diff --git a/alpine/packages/containerd/etc/init.d/containerd b/alpine/packages/containerd/etc/init.d/containerd
index 0856a6a2e..fc34404bd 100755
--- a/alpine/packages/containerd/etc/init.d/containerd
+++ b/alpine/packages/containerd/etc/init.d/containerd
@@ -14,4 +14,8 @@ start()
 	ulimit -p unlimited
 
 	/usr/bin/containerd &
+
+	ewaitfile 5 /var/run/containerd/containerd.sock
+
+	eend $? "Failed to start system containerd"
 }