diff --git a/libpod/container_internal_linux.go b/libpod/container_internal_linux.go
index 5aa4ee9a9e0a..e1ccfce13e7a 100644
--- a/libpod/container_internal_linux.go
+++ b/libpod/container_internal_linux.go
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ func (c *Container) generateSpec(ctx context.Context) (*spec.Spec, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if rootless.IsRootless() && !unified {
+	if (rootless.IsRootless() && !unified) || c.config.NoCgroups {
 		g.SetLinuxCgroupsPath("")
 	} else if c.runtime.config.CgroupManager == SystemdCgroupsManager {
 		// When runc is set to use Systemd as a cgroup manager, it