diff --git a/containerd-shim/process.go b/containerd-shim/process.go
index a08fcb6..61f82e7 100644
--- a/containerd-shim/process.go
+++ b/containerd-shim/process.go
@@ -91,10 +91,10 @@ func (p *process) start() error {
 		return err
 	}
 	logPath := filepath.Join(cwd, "log.json")
-	args := []string{
+	args := append([]string{
 		"--log", logPath,
 		"--log-format", "json",
-	}
+	}, p.state.RuntimeArgs...)
 	if p.state.Exec {
 		args = append(args, "exec",
 			"--process", filepath.Join(cwd, "process.json"),
diff --git a/containerd/main.go b/containerd/main.go
index 1c9ec14..96960ac 100644
--- a/containerd/main.go
+++ b/containerd/main.go
@@ -50,6 +50,11 @@ var daemonFlags = []cli.Flag{
 		Value: "runc",
 		Usage: "name of the OCI compliant runtime to use when executing containers",
 	},
+	cli.StringSliceFlag{
+		Name:  "runtime-args",
+		Value: &cli.StringSlice{},
+		Usage: "specify additional runtime args",
+	},
 }
 
 func main() {
@@ -71,6 +76,7 @@ func main() {
 			context.String("state-dir"),
 			10,
 			context.String("runtime"),
+			context.StringSlice("runtime-args"),
 		); err != nil {
 			logrus.Fatal(err)
 		}
@@ -80,7 +86,7 @@ func main() {
 	}
 }
 
-func daemon(address, stateDir string, concurrency int, runtimeName string) error {
+func daemon(address, stateDir string, concurrency int, runtimeName string, runtimeArgs []string) error {
 	// setup a standard reaper so that we don't leave any zombies if we are still alive
 	// this is just good practice because we are spawning new processes
 	s := make(chan os.Signal, 2048)
@@ -88,7 +94,7 @@ func daemon(address, stateDir string, concurrency int, runtimeName string) error
 	if err := osutils.SetSubreaper(1); err != nil {
 		logrus.WithField("error", err).Error("containerd: set subpreaper")
 	}
-	sv, err := supervisor.New(stateDir, runtimeName)
+	sv, err := supervisor.New(stateDir, runtimeName, runtimeArgs)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/runtime/container.go b/runtime/container.go
index 72040d8..db6cf21 100644
--- a/runtime/container.go
+++ b/runtime/container.go
@@ -83,14 +83,15 @@ func NewStdio(stdin, stdout, stderr string) Stdio {
 }
 
 // New returns a new container
-func New(root, id, bundle, runtimeName string, labels []string) (Container, error) {
+func New(root, id, bundle, runtimeName string, runtimeArgs, labels []string) (Container, error) {
 	c := &container{
-		root:      root,
-		id:        id,
-		bundle:    bundle,
-		labels:    labels,
-		processes: make(map[string]*process),
-		runtime:   runtimeName,
+		root:        root,
+		id:          id,
+		bundle:      bundle,
+		labels:      labels,
+		processes:   make(map[string]*process),
+		runtime:     runtimeName,
+		runtimeArgs: runtimeArgs,
 	}
 	if err := os.Mkdir(filepath.Join(root, id), 0755); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -101,9 +102,10 @@ func New(root, id, bundle, runtimeName string, labels []string) (Container, erro
 	}
 	defer f.Close()
 	if err := json.NewEncoder(f).Encode(state{
-		Bundle:  bundle,
-		Labels:  labels,
-		Runtime: runtimeName,
+		Bundle:      bundle,
+		Labels:      labels,
+		Runtime:     runtimeName,
+		RuntimeArgs: runtimeArgs,
 	}); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -121,12 +123,13 @@ func Load(root, id string) (Container, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	c := &container{
-		root:      root,
-		id:        id,
-		bundle:    s.Bundle,
-		labels:    s.Labels,
-		runtime:   s.Runtime,
-		processes: make(map[string]*process),
+		root:        root,
+		id:          id,
+		bundle:      s.Bundle,
+		labels:      s.Labels,
+		runtime:     s.Runtime,
+		runtimeArgs: s.RuntimeArgs,
+		processes:   make(map[string]*process),
 	}
 	dirs, err := ioutil.ReadDir(filepath.Join(root, id))
 	if err != nil {
@@ -166,13 +169,14 @@ func readProcessState(dir string) (*ProcessState, error) {
 
 type container struct {
 	// path to store runtime state information
-	root      string
-	id        string
-	bundle    string
-	runtime   string
-	processes map[string]*process
-	labels    []string
-	oomFds    []int
+	root        string
+	id          string
+	bundle      string
+	runtime     string
+	runtimeArgs []string
+	processes   map[string]*process
+	labels      []string
+	oomFds      []int
 }
 
