diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 978207c53..6f1188b28 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/moby/sys/user v0.4.0
 	github.com/moby/sys/userns v0.1.0
 	github.com/mrunalp/fileutils v0.5.1
-	github.com/opencontainers/cgroups v0.0.4
+	github.com/opencontainers/cgroups v0.0.5
 	github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec v1.2.2-0.20250818071321-383cadbf08c0
 	github.com/opencontainers/selinux v1.12.0
 	github.com/seccomp/libseccomp-golang v0.11.1
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 8b3857e42..b72da610a 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@ github.com/moby/sys/userns v0.1.0 h1:tVLXkFOxVu9A64/yh59slHVv9ahO9UIev4JZusOLG/g
 github.com/moby/sys/userns v0.1.0/go.mod h1:IHUYgu/kao6N8YZlp9Cf444ySSvCmDlmzUcYfDHOl28=
 github.com/mrunalp/fileutils v0.5.1 h1:F+S7ZlNKnrwHfSwdlgNSkKo67ReVf8o9fel6C3dkm/Q=
 github.com/mrunalp/fileutils v0.5.1/go.mod h1:M1WthSahJixYnrXQl/DFQuteStB1weuxD2QJNHXfbSQ=
-github.com/opencontainers/cgroups v0.0.4 h1:XVj8P/IHVms/j+7eh8ggdkTLAxjz84ZzuFyGoE28DR4=
-github.com/opencontainers/cgroups v0.0.4/go.mod h1:s8lktyhlGUqM7OSRL5P7eAW6Wb+kWPNvt4qvVfzA5vs=
+github.com/opencontainers/cgroups v0.0.5 h1:DRITAqcOnY0uSBzIpt1RYWLjh5DPDiqUs4fY6Y0ktls=
+github.com/opencontainers/cgroups v0.0.5/go.mod h1:oWVzJsKK0gG9SCRBfTpnn16WcGEqDI8PAcpMGbqWxcs=
 github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec v1.2.2-0.20250818071321-383cadbf08c0 h1:RLn0YfUWkiqPGtgUANvJrcjIkCHGRl3jcz/c557M28M=
 github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec v1.2.2-0.20250818071321-383cadbf08c0/go.mod h1:jwyrGlmzljRJv/Fgzds9SsS/C5hL+LL3ko9hs6T5lQ0=
 github.com/opencontainers/selinux v1.12.0 h1:6n5JV4Cf+4y0KNXW48TLj5DwfXpvWlxXplUkdTrmPb8=
diff --git a/libcontainer/container_linux_test.go b/libcontainer/container_linux_test.go
index e6bdd86ba..0d0dc4451 100644
--- a/libcontainer/container_linux_test.go
+++ b/libcontainer/container_linux_test.go
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ func (m *mockCgroupManager) Apply(pid int) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (m *mockCgroupManager) AddPid(_ string, _ int) error {
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (m *mockCgroupManager) Set(_ *cgroups.Resources) error {
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/libcontainer/process_linux.go b/libcontainer/process_linux.go
index 9e6802270..852633d7d 100644
--- a/libcontainer/process_linux.go
+++ b/libcontainer/process_linux.go
@@ -247,6 +247,18 @@ func (p *setnsProcess) setFinalCPUAffinity() error {
 }
 
