diff --git a/sandbox/controller.go b/sandbox/controller.go
index 0ee315b93..45264e791 100644
--- a/sandbox/controller.go
+++ b/sandbox/controller.go
@@ -33,8 +33,9 @@ type CreateOptions struct {
 	// CRI will use this to pass PodSandboxConfig.
 	// Don't confuse this with Runtime options, which are passed at shim instance start
 	// to setup global shim configuration.
-	Options   typeurl.Any
-	NetNSPath string
+	Options     typeurl.Any
+	NetNSPath   string
+	Annotations map[string]string
 }
 
 type CreateOpt func(*CreateOptions) error
@@ -68,6 +69,14 @@ func WithNetNSPath(netNSPath string) CreateOpt {
 	}
 }
 
+// WithAnnotations sets the provided annotations for sandbox creation.
+func WithAnnotations(annotations map[string]string) CreateOpt {
+	return func(co *CreateOptions) error {
+		co.Annotations = annotations
+		return nil
+	}
+}
+
 type StopOptions struct {
 	Timeout *time.Duration
 }
diff --git a/sandbox/proxy/controller.go b/sandbox/proxy/controller.go
index 05b550722..770b561b7 100644
--- a/sandbox/proxy/controller.go
+++ b/sandbox/proxy/controller.go
@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@ func (s *remoteSandboxController) Create(ctx context.Context, sandboxID string,
 			TypeUrl: options.Options.GetTypeUrl(),
 			Value:   options.Options.GetValue(),
 		},
-		NetnsPath: options.NetNSPath,
+		NetnsPath:   options.NetNSPath,
+		Annotations: options.Annotations,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return errdefs.FromGRPC(err)