diff --git a/cmd/ctr/commands/commands.go b/cmd/ctr/commands/commands.go
index 0d831f150..1208708e7 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/commands/commands.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/commands/commands.go
@@ -123,6 +123,10 @@ var (
 			Usage: "runtime name",
 			Value: defaults.DefaultRuntime,
 		},
+		cli.StringFlag{
+			Name:  "runtime-config-path",
+			Usage: "optional runtime config path",
+		},
 		cli.BoolFlag{
 			Name:  "tty,t",
 			Usage: "allocate a TTY for the container",
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run_unix.go b/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run_unix.go
index 7ee1d9b2f..ef06288c6 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run_unix.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/commands/run/run_unix.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/contrib/nvidia"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/contrib/seccomp"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/oci"
+	crioptions "github.com/containerd/containerd/pkg/cri/runtimeoptions/v1"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/platforms"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/runtime/v2/runc/options"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go"
@@ -302,6 +303,12 @@ func getRuntimeOptions(context *cli.Context) (interface{}, error) {
 		return getRuncOptions(context)
 	}
 
+	if configPath := context.String("runtime-config-path"); configPath != "" {
+		return &crioptions.Options{
+			ConfigPath: configPath,
+		}, nil
+	}
+
 	return nil, nil
 }