diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/freezer.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/freezer.go
index 987f1bf5e74..d3804eceea1 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/freezer.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs/freezer.go
@@ -79,6 +79,13 @@ func (s *FreezerGroup) Set(path string, r *configs.Resources) (Err error) {
 				// system.
 				time.Sleep(10 * time.Microsecond)
 			}
+
+			if i%500 == 499 {
+				// should sleep a longer time for
+				// some really very slow machine.
+				time.Sleep(5 * time.Second)
+			}
+
 			state, err := cgroups.ReadFile(path, "freezer.state")
 			if err != nil {
 				return err