diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/apply_systemd.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/apply_systemd.go
index 5471ebbf..45bd3acc 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/apply_systemd.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/apply_systemd.go
@@ -295,10 +295,13 @@ func (m *Manager) Apply(pid int) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if _, err := theConn.StartTransientUnit(unitName, "replace", properties, nil); err != nil && !isUnitExists(err) {
+	statusChan := make(chan string)
+	if _, err := theConn.StartTransientUnit(unitName, "replace", properties, statusChan); err != nil && !isUnitExists(err) {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	<-statusChan
+
 	if err := joinCgroups(c, pid); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}