diff --git a/nsinit/execin.go b/nsinit/execin.go
index 306250cf..253fbdce 100644
--- a/nsinit/execin.go
+++ b/nsinit/execin.go
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ func (ns *linuxNs) ExecIn(container *libcontainer.Container, nspid int, args []s
 
 	// if the container has a new pid and mount namespace we need to
 	// remount proc and sys to pick up the changes
-	if container.Namespaces.Contains("CLONE_NEWNS") && container.Namespaces.Contains("CLONE_NEWPID") {
+	if container.Namespaces.Contains("NEWNS") && container.Namespaces.Contains("NEWPID") {
 		pid, err := system.Fork()
 		if err != nil {
 			return -1, err
diff --git a/nsinit/nsinit/main.go b/nsinit/nsinit/main.go
index e385e7fb..e6b020b7 100644
--- a/nsinit/nsinit/main.go
+++ b/nsinit/nsinit/main.go
@@ -9,12 +9,13 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
 )
 
 var (
-	console string
-	pipeFd  int
+	root, console string
+	pipeFd        int
 )
 
 var (
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@ var (
 func registerFlags() {
 	flag.StringVar(&console, "console", "", "console (pty slave) path")
 	flag.IntVar(&pipeFd, "pipe", 0, "sync pipe fd")
+	flag.StringVar(&root, "root", ".", "root for storing configuration data")
 
 	flag.Parse()
 }
@@ -84,7 +86,7 @@ func main() {
 }
 
 func loadContainer() (*libcontainer.Container, error) {
-	f, err := os.Open("container.json")
+	f, err := os.Open(filepath.Join(root, "container.json"))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -98,7 +100,7 @@ func loadContainer() (*libcontainer.Container, error) {
 }
 
 func readPid() (int, error) {
-	data, err := ioutil.ReadFile(".nspid")
+	data, err := ioutil.ReadFile(filepath.Join(root, "pid"))
 	if err != nil {
 		return -1, err
 	}
@@ -110,5 +112,5 @@ func readPid() (int, error) {
 }
 
 func newNsInit() (nsinit.NsInit, error) {
-	return nsinit.NewNsInit(&nsinit.DefaultCommandFactory{}, &nsinit.DefaultStateWriter{}), nil
+	return nsinit.NewNsInit(&nsinit.DefaultCommandFactory{}, &nsinit.DefaultStateWriter{root}), nil
 }
diff --git a/nsinit/state.go b/nsinit/state.go
index 5c719e1c..af38008c 100644
--- a/nsinit/state.go
+++ b/nsinit/state.go
@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@ type DefaultStateWriter struct {
 	Root string
 }
 
-// writePidFile writes the namespaced processes pid to .nspid in the rootfs for the container
+// writePidFile writes the namespaced processes pid to pid in the rootfs for the container
 func (d *DefaultStateWriter) WritePid(pid int) error {
-	return ioutil.WriteFile(filepath.Join(d.Root, ".nspid"), []byte(fmt.Sprint(pid)), 0655)
+	return ioutil.WriteFile(filepath.Join(d.Root, "pid"), []byte(fmt.Sprint(pid)), 0655)
 }
 
 func (d *DefaultStateWriter) DeletePid() error {
-	return os.Remove(filepath.Join(d.Root, ".nspid"))
+	return os.Remove(filepath.Join(d.Root, "pid"))
 }