diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/fs.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/fs.go
index 2be656830f6..723d18b7637 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/fs.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/fs.go
@@ -279,7 +279,9 @@ func GetEffectiveCPUs(cpusetPath string, cgroups *configs.Cgroup) string {
 	}
 
 	// Iterates until it goes to the cgroup root path.
-	for path := filepath.Clean(cpusetPath); path != defaultCgroupRoot; path = filepath.Dir(path) {
+	// It's required for containers in which cpuset controller
+	// is not enabled, in this case a parent cgroup is used.
+	for path := cpusetPath; path != defaultCgroupRoot; path = filepath.Dir(path) {
 		cpus, err := fscommon.GetCgroupParamString(path, "cpuset.effective_cpus")
 		if err == nil {
 			return cpus
diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/fs2.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/fs2.go
index f612a323784..0a579b23e84 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/fs2.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/fs2.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/cgroups"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/cgroups/fscommon"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/configs"
+	"github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/utils"
 )
 
 type parseError = fscommon.ParseError
@@ -33,6 +34,9 @@ func NewManager(config *configs.Cgroup, dirPath string) (*Manager, error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
+	} else {
+		// Clean path for safety.
+		dirPath = utils.CleanPath(dirPath)
 	}
 
 	m := &Manager{
@@ -327,9 +331,11 @@ func (m *Manager) GetEffectiveCPUs() string {
 	}
 
 	// Iterates until it goes outside of the cgroup root path.
+	// It's required for containers in which cpuset controller
+	// is not enabled, in this case a parent cgroup is used.
 	outsidePath := filepath.Dir(UnifiedMountpoint)
 
-	for path := filepath.Clean(m.dirPath); path != outsidePath; path = filepath.Dir(path) {
+	for path := m.dirPath; path != outsidePath; path = filepath.Dir(path) {
 		cpus, err := fscommon.GetCgroupParamString(path, "cpuset.cpus.effective")
 		if err == nil {
 			return cpus
diff --git a/tests/integration/exec.bats b/tests/integration/exec.bats
index a3dffa71ce1..c0ea7f5dce6 100644
--- a/tests/integration/exec.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/exec.bats
@@ -342,22 +342,17 @@ EOF
 }
 
 @test "runc exec with isolated cpus affinity temporary transition [cgroup cpuset]" {
-	requires root
+	requires root cgroups_cpuset
 
 	tmp=$(mktemp -d "$BATS_RUN_TMPDIR/runc.XXXXXX")
 
+	set_cgroup_cpuset_all_cpus
 	local all_cpus
-	all_cpus="$(cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/online)"
-
-	update_config ".linux.resources.cpu.cpus = \"$all_cpus\""
+	all_cpus="$(get_all_online_cpus)"
 
 	# set temporary isolated CPU affinity transition
 	update_config '.annotations += {"org.opencontainers.runc.exec.isolated-cpu-affinity-transition": "temporary"}'
 
-	local mems
-	mems="$(cat /sys/devices/system/node/online 2>/dev/null || true)"
-	[[ -n $mems ]] && update_config ".linux.resources.cpu.mems = \"$mems\""
-
 	runc run -d --console-socket "$CONSOLE_SOCKET" test_isolated_temporary_transition
 	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
 
@@ -375,25 +370,17 @@ EOF
 }
 
 @test "runc exec with isolated cpus affinity definitive transition [cgroup cpuset]" {
-	requires root
+	requires root cgroups_cpuset
 
 	tmp=$(mktemp -d "$BATS_RUN_TMPDIR/runc.XXXXXX")
 
+	set_cgroup_cpuset_all_cpus
 	local all_cpus
-	all_cpus="$(cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/online)"
-
-	local first_cpu="0"
-	[[ $all_cpus =~ [^0-9]*([0-9]+)([-,][0-9]+)? ]] && first_cpu=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}
-
-	update_config ".linux.resources.cpu.cpus = \"$all_cpus\""
+	all_cpus="$(get_all_online_cpus)"
 
 	# set definitive isolated CPU affinity transition
 	update_config '.annotations += {"org.opencontainers.runc.exec.isolated-cpu-affinity-transition": "definitive"}'
 
-	local mems
-	mems="$(cat /sys/devices/system/node/online 2>/dev/null || true)"
-	[[ -n $mems ]] && update_config ".linux.resources.cpu.mems = \"$mems\""
-
 	runc run -d --console-socket "$CONSOLE_SOCKET" test_isolated_definitive_transition
 	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
 
