diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/devices.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/devices.go
index a70619cb..6a8f1d35 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/devices.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/devices.go
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ func (s *DevicesGroup) Name() string {
 }
 
 func (s *DevicesGroup) Apply(d *cgroupData) error {
+	if d.config.SkipDevices {
+		return nil
+	}
 	_, err := d.join("devices")
 	if err != nil {
 		// We will return error even it's `not found` error, devices
@@ -52,7 +55,7 @@ func buildEmulator(rules []*configs.DeviceRule) (*devices.Emulator, error) {
 }
 
 func (s *DevicesGroup) Set(path string, cgroup *configs.Cgroup) error {
-	if system.RunningInUserNS() {
+	if system.RunningInUserNS() || cgroup.SkipDevices {
 		return nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/fs.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/fs.go
index 245ce84f..f00fa11a 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/fs.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/fs.go
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ func (m *manager) Apply(pid int) (err error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			// The non-presence of the devices subsystem is
 			// considered fatal for security reasons.
-			if cgroups.IsNotFound(err) && sys.Name() != "devices" {
+			if cgroups.IsNotFound(err) && (c.SkipDevices || sys.Name() != "devices") {
 				continue
 			}
 			return err
diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/devices.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/devices.go
index ee180bda..053ec33e 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/devices.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/devices.go
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ func canSkipEBPFError(cgroup *configs.Cgroup) bool {
 }
 
 func setDevices(dirPath string, cgroup *configs.Cgroup) error {
+	if cgroup.SkipDevices {
+		return nil
+	}
 	// XXX: This is currently a white-list (but all callers pass a blacklist of
 	//      devices). This is bad for a whole variety of reasons, but will need
 	//      to be fixed with co-ordinated effort with downstreams.
diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v1.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v1.go
index 9e8e2fdd..63503ad8 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v1.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v1.go
@@ -379,24 +379,27 @@ func (m *legacyManager) Set(container *configs.Config) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	// Figure out the current freezer state, so we can revert to it after we
-	// temporarily freeze the container.
-	targetFreezerState, err := m.GetFreezerState()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	if targetFreezerState == configs.Undefined {
-		targetFreezerState = configs.Thawed
-	}
-
 	// We have to freeze the container while systemd sets the cgroup settings.
 	// The reason for this is that systemd's application of DeviceAllow rules
 	// is done disruptively, resulting in spurrious errors to common devices
 	// (unlike our fs driver, they will happily write deny-all rules to running
 	// containers). So we freeze the container to avoid them hitting the cgroup
 	// error. But if the freezer cgroup isn't supported, we just warn about it.
-	if err := m.Freeze(configs.Frozen); err != nil {
-		logrus.Infof("freeze container before SetUnitProperties failed: %v", err)
+	targetFreezerState := configs.Undefined
+	if !m.cgroups.SkipDevices {
+		// Figure out the current freezer state, so we can revert to it after we
+		// temporarily freeze the container.
+		targetFreezerState, err = m.GetFreezerState()
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if targetFreezerState == configs.Undefined {
+			targetFreezerState = configs.Thawed
+		}
+
+		if err := m.Freeze(configs.Frozen); err != nil {
+			logrus.Infof("freeze container before SetUnitProperties failed: %v", err)
+		}
 	}
 
 	if err := dbusConnection.SetUnitProperties(getUnitName(container.Cgroups), true, properties...); err != nil {
diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v2.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v2.go
index 6e343aa9..e1a6622a 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v2.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v2.go
@@ -298,24 +298,27 @@ func (m *unifiedManager) Set(container *configs.Config) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	// Figure out the current freezer state, so we can revert to it after we
-	// temporarily freeze the container.
-	targetFreezerState, err := m.GetFreezerState()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	if targetFreezerState == configs.Undefined {
-		targetFreezerState = configs.Thawed
-	}
-
 	// We have to freeze the container while systemd sets the cgroup settings.
 	// The reason for this is that systemd's application of DeviceAllow rules
 	// is done disruptively, resulting in spurrious errors to common devices
 	// (unlike our fs driver, they will happily write deny-all rules to running
 	// containers). So we freeze the container to avoid them hitting the cgroup
 	// error. But if the freezer cgroup isn't supported, we just warn about it.
-	if err := m.Freeze(configs.Frozen); err != nil {
-		logrus.Infof("freeze container before SetUnitProperties failed: %v", err)
+	targetFreezerState := configs.Undefined
+	if !m.cgroups.SkipDevices {
+		// Figure out the current freezer state, so we can revert to it after we
+		// temporarily freeze the container.
+		targetFreezerState, err = m.GetFreezerState()
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if targetFreezerState == configs.Undefined {
+			targetFreezerState = configs.Thawed
+		}
+
+		if err := m.Freeze(configs.Frozen); err != nil {
+			logrus.Infof("freeze container before SetUnitProperties failed: %v", err)
+		}
 	}
 
 	if err := dbusConnection.SetUnitProperties(getUnitName(m.cgroups), true, properties...); err != nil {
diff --git a/libcontainer/configs/cgroup_linux.go b/libcontainer/configs/cgroup_linux.go
index f1a5bd11..6e90ae16 100644
--- a/libcontainer/configs/cgroup_linux.go
+++ b/libcontainer/configs/cgroup_linux.go
@@ -126,4 +126,11 @@ type Resources struct {
 
 	// CpuWeight sets a proportional bandwidth limit.
 	CpuWeight uint64 `json:"cpu_weight"`
+
+	// SkipDevices allows to skip configuring device permissions.
+	// Used by e.g. kubelet while creating a parent cgroup (kubepods)
+	// common for many containers.
+	//
+	// NOTE it is impossible to start a container which has this flag set.
+	SkipDevices bool `json:"skip_devices"`
 }
diff --git a/libcontainer/container_linux.go b/libcontainer/container_linux.go
index b4d722b0..c5188b1d 100644
--- a/libcontainer/container_linux.go
+++ b/libcontainer/container_linux.go
@@ -251,6 +251,9 @@ func (c *linuxContainer) Set(config configs.Config) error {
 func (c *linuxContainer) Start(process *Process) error {
 	c.m.Lock()
 	defer c.m.Unlock()
+	if c.config.Cgroups.Resources.SkipDevices {
+		return newGenericError(errors.New("can't start container with SkipDevices set"), ConfigInvalid)
+	}
 	if process.Init {
 		if err := c.createExecFifo(); err != nil {
 			return err