diff --git a/src/agent/rustjail/src/container.rs b/src/agent/rustjail/src/container.rs
index f75b6e6d54..ed69ef60d1 100644
--- a/src/agent/rustjail/src/container.rs
+++ b/src/agent/rustjail/src/container.rs
@@ -1449,7 +1449,7 @@ impl LinuxContainer {
     pub fn new<T: Into<String> + Display + Clone>(
         id: T,
         base: T,
-        mut config: Config,
+        config: Config,
         logger: &Logger,
     ) -> Result<Self> {
         let base = base.into();
@@ -1475,21 +1475,14 @@ impl LinuxContainer {
         .context(format!("Cannot change owner of container {} root", id))?;
 
         let spec = config.spec.as_ref().unwrap();
-
         let linux = spec.linux.as_ref().unwrap();
-
-        // determine which cgroup driver to take and then assign to config.use_systemd_cgroup
-        // systemd: "[slice]:[prefix]:[name]"
-        // fs: "/path_a/path_b"
-        let cpath = if SYSTEMD_CGROUP_PATH_FORMAT.is_match(linux.cgroups_path.as_str()) {
-            config.use_systemd_cgroup = true;
+        let cpath = if config.use_systemd_cgroup {
             if linux.cgroups_path.len() == 2 {
                 format!("system.slice:kata_agent:{}", id.as_str())
             } else {
                 linux.cgroups_path.clone()
             }
         } else {
-            config.use_systemd_cgroup = false;
             if linux.cgroups_path.is_empty() {
                 format!("/{}", id.as_str())
             } else {
diff --git a/src/agent/src/rpc.rs b/src/agent/src/rpc.rs
index c52d866d65..0081765416 100644
--- a/src/agent/src/rpc.rs
+++ b/src/agent/src/rpc.rs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ use protocols::health::{
 use protocols::types::Interface;
 use protocols::{agent_ttrpc_async as agent_ttrpc, health_ttrpc_async as health_ttrpc};
 use rustjail::cgroups::notifier;
-use rustjail::container::{BaseContainer, Container, LinuxContainer};
+use rustjail::container::{BaseContainer, Container, LinuxContainer, SYSTEMD_CGROUP_PATH_FORMAT};
 use rustjail::process::Process;
 use rustjail::specconv::CreateOpts;
 
@@ -210,9 +210,15 @@ impl AgentService {
         // restore the cwd for kata-agent process.
         defer!(unistd::chdir(&olddir).unwrap());
 
+        // determine which cgroup driver to take and then assign to use_systemd_cgroup
+        // systemd: "[slice]:[prefix]:[name]"
+        // fs: "/path_a/path_b"
+        let cgroups_path = oci.linux.as_ref().map_or("", |linux| &linux.cgroups_path);
+        let use_systemd_cgroup = SYSTEMD_CGROUP_PATH_FORMAT.is_match(cgroups_path);
+
         let opts = CreateOpts {
             cgroup_name: "".to_string(),
-            use_systemd_cgroup: false,
+            use_systemd_cgroup,
             no_pivot_root: s.no_pivot_root,
             no_new_keyring: false,
             spec: Some(oci.clone()),