diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/common.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/common.go
index 50746ae0c56..5d561facebc 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/common.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/common.go
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ func allowAllDevices() []systemdDbus.Property {
 
 // generateDeviceProperties takes the configured device rules and generates a
 // corresponding set of systemd properties to configure the devices correctly.
-func generateDeviceProperties(r *configs.Resources) ([]systemdDbus.Property, error) {
+func generateDeviceProperties(r *configs.Resources, sdVer int) ([]systemdDbus.Property, error) {
 	if r.SkipDevices {
 		return nil, nil
 	}
@@ -238,9 +238,10 @@ func generateDeviceProperties(r *configs.Resources) ([]systemdDbus.Property, err
 		// trickery to convert things:
 		//
 		//  * Concrete rules with non-wildcard major/minor numbers have to use
-		//    /dev/{block,char} paths. This is slightly odd because it means
-		//    that we cannot add whitelist rules for devices that don't exist,
-		//    but there's not too much we can do about that.
+		//    /dev/{block,char}/MAJOR:minor paths. Before v240, systemd uses
+		//    stat(2) on such paths to look up device properties, meaning we
+		//    cannot add whitelist rules for devices that don't exist. Since v240,
+		//    device properties are parsed from the path string.
 		//
 		//    However, path globbing is not support for path-based rules so we
 		//    need to handle wildcards in some other manner.
@@ -288,21 +289,14 @@ func generateDeviceProperties(r *configs.Resources) ([]systemdDbus.Property, err
 			case devices.CharDevice:
 				entry.Path = fmt.Sprintf("/dev/char/%d:%d", rule.Major, rule.Minor)
 			}
-			// systemd will issue a warning if the path we give here doesn't exist.
-			// Since all of this logic is best-effort anyway (we manually set these
-			// rules separately to systemd) we can safely skip entries that don't
-			// have a corresponding path.
-			if _, err := os.Stat(entry.Path); err != nil {
-				// Also check /sys/dev so that we don't depend on /dev/{block,char}
-				// being populated. (/dev/{block,char} is populated by udev, which
-				// isn't strictly required for systemd). Ironically, this happens most
-				// easily when starting containerd within a runc created container
-				// itself.
-
-				// We don't bother with securejoin here because we create entry.Path
-				// right above here, so we know it's safe.
-				if _, err := os.Stat("/sys" + entry.Path); err != nil {
-					logrus.Warnf("skipping device %s for systemd: %s", entry.Path, err)
+			if sdVer < 240 {
+				// Old systemd versions use stat(2) on path to find out device major:minor
+				// numbers and type. If the path doesn't exist, it will not add the rule,
+				// emitting a warning instead.
+				// Since all of this logic is best-effort anyway (we manually set these
+				// rules separately to systemd) we can safely skip entries that don't
+				// have a corresponding path.
+				if _, err := os.Stat(entry.Path); err != nil {
 					continue
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v1.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v1.go
index 046c3056fba..fe036b3bda5 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v1.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v1.go
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ var legacySubsystems = []subsystem{
 func genV1ResourcesProperties(r *configs.Resources, cm *dbusConnManager) ([]systemdDbus.Property, error) {
 	var properties []systemdDbus.Property
 
-	deviceProperties, err := generateDeviceProperties(r)
+	deviceProperties, err := generateDeviceProperties(r, systemdVersion(cm))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v2.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v2.go
index 94d24ee4502..919e5632f34 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v2.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/v2.go
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ func genV2ResourcesProperties(r *configs.Resources, cm *dbusConnManager) ([]syst
 	//       aren't the end of the world, but it is a bit concerning. However
 	//       it's unclear if systemd removes all eBPF programs attached when
 	//       doing SetUnitProperties...
-	deviceProperties, err := generateDeviceProperties(r)
+	deviceProperties, err := generateDeviceProperties(r, systemdVersion(cm))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}