diff --git a/packages/envd/main.go b/packages/envd/main.go
index 8327a03c79..01aacf5745 100644
--- a/packages/envd/main.go
+++ b/packages/envd/main.go
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ var (
 	versionFlag bool
 	commitFlag  bool
 	cgroupRoot  string
+	noCgroups   bool
 	verbose     bool
 )
 
@@ -95,6 +96,13 @@ func parseFlags() {
 		"cgroup root directory",
 	)
 
+	flag.BoolVar(
+		&noCgroups,
+		"no-cgroups",
+		false,
+		"disable cgroup management; use a no-op cgroup manager instead",
+	)
+
 	flag.BoolVar(
 		&verbose,
 		"verbose",
@@ -236,6 +244,15 @@ func createCgroupManager() (m cgroups.Manager) {
 		}
 	}()
 
+	// Explicit opt-out: callers can tell envd to skip cgroup setup entirely.
+	// We return the no-op manager directly without touching /sys/fs/cgroup
+	// so we don't log spurious errors.
+	if noCgroups {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "cgroups disabled via --no-cgroups; using no-op cgroup manager\n")
+
+		return cgroups.NewNoopManager()
+	}
+
 	metrics, err := host.GetMetrics()
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "failed to calculate host metrics: %v\n", err)