diff --git a/init.go b/init.go
index bddc237f6..2f44ce8a5 100644
--- a/init.go
+++ b/init.go
@@ -32,8 +32,7 @@ func init() {
 		logrus.SetFormatter(new(logrus.JSONFormatter))
 		logrus.Debug("child process in init()")
 
-		factory, _ := libcontainer.New("")
-		if err := factory.StartInitialization(); err != nil {
+		if err := libcontainer.StartInitialization(); err != nil {
 			// as the error is sent back to the parent there is no need to log
 			// or write it to stderr because the parent process will handle this
 			os.Exit(1)
diff --git a/libcontainer/README.md b/libcontainer/README.md
index 2850db2aa..4210eacc5 100644
--- a/libcontainer/README.md
+++ b/libcontainer/README.md
@@ -32,8 +32,7 @@ func init() {
 	if len(os.Args) > 1 && os.Args[1] == "init" {
 		runtime.GOMAXPROCS(1)
 		runtime.LockOSThread()
-		factory, _ := libcontainer.New("")
-		if err := factory.StartInitialization(); err != nil {
+		if err := libcontainer.StartInitialization(); err != nil {
 			logrus.Fatal(err)
 		}
 		panic("--this line should have never been executed, congratulations--")
diff --git a/libcontainer/factory_linux.go b/libcontainer/factory_linux.go
index d15a21bac..93dc4812f 100644
--- a/libcontainer/factory_linux.go
+++ b/libcontainer/factory_linux.go
@@ -29,10 +29,8 @@ var idRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`^[\w+-\.]+$`)
 
 // New returns a linux based container factory based in the root directory.
 func New(root string) (*LinuxFactory, error) {
-	if root != "" {
-		if err := os.MkdirAll(root, 0o700); err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(root, 0o700); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
 	}
 	return &LinuxFactory{
 		Root: root,
@@ -169,9 +167,10 @@ func (l *LinuxFactory) Load(id string) (Container, error) {
 	return c, nil
 }
 
-// StartInitialization loads a container by opening the pipe fd from the parent to read the configuration and state
-// This is a low level implementation detail of the reexec and should not be consumed externally
-func (l *LinuxFactory) StartInitialization() (err error) {
+// StartInitialization loads a container by opening the pipe fd from the parent
+// to read the configuration and state. This is a low level implementation
+// detail of the reexec and should not be consumed externally.
+func StartInitialization() (err error) {
 	// Get the INITPIPE.
 	envInitPipe := os.Getenv("_LIBCONTAINER_INITPIPE")
 	pipefd, err := strconv.Atoi(envInitPipe)
diff --git a/libcontainer/integration/init_test.go b/libcontainer/integration/init_test.go
index effcde06d..b6a3714d4 100644
--- a/libcontainer/integration/init_test.go
+++ b/libcontainer/integration/init_test.go
@@ -19,11 +19,7 @@ func init() {
 	}
 	runtime.GOMAXPROCS(1)
 	runtime.LockOSThread()
-	factory, err := libcontainer.New("")
-	if err != nil {
-		logrus.Fatalf("unable to initialize for container: %s", err)
-	}
-	if err := factory.StartInitialization(); err != nil {
+	if err := libcontainer.StartInitialization(); err != nil {
 		logrus.Fatal(err)
 	}
 }