diff --git a/restart_monitor_linux_test.go b/restart_monitor_linux_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..631821124
--- /dev/null
+++ b/restart_monitor_linux_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+/*
+   Copyright The containerd Authors.
+
+   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+   You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package containerd
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"syscall"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/containers"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/oci"
+)
+
+// TestRestartMonitor tests restarting containers
+// with the restart monitor service plugin
+func TestRestartMonitor(t *testing.T) {
+	const (
+		interval = 10 * time.Second
+		epsilon  = 1 * time.Second
+	)
+	configTOML := fmt.Sprintf(`
+version = 2
+[plugins]
+  [plugins."io.containerd.internal.v1.restart"]
+	  interval = "%s"
+`, interval.String())
+	client, _, cleanup := newDaemonWithConfig(t, configTOML)
+	defer cleanup()
+
+	var (
+		ctx, cancel = testContext(t)
+		id          = t.Name()
+	)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	image, err := client.Pull(ctx, testImage, WithPullUnpack)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	container, err := client.NewContainer(ctx, id,
+		WithNewSnapshot(id, image),
+		WithNewSpec(
+			oci.WithImageConfig(image),
+			withProcessArgs("sleep", "infinity"),
+		),
+		withRestartStatus(Running),
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer container.Delete(ctx, WithSnapshotCleanup)
+
+	task, err := container.NewTask(ctx, empty())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer task.Delete(ctx, WithProcessKill)
+
+	if err := task.Start(ctx); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	task.Kill(ctx, syscall.SIGKILL)
+	begin := time.Now()
+	deadline := begin.Add(interval).Add(epsilon)
+	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
+		status, err := task.Status(ctx)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		t.Logf("%v: status=%q", time.Now(), status)
+
+		if status.Status == Running {
+			elapsed := time.Since(begin)
+			t.Logf("the task was restarted after %s", elapsed.String())
+			return
+		}
+		time.Sleep(epsilon)
+	}
+	t.Fatalf("the task was not restarted in %s + %s",
+		interval.String(), epsilon.String())
+}
+
+// withRestartStatus is a copy of "github.com/containerd/containerd/runtime/restart".WithStatus.
+// This copy is needed because `go test` refuses circular imports.
+func withRestartStatus(status ProcessStatus) func(context.Context, *Client, *containers.Container) error {
+	return func(_ context.Context, _ *Client, c *containers.Container) error {
+		if c.Labels == nil {
+			c.Labels = make(map[string]string)
+		}
+		c.Labels["containerd.io/restart.status"] = string(status)
+		return nil
+	}
+}