diff --git a/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run_unix.go b/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run_unix.go
index 796624f12..d9c892ec1 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run_unix.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run_unix.go
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ func NewContainer(ctx gocontext.Context, client *containerd.Client, context *cli
 	)
 
 	if config {
-		cOpts = append(cOpts, containerd.WithContainerLabels(commands.LabelArgs(context.StringSlice("labels"))))
+		cOpts = append(cOpts, containerd.WithContainerLabels(commands.LabelArgs(context.StringSlice("label"))))
 		opts = append(opts, oci.WithSpecFromFile(context.String("config")))
 	} else {
 		var (
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ func NewContainer(ctx gocontext.Context, client *containerd.Client, context *cli
 				return nil, err
 			}
 			opts = append(opts, oci.WithRootFSPath(rootfs))
-			cOpts = append(cOpts, containerd.WithContainerLabels(commands.LabelArgs(context.StringSlice("labels"))))
+			cOpts = append(cOpts, containerd.WithContainerLabels(commands.LabelArgs(context.StringSlice("label"))))
 		} else {
 			snapshotter := context.String("snapshotter")
 			var image containerd.Image