diff --git a/crates/runc-shim/src/container.rs b/crates/runc-shim/src/container.rs
index 1c38d1bb..bf1d3f99 100644
--- a/crates/runc-shim/src/container.rs
+++ b/crates/runc-shim/src/container.rs
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ pub trait Container {
     async fn close_io(&mut self, exec_id: Option<&str>) -> Result<()>;
     async fn pause(&mut self) -> Result<()>;
     async fn resume(&mut self) -> Result<()>;
+    async fn init_state(&self) -> EnumOrUnknown<Status>;
 }
 
 #[async_trait]
@@ -96,6 +97,11 @@ where
     E: Process + Send + Sync,
     P: ProcessFactory<E> + Send + Sync,
 {
+    async fn init_state(&self) -> EnumOrUnknown<Status> {
+        // Default should be unknown
+        self.init.state().await.unwrap_or_default().status
+    }
+
     async fn start(&mut self, exec_id: Option<&str>) -> Result<i32> {
         let process = self.get_mut_process(exec_id)?;
         process.start().await?;
diff --git a/crates/runc-shim/src/task.rs b/crates/runc-shim/src/task.rs
index 97e2e941..9679c3fc 100644
--- a/crates/runc-shim/src/task.rs
+++ b/crates/runc-shim/src/task.rs
@@ -30,10 +30,9 @@ use containerd_shim::{
             PidsResponse, StatsRequest, StatsResponse, UpdateTaskRequest,
         },
         events::task::{TaskCreate, TaskDelete, TaskExecAdded, TaskExecStarted, TaskIO, TaskStart},
-        protobuf::MessageDyn,
+        protobuf::{EnumOrUnknown, MessageDyn},
         shim_async::Task,
-        ttrpc,
-        ttrpc::r#async::TtrpcContext,
+        ttrpc::{self, r#async::TtrpcContext},
     },
     util::{convert_to_any, convert_to_timestamp, AsOption},
     TtrpcResult,
@@ -228,6 +227,15 @@ where
     async fn start(&self, _ctx: &TtrpcContext, req: StartRequest) -> TtrpcResult<StartResponse> {
         info!("Start request for {:?}", &req);
         let mut container = self.container_mut(req.id()).await?;
+        // Prevent the init process from exiting and continuing with start
+        // Return early to reduce the time it takes to return only when runc encounters an error
+        if container.init_state().await == EnumOrUnknown::new(Status::STOPPED) {
+            debug!("container init process has exited, start process should not continue");
+            return Err(ttrpc::Error::RpcStatus(ttrpc::get_status(
+                ttrpc::Code::FAILED_PRECONDITION,
+                format!("container init process has exited {}", container.id().await),
+            )));
+        }
         let pid = container.start(req.exec_id.as_str().as_option()).await?;
 
         let mut resp = StartResponse::new();