diff --git a/virtcontainers/kata_proxy.go b/virtcontainers/kata_proxy.go
index 52f3ef045c..e04b4cfff4 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/kata_proxy.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/kata_proxy.go
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ func (p *kataProxy) start(params proxyParams) (int, string, error) {
 	}
 
 	cmd := exec.Command(args[0], args[1:]...)
+	cmd.SysProcAttr = &syscall.SysProcAttr{
+		Setsid: true,
+	}
 	if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
 		return -1, "", err
 	}