 func (p *setnsProcess) addIntoCgroupV1() error {
+	if sub, ok := p.process.SubCgroupPaths[""]; ok || len(p.process.SubCgroupPaths) == 0 {
+		// Either same sub-cgroup for all paths, or no sub-cgroup.
+		err := p.manager.AddPid(sub, p.pid())
+		if err != nil && !p.rootlessCgroups {
+			return fmt.Errorf("error adding pid %d to cgroups: %w", p.pid(), err)
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// Per-controller sub-cgroup paths. Not supported by AddPid (or systemd),
+	// so we have to calculate and check all sub-cgroup paths, and write
+	// directly to cgroupfs.
 	paths := maps.Clone(p.manager.GetPaths())
 	for ctrl, sub := range p.process.SubCgroupPaths {
 		base, ok := paths[ctrl]
@@ -255,7 +267,7 @@ func (p *setnsProcess) addIntoCgroupV1() error {
 		}
 		cgPath := path.Join(base, sub)
 		if !strings.HasPrefix(cgPath, base) {
-			return fmt.Errorf("%s is not a sub cgroup path", sub)
+			return fmt.Errorf("bad sub cgroup path: %s", sub)
 		}
 		paths[ctrl] = cgPath
 	}
@@ -270,18 +282,10 @@ func (p *setnsProcess) addIntoCgroupV1() error {
 }
 
 func (p *setnsProcess) addIntoCgroupV2() error {
-	base := p.manager.Path("")
-	sub := ""
-	if p.process.SubCgroupPaths != nil {
-		sub = p.process.SubCgroupPaths[""]
-	}
-	cgPath := path.Join(base, sub)
-	if !strings.HasPrefix(cgPath, base) {
-		return fmt.Errorf("%s is not a sub cgroup path", sub)
-	}
-
-	if err := cgroups.WriteCgroupProc(cgPath, p.pid()); err != nil && !p.rootlessCgroups {
-		// On cgroup v2 + nesting + domain controllers, WriteCgroupProc may fail with EBUSY.
+	sub := p.process.SubCgroupPaths[""]
+	err := p.manager.AddPid(sub, p.pid())
+	if err != nil && !p.rootlessCgroups {
+		// On cgroup v2 + nesting + domain controllers, adding to initial cgroup may fail with EBUSY.
 		// https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/issues/2356#issuecomment-621277643
 		// Try to join the cgroup of InitProcessPid, unless sub-cgroup is explicitly set.
 		if p.initProcessPid != 0 && sub == "" {
@@ -290,8 +294,8 @@ func (p *setnsProcess) addIntoCgroupV2() error {
 			if initCgErr == nil {
 				if initCgPath, ok := initCg[""]; ok {
 					initCgDirpath := filepath.Join(fs2.UnifiedMountpoint, initCgPath)
-					logrus.Debugf("adding pid %d to cgroup %s failed (%v), attempting to join %s",
-						p.pid(), cgPath, err, initCgDirpath)
+					logrus.Debugf("adding pid %d to cgroup failed (%v), attempting to join %s",
+						p.pid(), err, initCgDirpath)
 					// NOTE: initCgDirPath is not guaranteed to exist because we didn't pause the container.
 					err = cgroups.WriteCgroupProc(initCgDirpath, p.pid())
 				}
diff --git a/tests/integration/exec.bats b/tests/integration/exec.bats
index 43fe4c3cd..35e1cad28 100644
--- a/tests/integration/exec.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/exec.bats
@@ -226,17 +226,17 @@ function check_exec_debug() {
 	# Check we can't join parent cgroup.
 	runc exec --cgroup ".." test_busybox cat /proc/self/cgroup
 	[ "$status" -ne 0 ]
-	[[ "$output" == *" .. is not a sub cgroup path"* ]]
+	[[ "$output" == *"bad sub cgroup path"* ]]
 
 	# Check we can't join non-existing subcgroup.
 	runc exec --cgroup nonexistent test_busybox cat /proc/self/cgroup
 	[ "$status" -ne 0 ]
-	[[ "$output" == *" adding pid "*"/nonexistent/cgroup.procs: no such file "* ]]
+	[[ "$output" == *" adding pid "*"o such file or directory"* ]]
 
 	# Check we can't join non-existing subcgroup (for a particular controller).
 	runc exec --cgroup cpu:nonexistent test_busybox cat /proc/self/cgroup
 	[ "$status" -ne 0 ]
-	[[ "$output" == *" adding pid "*"/nonexistent/cgroup.procs: no such file "* ]]
+	[[ "$output" == *" adding pid "*"o such file or directory"* ]]
 
