diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/instrumented_services.go b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/instrumented_services.go
index eb6ba384b54..5f1444ab9d2 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/instrumented_services.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kuberuntime/instrumented_services.go
@@ -324,3 +324,12 @@ func (in instrumentedImageManagerService) ImageFsInfo() ([]*runtimeapi.Filesyste
 	recordError(operation, err)
 	return fsInfo, nil
 }
+
+func (in instrumentedRuntimeService) CheckpointContainer(options *runtimeapi.CheckpointContainerRequest) error {
+	const operation = "checkpoint_container"
+	defer recordOperation(operation, time.Now())
+
+	err := in.service.CheckpointContainer(options)
+	recordError(operation, err)
+	return err
+}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/cri-api/pkg/apis/services.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/cri-api/pkg/apis/services.go
index 54f755d8743..ac7cc59fbf4 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/cri-api/pkg/apis/services.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/cri-api/pkg/apis/services.go
@@ -76,6 +76,8 @@ type PodSandboxManager interface {
 	ListPodSandbox(filter *runtimeapi.PodSandboxFilter) ([]*runtimeapi.PodSandbox, error)
 	// PortForward prepares a streaming endpoint to forward ports from a PodSandbox, and returns the address.
 	PortForward(*runtimeapi.PortForwardRequest) (*runtimeapi.PortForwardResponse, error)
+	// CheckpointContainer checkpoints a container
+	CheckpointContainer(containerID, checkpointDir string) error
 }
 
 // ContainerStatsManager contains methods for retrieving the container