diff --git a/linux/runtime.go b/linux/runtime.go
index fdb11d37b..c9bd6e91d 100644
--- a/linux/runtime.go
+++ b/linux/runtime.go
@@ -111,6 +111,9 @@ func (r *Runtime) Create(ctx context.Context, id string, opts plugin.CreateOpts)
 			Options: m.Options,
 		})
 	}
+	if len(sopts.Rootfs) == 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no rootfs was specified for id %s", id)
+	}
 	if _, err := s.Create(ctx, sopts); err != nil {
 		os.RemoveAll(path)
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/linux/shim/init.go b/linux/shim/init.go
index 039ccb606..9c2ffa2aa 100644
--- a/linux/shim/init.go
+++ b/linux/shim/init.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
 
 	"github.com/containerd/console"
@@ -36,6 +37,9 @@ type initProcess struct {
 }
 
 func newInitProcess(context context.Context, path string, r *shimapi.CreateRequest) (*initProcess, error) {
+	if len(r.Rootfs) == 0 {
+		return nil, errors.New("no rootfs was specified")
+	}
 	for _, rm := range r.Rootfs {
 		m := &containerd.Mount{
 			Type:    rm.Type,