3 files changed, 40 insertions, 7 deletions
diff --git a/pkg/spec/spec.go b/pkg/spec/spec.go
index c7aa003e8..57c6e8da7 100644
--- a/pkg/spec/spec.go
+++ b/pkg/spec/spec.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containers/libpod/libpod"
 	"github.com/containers/libpod/pkg/cgroups"
 	"github.com/containers/libpod/pkg/rootless"
+	"github.com/containers/libpod/pkg/sysinfo"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/oci/caps"
 	"github.com/docker/go-units"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/user"
@@ -300,9 +301,25 @@ func (config *CreateConfig) createConfigToOCISpec(runtime *libpod.Runtime, userM
 	blockAccessToKernelFilesystems(config, &g)
 
 	// RESOURCES - PIDS
-	if config.Resources.PidsLimit != 0 {
-		g.SetLinuxResourcesPidsLimit(config.Resources.PidsLimit)
-		addedResources = true
+	if config.Resources.PidsLimit > 0 {
+		// if running on rootless on a cgroupv1 machine, pids limit is
+		// not supported.  If the value is still the default
+		// then ignore the settings.  If the caller asked for a
+		// non-default, then try to use it.
+		setPidLimit := true
+		if rootless.IsRootless() {
+			cgroup2, err := cgroups.IsCgroup2UnifiedMode()
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			if !cgroup2 && config.Resources.PidsLimit == sysinfo.GetDefaultPidsLimit() {
+				setPidLimit = false
+			}
+		}
+		if setPidLimit {
+			g.SetLinuxResourcesPidsLimit(config.Resources.PidsLimit)
+			addedResources = true
+		}
 	}
 
 	for name, val := range config.Env {
diff --git a/pkg/sysinfo/sysinfo.go b/pkg/sysinfo/sysinfo.go
index f046de4b1..686f66ce5 100644
--- a/pkg/sysinfo/sysinfo.go
+++ b/pkg/sysinfo/sysinfo.go
@@ -142,3 +142,12 @@ func popcnt(x uint64) (n byte) {
 	x *= 0x0101010101010101
 	return byte(x >> 56)
 }
+
+// GetDefaultPidsLimit returns the default pids limit to run containers with
+func GetDefaultPidsLimit() int64 {
+	sysInfo := New(true)
+	if !sysInfo.PidsLimit {
+		return 0
+	}
+	return 4096
+}
diff --git a/pkg/sysinfo/sysinfo_linux.go b/pkg/sysinfo/sysinfo_linux.go
index 9e675c655..76bda23c6 100644
--- a/pkg/sysinfo/sysinfo_linux.go
+++ b/pkg/sysinfo/sysinfo_linux.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"path"
 	"strings"
 
+	cg "github.com/containers/libpod/pkg/cgroups"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/cgroups"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
@@ -227,12 +228,18 @@ func checkCgroupCpusetInfo(cgMounts map[string]string, quiet bool) cgroupCpusetI
 
 // checkCgroupPids reads the pids information from the pids cgroup mount point.
 func checkCgroupPids(quiet bool) cgroupPids {
-	_, err := cgroups.FindCgroupMountpoint("", "pids")
+	cgroup2, err := cg.IsCgroup2UnifiedMode()
 	if err != nil {
-		if !quiet {
-			logrus.Warn(err)
+		logrus.Errorf("Failed to check cgroups version: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !cgroup2 {
+		_, err := cgroups.FindCgroupMountpoint("", "pids")
+		if err != nil {
+			if !quiet {
+				logrus.Warn(err)
+			}
+			return cgroupPids{}
 		}
-		return cgroupPids{}
 	}
 
 	return cgroupPids{