diff --git a/oci.go b/oci.go
index 3206bb12..abade61e 100644
--- a/oci.go
+++ b/oci.go
@@ -228,13 +228,9 @@ func processCgroupsPathForResource(ociSpec oci.CompatOCISpec, resource string, i
 	}
 
 	if !cgroupMountFound {
-		if isPod {
-			return "", fmt.Errorf("cgroupsPath %q is absolute, cgroup mount MUST exist",
-				ociSpec.Linux.CgroupsPath)
-		}
-
-		// In case of container (CRI-O), if the mount point is not
-		// provided, we assume this is a relative path.
+		// According to the OCI spec, an absolute path should be
+		// interpreted as relative to the system cgroup mount point
+		// when there is no cgroup mount point.
 		return filepath.Join(cgroupsDirPath, resource, ociSpec.Linux.CgroupsPath), nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/oci_test.go b/oci_test.go
index 4a2d822e..4c1a889f 100644
--- a/oci_test.go
+++ b/oci_test.go
@@ -344,9 +344,9 @@ func TestProcessCgroupsPathRelativePathSuccessful(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestProcessCgroupsPathAbsoluteNoCgroupMountFailure(t *testing.T) {
-	assert := assert.New(t)
+func TestProcessCgroupsPathAbsoluteNoCgroupMountSuccessful(t *testing.T) {
 	absoluteCgroupsPath := "/absolute/cgroups/path"
+	cgroupsDirPath = "/foo/runtime/base"
 
 	ociSpec := oci.CompatOCISpec{}
 
@@ -357,9 +357,9 @@ func TestProcessCgroupsPathAbsoluteNoCgroupMountFailure(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, d := range cgroupTestData {
 		ociSpec.Linux.Resources = d.linuxSpec
 
-		_, err := processCgroupsPath(ociSpec, true)
-		assert.Error(err, "This test should fail because no cgroup mount provided (%+v)", d)
-		assert.False(vcMock.IsMockError(err))
+		p := filepath.Join(cgroupsDirPath, d.resource, absoluteCgroupsPath)
+
+		testProcessCgroupsPath(t, ociSpec, []string{p})
 	}
 }