diff --git a/src/cgroups/v1/cpuset.rs b/src/cgroups/v1/cpuset.rs
index 2d7342dd9..e989e5aa0 100644
--- a/src/cgroups/v1/cpuset.rs
+++ b/src/cgroups/v1/cpuset.rs
@@ -18,13 +18,13 @@ impl Controller for CpuSet {
         log::debug!("Apply CpuSet cgroup config");
         fs::create_dir_all(cgroup_path)?;
 
+        Self::ensure_not_empty(cgroup_path, CGROUP_CPUSET_CPUS)?;
+        Self::ensure_not_empty(cgroup_path, CGROUP_CPUSET_MEMS)?;
+
         if let Some(cpuset) = &linux_resources.cpu {
             Self::apply(cgroup_path, cpuset)?;
         }
 
-        Self::ensure_not_empty(cgroup_path, CGROUP_CPUSET_CPUS)?;
-        Self::ensure_not_empty(cgroup_path, CGROUP_CPUSET_MEMS)?;
-
         common::write_cgroup_file(cgroup_path.join(CGROUP_PROCS), pid)?;
         Ok(())
     }