diff --git a/libcontainer/cmd_clone.go b/libcontainer/cmd_clone.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..67418070f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libcontainer/cmd_clone.go
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+package libcontainer
+
+import "os/exec"
+
+// cloneCmd creates a copy of exec.Cmd. It is needed because cmd.Start
+// must only be used once, and go1.26 actually enforces that (see
+// https://go-review.googlesource.com/c/go/+/728642). The implementation
+// is similar to
+//
+//	cmd = *c
+//	return &cmd
+//
+// except it does not copy private fields, or fields populated
+// after the call to cmd.Start.
+//
+// NOTE if Go will add exec.Cmd.Clone, we should switch to it.
+func cloneCmd(c *exec.Cmd) *exec.Cmd {
+	cmd := &exec.Cmd{
+		Path:        c.Path,
+		Args:        c.Args,
+		Env:         c.Env,
+		Dir:         c.Dir,
+		Stdin:       c.Stdin,
+		Stdout:      c.Stdout,
+		Stderr:      c.Stderr,
+		ExtraFiles:  c.ExtraFiles,
+		SysProcAttr: c.SysProcAttr,
+		// Don't copy Process, ProcessState, Err since
+		// these fields are populated after the start.
+
+		// Technically, we do not use Cancel or WaitDelay,
+		// but they are here for the sake of completeness.
+		Cancel:    c.Cancel,
+		WaitDelay: c.WaitDelay,
+	}
+	return cmd
+}
diff --git a/libcontainer/process_linux.go b/libcontainer/process_linux.go
index b3487fd0b..fd075d4b9 100644
--- a/libcontainer/process_linux.go
+++ b/libcontainer/process_linux.go
@@ -380,11 +380,14 @@ func (p *setnsProcess) startWithCgroupFD() error {
 		defer fd.Close()
 	}
 
+	cmdCopy := cloneCmd(p.cmd)
 	err = p.startWithCPUAffinity()
 	if err != nil && p.cmd.SysProcAttr.UseCgroupFD {
 		logrus.Debugf("exec with CLONE_INTO_CGROUP failed: %v; retrying without", err)
 		// SysProcAttr.CgroupFD is never used when UseCgroupFD is unset.
-		p.cmd.SysProcAttr.UseCgroupFD = false
+		cmdCopy.SysProcAttr.UseCgroupFD = false
+		// Must not reuse exec.Cmd.
+		p.cmd = cmdCopy
 		err = p.startWithCPUAffinity()
 	}