diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/apply_raw.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/apply_raw.go
index e7a629dc3..ed46561a2 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/apply_raw.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/apply_raw.go
@@ -190,6 +190,11 @@ func (m *Manager) GetStats() (*cgroups.Stats, error) {
 }
 
 func (m *Manager) Set(container *configs.Config) error {
+	// If Paths are set, then we are just joining cgroups paths
+	// and there is no need to set any values.
+	if m.Cgroups.Paths != nil {
+		return nil
+	}
 	for _, sys := range subsystems {
 		// Generate fake cgroup data.
 		d, err := getCgroupData(container.Cgroups, -1)
diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/apply_systemd.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/apply_systemd.go
index 11e5ec04b..e60975b07 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/apply_systemd.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/apply_systemd.go
@@ -455,6 +455,11 @@ func (m *Manager) GetStats() (*cgroups.Stats, error) {
 }
 
 func (m *Manager) Set(container *configs.Config) error {
+	// If Paths are set, then we are just joining cgroups paths
+	// and there is no need to set any values.
+	if m.Cgroups.Paths != nil {
+		return nil
+	}
 	for _, sys := range subsystems {
 		// Get the subsystem path, but don't error out for not found cgroups.
 		path, err := getSubsystemPath(container.Cgroups, sys.Name())