diff --git a/libcontainer/init_linux.go b/libcontainer/init_linux.go
index 36641a17fa7..9b82ffd4b1d 100644
--- a/libcontainer/init_linux.go
+++ b/libcontainer/init_linux.go
@@ -692,6 +692,27 @@ func setupScheduler(config *configs.Config) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func setIOPriority(ioprio *configs.IOPriority) error {
+	const ioprioWhoPgrp = 1
+
+	if ioprio == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	class, ok := configs.IOPrioClassMapping[ioprio.Class]
+	if !ok {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid io priority class: %s", ioprio.Class)
+	}
+
+	// Combine class and priority into a single value
+	// https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v5.18/include/uapi/linux/ioprio.h#L5-L17
+	iop := (class << 13) | ioprio.Priority
+	_, _, errno := unix.RawSyscall(unix.SYS_IOPRIO_SET, ioprioWhoPgrp, 0, uintptr(iop))
+	if errno != 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to set io priority: %w", errno)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func setupPersonality(config *configs.Config) error {
 	return system.SetLinuxPersonality(config.Personality.Domain)
 }
diff --git a/libcontainer/process_linux.go b/libcontainer/process_linux.go
index b39f0aaed61..d178aab8a86 100644
--- a/libcontainer/process_linux.go
+++ b/libcontainer/process_linux.go
@@ -125,10 +125,6 @@ func (p *setnsProcess) signal(sig os.Signal) error {
 func (p *setnsProcess) start() (retErr error) {
 	defer p.comm.closeParent()
 
-	if err := setIOPriority(p.process.IOPriority); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
 	// get the "before" value of oom kill count
 	oom, _ := p.manager.OOMKillCount()
 	err := p.cmd.Start()
@@ -986,24 +982,3 @@ func initWaiter(r io.Reader) chan error {
 
 	return ch
 }
-
-func setIOPriority(ioprio *configs.IOPriority) error {
-	const ioprioWhoPgrp = 1
-
-	if ioprio == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	class, ok := configs.IOPrioClassMapping[ioprio.Class]
-	if !ok {
-		return fmt.Errorf("invalid io priority class: %s", ioprio.Class)
-	}
-
-	// Combine class and priority into a single value
-	// https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v5.18/include/uapi/linux/ioprio.h#L5-L17
-	iop := (class << 13) | ioprio.Priority
-	_, _, errno := unix.RawSyscall(unix.SYS_IOPRIO_SET, ioprioWhoPgrp, 0, uintptr(iop))
-	if errno != 0 {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to set io priority: %w", errno)
-	}
-	return nil
-}
diff --git a/libcontainer/setns_init_linux.go b/libcontainer/setns_init_linux.go
index ae36ecac5b3..8cbced8ef67 100644
--- a/libcontainer/setns_init_linux.go
+++ b/libcontainer/setns_init_linux.go
@@ -76,6 +76,9 @@ func (l *linuxSetnsInit) Init() error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if err := setIOPriority(l.config.Config.IOPriority); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	// Tell our parent that we're ready to exec. This must be done before the
 	// Seccomp rules have been applied, because we need to be able to read and
 	// write to a socket.