diff --git a/runsc/cmd/cmd.go b/runsc/cmd/cmd.go
index 3c726bd24..a46dc0e55 100644
--- a/runsc/cmd/cmd.go
+++ b/runsc/cmd/cmd.go
@@ -89,6 +89,10 @@ func callSelfAsNobody(args []string) error {
 	if _, _, err := unix.RawSyscall(unix.SYS_SETUID, uintptr(nobody), 0, 0); err != 0 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error setting gid: %v", err)
 	}
+	// Drop all capabilities.
+	if err := applyCaps(&specs.LinuxCapabilities{}); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("error dropping capabilities: %w", err)
+	}
 
 	binPath := specutils.ExePath
 
diff --git a/runsc/sandbox/sandbox.go b/runsc/sandbox/sandbox.go
index 1703e4f7f..91f530005 100644
--- a/runsc/sandbox/sandbox.go
+++ b/runsc/sandbox/sandbox.go
@@ -881,7 +881,12 @@ func (s *Sandbox) createSandboxProcess(conf *config.Config, args *Args, startSyn
 
 			// A sandbox process will construct an empty root for itself, so it has
 			// to have CAP_SYS_ADMIN and CAP_SYS_CHROOT capabilities.
-			cmd.SysProcAttr.AmbientCaps = append(cmd.SysProcAttr.AmbientCaps, uintptr(capability.CAP_SYS_ADMIN), uintptr(capability.CAP_SYS_CHROOT))
+			cmd.SysProcAttr.AmbientCaps = append(cmd.SysProcAttr.AmbientCaps,
+				uintptr(capability.CAP_SYS_ADMIN),
+				uintptr(capability.CAP_SYS_CHROOT),
+				// CAP_SETPCAP is required to clear the bounding set.
+				uintptr(capability.CAP_SETPCAP),
+			)
 
 		} else {
 			return fmt.Errorf("can't run sandbox process as user nobody since we don't have CAP_SETUID or CAP_SETGID")