diff --git a/src/dbus-manager.c b/src/dbus-manager.c
index a2a25b72ffd..92a602219be 100644
--- a/src/dbus-manager.c
+++ b/src/dbus-manager.c
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 ***/
 
 #include <errno.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 #include "dbus.h"
 #include "log.h"
@@ -224,16 +225,17 @@ static int bus_manager_append_tainted(Manager *m, DBusMessageIter *i, const char
         assert(property);
 
         if (m->taint_usr)
-                e = stpcpy(e, "usr-separate-fs");
+                e = stpcpy(e, "usr-separate-fs ");
 
-        if (readlink_malloc("/etc/mtab", &p) < 0) {
-                if (e != buf)
-                        e = stpcpy(e, " ");
-                e = stpcpy(e, "etc-mtab-not-symlink");
-        } else
+        if (readlink_malloc("/etc/mtab", &p) < 0)
+                e = stpcpy(e, "etc-mtab-not-symlink ");
+        else
                 free(p);
 
-        t = buf;
+        if (access("/proc/cgroups", F_OK) < 0)
+                e = stpcpy(e, "cgroups-missing ");
+
+        t = strstrip(buf);
 
         if (!dbus_message_iter_append_basic(i, DBUS_TYPE_STRING, &t))
                 return -ENOMEM;
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 8d27eb42669..176a4f5ecbb 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -985,10 +985,26 @@ static void test_usr(void) {
 
         /* Check that /usr is not a separate fs */
 
-        if (dir_is_empty("/usr") > 0)
-                log_warning("/usr appears to be on a different file system than /. This is not supported anymore. "
-                            "Some things will probably break (sometimes even silently) in mysterious ways. "
-                            "Consult http://freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/separate-usr-is-broken for more information.");
+        if (dir_is_empty("/usr") <= 0)
+                return;
+
+        log_warning("/usr appears to be on a different file system than /. This is not supported anymore. "
+                    "Some things will probably break (sometimes even silently) in mysterious ways. "
+                    "Consult http://freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/separate-usr-is-broken for more information.");
+}
+
+static void test_cgroups(void) {
+
+        if (access("/proc/cgroups", F_OK) >= 0)
+                return;
+
+        log_warning("CONFIG_CGROUPS was not set when your kernel was compiled. "
+                    "Systems without control groups are not supported. "
+                    "We will now sleep for 10s, and then continue boot-up. "
+                    "Expect breakage and please do not file bugs. "
+                    "Instead fix your kernel and enable CONFIG_CGROUPS." );
+
+        sleep(10);
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
@@ -1171,6 +1187,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 
                 test_mtab();
                 test_usr();
+                test_cgroups();
         }
 
         if ((r = manager_new(arg_running_as, &m)) < 0) {