 	# Check we can't specify non-existent controller.
 	runc exec --cgroup whaaat:/ test_busybox true
@@ -277,12 +277,12 @@ function check_exec_debug() {
 	# Check we can't join parent cgroup.
 	runc exec --cgroup ".." test_busybox cat /proc/self/cgroup
 	[ "$status" -ne 0 ]
-	[[ "$output" == *" .. is not a sub cgroup path"* ]]
+	[[ "$output" == *"bad sub cgroup path"* ]]
 
 	# Check we can't join non-existing subcgroup.
 	runc exec --cgroup nonexistent test_busybox cat /proc/self/cgroup
 	[ "$status" -ne 0 ]
-	[[ "$output" == *" adding pid "*"/nonexistent/cgroup.procs: no such file "* ]]
+	[[ "$output" == *" adding pid "*"o such file or directory"* ]]
 
 	# Check we can join top-level cgroup (implicit).
 	runc exec test_busybox grep '^0::/$' /proc/self/cgroup
@@ -318,7 +318,7 @@ function check_exec_debug() {
 	# Check that --cgroup / disables the init cgroup fallback.
 	runc exec --cgroup / test_busybox true
 	[ "$status" -ne 0 ]
-	[[ "$output" == *" adding pid "*" to cgroups"*"/cgroup.procs: device or resource busy"* ]]
+	[[ "$output" == *" adding pid "*" to cgroups"*"evice or resource busy"* ]]
 
 	# Check that explicit --cgroup foobar works.
 	runc exec --cgroup foobar test_busybox grep '^0::/foobar$' /proc/self/cgroup
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/cgroups.go b/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/cgroups.go
index 1f127550c..5a97bd36b 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/cgroups.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/cgroups.go
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ type Manager interface {
 	// can be used to merely create a cgroup.
 	Apply(pid int) error
 
+	// AddPid adds a process with a given pid to an existing cgroup.
+	// The subcgroup argument is either empty, or a path relative to
+	// a cgroup under under the manager's cgroup.
+	AddPid(subcgroup string, pid int) error
+
 	// GetPids returns the PIDs of all processes inside the cgroup.
 	GetPids() ([]int, error)
 
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/fs/fs.go b/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/fs/fs.go
index 23a8fb874..625931193 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/fs/fs.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/fs/fs.go
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"path"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
@@ -139,6 +141,33 @@ func (m *Manager) Apply(pid int) (retErr error) {
 	return retErr
 }
 
