diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh
index 09d27cc654..957ea0d929 100755
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh
@@ -236,6 +236,7 @@ function configure_containerd_runtime() {
 		cat <<EOF | tee -a "$containerd_conf_file"
 [$runtime_table]
   runtime_type = "${runtime_type}"
+  cri_handler = "cc"
   privileged_without_host_devices = true
   pod_annotations = ["io.katacontainers.*"]
 EOF