diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/cpuset.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/cpuset.go
index f3ec2c3e..9c603be6 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/cpuset.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/cpuset.go
@@ -59,17 +59,16 @@ func (s *CpusetGroup) ApplyDir(dir string, cgroup *configs.Cgroup, pid int) erro
 	if err := s.ensureParent(dir, root); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	// because we are not using d.join we need to place the pid into the procs file
-	// unlike the other subsystems
-	if err := writeFile(dir, "cgroup.procs", strconv.Itoa(pid)); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
 	// the default values inherit from parent cgroup are already set in
 	// s.ensureParent, cover these if we have our own
 	if err := s.Set(dir, cgroup); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	// because we are not using d.join we need to place the pid into the procs file
+	// unlike the other subsystems
+	if err := writeFile(dir, "cgroup.procs", strconv.Itoa(pid)); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 
 	return nil
 }