diff --git a/src/core/cgroup.c b/src/core/cgroup.c
index d6156c3924d..97f656eb5d8 100644
--- a/src/core/cgroup.c
+++ b/src/core/cgroup.c
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ void cgroup_context_apply(CGroupContext *c, CGroupControllerMask mask, const cha
                 }
         }
 
-        if (mask & CGROUP_MEMORY) {
+        if ((mask & CGROUP_MEMORY) & !is_root) {
                 if (c->memory_limit != (uint64_t) -1) {
                         char buf[DECIMAL_STR_MAX(uint64_t) + 1];