diff --git a/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run.go b/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run.go
index 314d89177..5c4861e03 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run.go
@@ -110,6 +110,10 @@ var Command = cli.Command{
 			Name:  "isolated",
 			Usage: "run the container with vm isolation",
 		},
+		cli.StringFlag{
+			Name:  "cgroup",
+			Usage: "cgroup path (To disable use of cgroup, set to \"\" explicitly)",
+		},
 	}, append(commands.SnapshotterFlags, commands.ContainerFlags...)...),
 	Action: func(context *cli.Context) error {
 		var (
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run_unix.go b/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run_unix.go
index 1291bfd20..11c5f2f50 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run_unix.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run_unix.go
@@ -141,6 +141,10 @@ func NewContainer(ctx gocontext.Context, client *containerd.Client, context *cli
 		if context.IsSet("allow-new-privs") {
 			opts = append(opts, oci.WithNewPrivileges)
 		}
+		if context.IsSet("cgroup") {
+			// NOTE: can be set to "" explicitly for disabling cgroup.
+			opts = append(opts, oci.WithCgroup(context.String("cgroup")))
+		}
 	}
 
 	cOpts = append(cOpts, containerd.WithRuntime(context.String("runtime"), nil))