 func (c *container) ID() string {
diff --git a/runtime/process_linux.go b/runtime/process_linux.go
index 0295ee4..3dc4785 100644
--- a/runtime/process_linux.go
+++ b/runtime/process_linux.go
@@ -35,8 +35,9 @@ func populateProcessStateForEncoding(config *processConfig, uid int, gid int) Pr
 			RootUID:    uid,
 			RootGID:    gid,
 		},
-		Stdin:  config.stdio.Stdin,
-		Stdout: config.stdio.Stdout,
-		Stderr: config.stdio.Stderr,
+		Stdin:       config.stdio.Stdin,
+		Stdout:      config.stdio.Stdout,
+		Stderr:      config.stdio.Stderr,
+		RuntimeArgs: config.c.runtimeArgs,
 	}
 }
diff --git a/runtime/runtime.go b/runtime/runtime.go
index 1423c76..c20edeb 100644
--- a/runtime/runtime.go
+++ b/runtime/runtime.go
@@ -53,20 +53,22 @@ const (
 )
 
 type state struct {
-	Bundle  string   `json:"bundle"`
-	Labels  []string `json:"labels"`
-	Stdin   string   `json:"stdin"`
-	Stdout  string   `json:"stdout"`
-	Stderr  string   `json:"stderr"`
-	Runtime string   `json:"runtime"`
+	Bundle      string   `json:"bundle"`
+	Labels      []string `json:"labels"`
+	Stdin       string   `json:"stdin"`
+	Stdout      string   `json:"stdout"`
+	Stderr      string   `json:"stderr"`
+	Runtime     string   `json:"runtime"`
+	RuntimeArgs []string `json:"runtimeArgs"`
 }
 
 type ProcessState struct {
 	specs.ProcessSpec
-	Exec   bool   `json:"exec"`
-	Stdin  string `json:"containerdStdin"`
-	Stdout string `json:"containerdStdout"`
-	Stderr string `json:"containerdStderr"`
+	Exec        bool     `json:"exec"`
+	Stdin       string   `json:"containerdStdin"`
+	Stdout      string   `json:"containerdStdout"`
+	Stderr      string   `json:"containerdStderr"`
+	RuntimeArgs []string `json:"runtimeArgs"`
 
 	PlatformProcessState
 }
diff --git a/supervisor/create.go b/supervisor/create.go
index 16ad36e..8f8e5d9 100644
--- a/supervisor/create.go
+++ b/supervisor/create.go
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ type StartTask struct {
 
 func (s *Supervisor) start(t *StartTask) error {
 	start := time.Now()
-	container, err := runtime.New(s.stateDir, t.ID, t.BundlePath, s.runtime, t.Labels)
+	container, err := runtime.New(s.stateDir, t.ID, t.BundlePath, s.runtime, s.runtimeArgs, t.Labels)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/supervisor/supervisor.go b/supervisor/supervisor.go
index 6b1ee4a..c4e3dcc 100644
--- a/supervisor/supervisor.go
+++ b/supervisor/supervisor.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ const (
 )
 
 // New returns an initialized Process supervisor.
-func New(stateDir string, runtimeName string) (*Supervisor, error) {
+func New(stateDir string, runtimeName string, runtimeArgs []string) (*Supervisor, error) {
 	startTasks := make(chan *startTask, 10)
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(stateDir, 0755); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ func New(stateDir string, runtimeName string) (*Supervisor, error) {
 		tasks:       make(chan Task, defaultBufferSize),
 		monitor:     monitor,
 		runtime:     runtimeName,
+		runtimeArgs: runtimeArgs,
 	}
 	if err := setupEventLog(s); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -105,9 +106,10 @@ type Supervisor struct {
 	// stateDir is the directory on the system to store container runtime state information.
 	stateDir string
 	// name of the OCI compatible runtime used to execute containers
-	runtime    string
-	containers map[string]*containerInfo
-	startTasks chan *startTask
+	runtime     string
+	runtimeArgs []string
+	containers  map[string]*containerInfo
+	startTasks  chan *startTask
 	// we need a lock around the subscribers map only because additions and deletions from
 	// the map are via the API so we cannot really control the concurrency
 	subscriberLock sync.RWMutex
@@ -196,10 +198,11 @@ func (s *Supervisor) notifySubscribers(e Event) {
 // state of the Supervisor
 func (s *Supervisor) Start() error {
 	logrus.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
-		"stateDir": s.stateDir,
-		"runtime":  s.runtime,
-		"memory":   s.machine.Memory,
-		"cpus":     s.machine.Cpus,
+		"stateDir":    s.stateDir,
+		"runtime":     s.runtime,
+		"runtimeArgs": s.runtimeArgs,
+		"memory":      s.machine.Memory,
+		"cpus":        s.machine.Cpus,
 	}).Debug("containerd: supervisor running")
 	go func() {
 		for i := range s.tasks {