diff --git a/cmd/containerd-stress/exec_worker.go b/cmd/containerd-stress/exec_worker.go
index 981055455..9b990d10b 100644
--- a/cmd/containerd-stress/exec_worker.go
+++ b/cmd/containerd-stress/exec_worker.go
@@ -63,6 +63,12 @@ func (w *execWorker) exec(ctx, tctx context.Context) {
 		logrus.WithError(err).Error("wait exec container's task")
 		return
 	}
+
+	if err := task.Start(ctx); err != nil {
+		logrus.WithError(err).Error("exec container start failure")
+		return
+	}
+
 	spec, err := c.Spec(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		logrus.WithError(err).Error("failed to get spec")