diff --git a/init.go b/init.go
index 59ce1e8c7..d39492952 100644
--- a/init.go
+++ b/init.go
@@ -10,11 +10,12 @@ import (
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/logs"
 	_ "github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/nsenter"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
-	"github.com/urfave/cli"
 )
 
 func init() {
 	if len(os.Args) > 1 && os.Args[1] == "init" {
+		// This is the golang entry point for runc init, executed
+		// before main() but after libcontainer/nsenter's nsexec().
 		runtime.GOMAXPROCS(1)
 		runtime.LockOSThread()
 
@@ -38,13 +39,7 @@ func init() {
 			panic(fmt.Sprintf("libcontainer: failed to configure logging: %v", err))
 		}
 		logrus.Debug("child process in init()")
-	}
-}
 
-var initCommand = cli.Command{
-	Name:  "init",
-	Usage: `initialize the namespaces and launch the process (do not call it outside of runc)`,
-	Action: func(context *cli.Context) error {
 		factory, _ := libcontainer.New("")
 		if err := factory.StartInitialization(); err != nil {
 			// as the error is sent back to the parent there is no need to log
@@ -52,5 +47,5 @@ var initCommand = cli.Command{
 			os.Exit(1)
 		}
 		panic("libcontainer: container init failed to exec")
-	},
+	}
 }
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 45652ab32..f141e79b4 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -119,7 +119,6 @@ func main() {
 		deleteCommand,
 		eventsCommand,
 		execCommand,
-		initCommand,
 		killCommand,
 		listCommand,
 		pauseCommand,
@@ -149,10 +148,7 @@ func main() {
 		if err := reviseRootDir(context); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		// let init configure logging on its own
-		if args := context.Args(); args != nil && args.First() == "init" {
-			return nil
-		}
+
 		return logs.ConfigureLogging(createLogConfig(context))
 	}