@@ -411,34 +398,29 @@ EOF
 	load /etc/os-release
 
 	# fix unbound variable in condition below
-	PLATFORM_ID=${PLATFORM_ID:-}
+	VERSION_ID=${VERSION_ID:-}
 
 	allowed_cpus=$all_cpus
 	# use first cpu on systems with RHEL >= 9 or systems with kernel >= 6.2
-	if [[ "${ID_LIKE:-}" =~ "rhel" && "${PLATFORM_ID#platform:el*}" -ge "9" ]] || is_kernel_gte 6.2; then
-		allowed_cpus=$first_cpu
+	if [[ "${ID_LIKE:-}" =~ "rhel" && "${VERSION_ID%%.*}" -ge "9" ]] || is_kernel_gte 6.2; then
+		allowed_cpus="$(get_first_online_cpu)"
 	fi
 
 	[[ "${lines[0]}" == "Cpus_allowed_list:	$allowed_cpus" ]]
 }
 
 @test "runc exec with isolated cpus affinity bad transition [cgroup cpuset]" {
-	requires root
+	requires root cgroups_cpuset
 
 	tmp=$(mktemp -d "$BATS_RUN_TMPDIR/runc.XXXXXX")
 
+	set_cgroup_cpuset_all_cpus
 	local all_cpus
-	all_cpus="$(cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/online)"
-
-	update_config ".linux.resources.cpu.cpus = \"$all_cpus\""
+	all_cpus="$(get_all_online_cpus)"
 
 	# set a bad isolated CPU affinity transition
 	update_config '.annotations += {"org.opencontainers.runc.exec.isolated-cpu-affinity-transition": "bad"}'
 
-	local mems
-	mems="$(cat /sys/devices/system/node/online 2>/dev/null || true)"
-	[[ -n $mems ]] && update_config ".linux.resources.cpu.mems = \"$mems\""
-
 	runc run -d --console-socket "$CONSOLE_SOCKET" test_isolated_bad_transition
 	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
 
@@ -455,21 +437,13 @@ EOF
 }
 
 @test "runc exec with taskset affinity [cgroup cpuset]" {
-	requires root
+	requires root cgroups_cpuset
 
+	set_cgroup_cpuset_all_cpus
 	local all_cpus
-	all_cpus="$(cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/online)"
-
-	local first_cpu="0"
-	[[ $all_cpus =~ [^0-9]*([0-9]+)([-,][0-9]+)? ]] && first_cpu=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}
+	all_cpus="$(get_all_online_cpus)"
 
-	update_config ".linux.resources.cpu.cpus = \"$all_cpus\""
-
-	local mems
-	mems="$(cat /sys/devices/system/node/online 2>/dev/null || true)"
-	[[ -n $mems ]] && update_config ".linux.resources.cpu.mems = \"$mems\""
-
-	taskset -p -c "$first_cpu" $$
+	taskset -p -c "$(get_first_online_cpu)" $$
 
 	runc run -d --console-socket "$CONSOLE_SOCKET" test_with_taskset
 	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
@@ -487,12 +461,9 @@ EOF
 	requires rootless cgroups_v2
 
 	local all_cpus
-	all_cpus="$(cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/online)"
-
-	local first_cpu="0"
-	[[ $all_cpus =~ [^0-9]*([0-9]+)([-,][0-9]+)? ]] && first_cpu=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}
+	all_cpus="$(get_all_online_cpus)"
 
-	taskset -p -c "$first_cpu" $$
+	taskset -p -c "$(get_first_online_cpu)" $$
 
 	runc run -d --console-socket "$CONSOLE_SOCKET" test_with_taskset
 	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
diff --git a/tests/integration/helpers.bash b/tests/integration/helpers.bash
index e8a2894b915..6b836f15d41 100755
--- a/tests/integration/helpers.bash
+++ b/tests/integration/helpers.bash
@@ -354,6 +354,27 @@ function set_cgroup_mount_writable() {
 	update_config '.mounts |= map((select(.type == "cgroup") | .options -= ["ro"]) // .)'
 }
 
+# Helper function to get all online cpus.
+function get_all_online_cpus() {
+	cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/online
+}
+
+# Helper function to get the first online cpu.
+function get_first_online_cpu() {
+	[[ $(get_all_online_cpus) =~ [^0-9]*([0-9]+)([-,][0-9]+)? ]] && echo "${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+}
+
+# Helper function to set all cpus/mems in container cgroup cpuset.
+function set_cgroup_cpuset_all_cpus() {
+	update_config ".linux.resources.cpu.cpus = \"$(get_all_online_cpus)\""
+
+	local mems
+	mems="$(cat /sys/devices/system/node/online 2>/dev/null || true)"
+	if [[ -n $mems ]]; then
+		update_config ".linux.resources.cpu.mems = \"$mems\""
+	fi
+}
+
 # Fails the current test, providing the error given.
 function fail() {
 	echo "$@" >&2