/libcontainer/container_linux_test.go b/libcontainer/container_linux_test.go
index 73915997c..2a9af6ad2 100644
--- a/libcontainer/container_linux_test.go
+++ b/libcontainer/container_linux_test.go
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ func (m *mockCgroupManager) Exists() bool {
 	return err == nil
 }
 
+func (m *mockCgroupManager) OOMKillCount() (uint64, error) {
+	return 0, nil
+}
+
 func (m *mockCgroupManager) GetPaths() map[string]string {
 	return m.paths
 }
diff --git a/libcontainer/process_linux.go b/libcontainer/process_linux.go
index 834268b99..7e403c6af 100644
--- a/libcontainer/process_linux.go
+++ b/libcontainer/process_linux.go
@@ -321,6 +321,24 @@ func (p *initProcess) start() (retErr error) {
 	}
 	defer func() {
 		if retErr != nil {
+			// init might be killed by the kernel's OOM killer.
+			oom, err := p.manager.OOMKillCount()
+			if err != nil {
+				logrus.WithError(err).Warn("unable to get oom kill count")
+			} else if oom > 0 {
+				// Does not matter what the particular error was,
+				// its cause is most probably OOM, so report that.
+				const oomError = "container init was OOM-killed (memory limit too low?)"
+
+				if logrus.GetLevel() >= logrus.DebugLevel {
+					// Only show the original error if debug is set,
+					// as it is not generally very useful.
+					retErr = newSystemErrorWithCause(retErr, oomError)
+				} else {
+					retErr = newSystemError(errors.New(oomError))
+				}
+			}
+
 			// terminate the process to ensure we can remove cgroups
 			if err := ignoreTerminateErrors(p.terminate()); err != nil {
 				logrus.WithError(err).Warn("unable to terminate initProcess")
diff --git a/tests/integration/cgroups.bats b/tests/integration/cgroups.bats
index a319ed042..38d063047 100644
--- a/tests/integration/cgroups.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/cgroups.bats
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ function setup() {
 
 	runc run -d --console-socket "$CONSOLE_SOCKET" test_cgroups_permissions
 	[ "$status" -eq 1 ]
-	[[ ${lines[0]} == *"permission denied"* ]]
+	[[ "$output" == *"applying cgroup configuration"*"permission denied"* ]]
 }
 
 @test "runc create (rootless + limits + no cgrouppath + no permission) fails with informative error" {
@@ -92,7 +92,8 @@ function setup() {
 
 	runc run -d --console-socket "$CONSOLE_SOCKET" test_cgroups_permissions
 	[ "$status" -eq 1 ]
-	[[ ${lines[0]} == *"rootless needs no limits + no cgrouppath when no permission is granted for cgroups"* ]] || [[ ${lines[0]} == *"cannot set pids limit: container could not join or create cgroup"* ]]
+	[[ "$output" == *"rootless needs no limits + no cgrouppath when no permission is granted for cgroups"* ]] ||
+		[[ "$output" == *"cannot set pids limit: container could not join or create cgroup"* ]]
 }
 
 @test "runc create (limits + cgrouppath + permission on the cgroup dir) succeeds" {