+// AddPid adds a process with a given pid to an existing cgroup.
+// The subcgroup argument is either empty, or a path relative to
+// a cgroup under under the manager's cgroup.
+func (m *Manager) AddPid(subcgroup string, pid int) (retErr error) {
+	m.mu.Lock()
+	defer m.mu.Unlock()
+
+	c := m.cgroups
+
+	for _, dir := range m.paths {
+		path := path.Join(dir, subcgroup)
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(path, dir) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("bad sub cgroup path: %s", subcgroup)
+		}
+
+		if err := cgroups.WriteCgroupProc(path, pid); err != nil {
+			if isIgnorableError(c.Rootless, err) && c.Path == "" {
+				retErr = cgroups.ErrRootless
+				continue
+			}
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
+	return retErr
+}
+
 func (m *Manager) Destroy() error {
 	m.mu.Lock()
 	defer m.mu.Unlock()
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/fs2/fs2.go b/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/fs2/fs2.go
index c5d5a1f8e..356d08798 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/fs2/fs2.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/fs2/fs2.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/opencontainers/cgroups"
@@ -83,6 +84,18 @@ func (m *Manager) Apply(pid int) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// AddPid adds a process with a given pid to an existing cgroup.
+// The subcgroup argument is either empty, or a path relative to
+// a cgroup under under the manager's cgroup.
+func (m *Manager) AddPid(subcgroup string, pid int) error {
+	path := filepath.Join(m.dirPath, subcgroup)
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(path, m.dirPath) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("bad sub cgroup path: %s", subcgroup)
+	}
+
+	return cgroups.WriteCgroupProc(path, pid)
+}
+
 func (m *Manager) GetPids() ([]int, error) {
 	return cgroups.GetPids(m.dirPath)
 }
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/systemd/common.go b/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/systemd/common.go
index 875a589e3..537defbf2 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/systemd/common.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/systemd/common.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
 	"os"
+	"path"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
@@ -208,6 +209,20 @@ func stopUnit(cm *dbusConnManager, unitName string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func addPid(cm *dbusConnManager, unitName, subcgroup string, pid int) error {
+	absSubcgroup := subcgroup
+	if !path.IsAbs(absSubcgroup) {
+		absSubcgroup = "/" + subcgroup
+	}
+	if absSubcgroup != path.Clean(absSubcgroup) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("bad sub cgroup path: %s", subcgroup)
+	}
+
+	return cm.retryOnDisconnect(func(c *systemdDbus.Conn) error {
+		return c.AttachProcessesToUnit(context.TODO(), unitName, absSubcgroup, []uint32{uint32(pid)})
+	})
+}
+
 func resetFailedUnit(cm *dbusConnManager, name string) error {
 	return cm.retryOnDisconnect(func(c *systemdDbus.Conn) error {
 		return c.ResetFailedUnitContext(context.TODO(), name)
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/systemd/v1.go b/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/systemd/v1.go
index b8959adbf..5500a53ac 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/systemd/v1.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/systemd/v1.go
@@ -215,6 +215,25 @@ func (m *LegacyManager) Apply(pid int) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// AddPid adds a process with a given pid to an existing cgroup.
+// The subcgroup argument is either empty, or a path relative to
+// a cgroup under under the manager's cgroup.
+func (m *LegacyManager) AddPid(subcgroup string, pid int) error {
+	m.mu.Lock()
+	defer m.mu.Unlock()
+
+	if err := addPid(m.dbus, getUnitName(m.cgroups), subcgroup, pid); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Since systemd only joins controllers it knows, use cgroupfs for the rest.
+	fsMgr, err := fs.NewManager(m.cgroups, m.paths)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return fsMgr.AddPid(subcgroup, pid)
+}
+
 func (m *LegacyManager) Destroy() error {
 	m.mu.Lock()
 	defer m.mu.Unlock()
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/systemd/v2.go b/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/systemd/v2.go
index 636b9cb01..c2f2e87f3 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/systemd/v2.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/systemd/v2.go
@@ -383,6 +383,16 @@ func cgroupFilesToChown() ([]string, error) {
 	return filesToChown, nil
 }
 
+// AddPid adds a process with a given pid to an existing cgroup.
+// The subcgroup argument is either empty, or a path relative to
+// a cgroup under under the manager's cgroup.
+func (m *UnifiedManager) AddPid(subcgroup string, pid int) error {
+	m.mu.Lock()
+	defer m.mu.Unlock()
+
+	return addPid(m.dbus, getUnitName(m.cgroups), subcgroup, pid)
+}
+
 func (m *UnifiedManager) Destroy() error {
 	m.mu.Lock()
 	defer m.mu.Unlock()
diff --git a/vendor/modules.txt b/vendor/modules.txt
index a86e8a194..95a463ebb 100644
--- a/vendor/modules.txt
+++ b/vendor/modules.txt
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ github.com/moby/sys/userns
 # github.com/mrunalp/fileutils v0.5.1
 ## explicit; go 1.13
 github.com/mrunalp/fileutils
-# github.com/opencontainers/cgroups v0.0.4
+# github.com/opencontainers/cgroups v0.0.5
 ## explicit; go 1.23.0
 github.com/opencontainers/cgroups
 github.com/opencontainers/cgroups/devices