diff --git a/virtcontainers/cc_proxy.go b/virtcontainers/cc_proxy.go
index ef6cce5eb0..3d66e1fd5c 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/cc_proxy.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/cc_proxy.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 package virtcontainers
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"os/exec"
 )
 
@@ -14,8 +15,12 @@ type ccProxy struct {
 
 // start is the proxy start implementation for ccProxy.
 func (p *ccProxy) start(sandbox *Sandbox, params proxyParams) (int, string, error) {
-	config, err := newProxyConfig(sandbox.config)
-	if err != nil {
+	if sandbox.config == nil {
+		return -1, "", fmt.Errorf("Sandbox config cannot be nil")
+	}
+
+	config := sandbox.config.ProxyConfig
+	if err := validateProxyConfig(config); err != nil {
 		return -1, "", err
 	}
 
diff --git a/virtcontainers/kata_proxy.go b/virtcontainers/kata_proxy.go
index fe4b01e9c7..e68686295b 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/kata_proxy.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/kata_proxy.go
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ func (p *kataProxy) consoleWatched() bool {
 // start is kataProxy start implementation for proxy interface.
 func (p *kataProxy) start(sandbox *Sandbox, params proxyParams) (int, string, error) {
 	sandbox.Logger().Info("Starting regular Kata proxy rather than built-in")
+	if sandbox.config == nil {
+		return -1, "", fmt.Errorf("Sandbox config cannot be nil")
+	}
+
 	if sandbox.agent == nil {
 		return -1, "", fmt.Errorf("No agent")
 	}
@@ -33,8 +37,8 @@ func (p *kataProxy) start(sandbox *Sandbox, params proxyParams) (int, string, er
 		return -1, "", fmt.Errorf("AgentURL cannot be empty")
 	}
 
-	config, err := newProxyConfig(sandbox.config)
-	if err != nil {
+	config := sandbox.config.ProxyConfig
+	if err := validateProxyConfig(config); err != nil {
 		return -1, "", err
 	}
 
diff --git a/virtcontainers/proxy.go b/virtcontainers/proxy.go
index f2f55f8a82..29256e7349 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/proxy.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/proxy.go
@@ -119,28 +119,12 @@ func newProxy(pType ProxyType) (proxy, error) {
 	}
 }
 
-// newProxyConfig returns a proxy config from a generic SandboxConfig handler,
-// after it properly checked the configuration was valid.
-func newProxyConfig(sandboxConfig *SandboxConfig) (ProxyConfig, error) {
-	if sandboxConfig == nil {
-		return ProxyConfig{}, fmt.Errorf("Sandbox config cannot be nil")
+func validateProxyConfig(proxyConfig ProxyConfig) error {
+	if len(proxyConfig.Path) == 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Proxy path cannot be empty")
 	}
 
-	var config ProxyConfig
-	switch sandboxConfig.ProxyType {
-	case KataProxyType:
-		fallthrough
-	case CCProxyType:
-		config = sandboxConfig.ProxyConfig
-	default:
-		return ProxyConfig{}, fmt.Errorf("unknown proxy type %v", sandboxConfig.ProxyType)
-	}
-
-	if config.Path == "" {
-		return ProxyConfig{}, fmt.Errorf("Proxy path cannot be empty")
-	}
-
-	return config, nil
+	return nil
 }
 
 func defaultProxyURL(sandbox *Sandbox, socketType string) (string, error) {
diff --git a/virtcontainers/proxy_test.go b/virtcontainers/proxy_test.go
index b796d30780..4f72a2212d 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/proxy_test.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/proxy_test.go
@@ -154,15 +154,15 @@ func TestNewProxyFromUnknownProxyType(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func testNewProxyConfigFromSandboxConfig(t *testing.T, sandboxConfig SandboxConfig, expected ProxyConfig) {
-	result, err := newProxyConfig(&sandboxConfig)
-	if err != nil {
+func testNewProxyFromSandboxConfig(t *testing.T, sandboxConfig SandboxConfig) {
+	if _, err := newProxy(sandboxConfig.ProxyType); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	if reflect.DeepEqual(result, expected) == false {
-		t.Fatalf("Got %+v\nExpecting %+v", result, expected)
+	if err := validateProxyConfig(sandboxConfig.ProxyConfig); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
+
 }
 
 var testProxyPath = "proxy-path"
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ func TestNewProxyConfigFromCCProxySandboxConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		ProxyConfig: proxyConfig,
 	}
 
-	testNewProxyConfigFromSandboxConfig(t, sandboxConfig, proxyConfig)
+	testNewProxyFromSandboxConfig(t, sandboxConfig)
 }
 
 func TestNewProxyConfigFromKataProxySandboxConfig(t *testing.T) {
@@ -190,22 +190,11 @@ func TestNewProxyConfigFromKataProxySandboxConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		ProxyConfig: proxyConfig,
 	}
 
-	testNewProxyConfigFromSandboxConfig(t, sandboxConfig, proxyConfig)
-}
-
-func TestNewProxyConfigNilSandboxConfigFailure(t *testing.T) {
-	if _, err := newProxyConfig(nil); err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("Should fail because SandboxConfig provided is nil")
-	}
+	testNewProxyFromSandboxConfig(t, sandboxConfig)
 }
 
 func TestNewProxyConfigNoPathFailure(t *testing.T) {
-	sandboxConfig := &SandboxConfig{
-		ProxyType:   CCProxyType,
-		ProxyConfig: ProxyConfig{},
-	}
-
-	if _, err := newProxyConfig(sandboxConfig); err == nil {
+	if err := validateProxyConfig(ProxyConfig{}); err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("Should fail because ProxyConfig has no Path")
 	}
 }