diff --git a/src/lxc/confile.c b/src/lxc/confile.c
index 62337289e..e66bae314 100644
--- a/src/lxc/confile.c
+++ b/src/lxc/confile.c
@@ -1431,9 +1431,6 @@ static int set_config_cgroup_dir(const char *key, const char *value,
 	if (lxc_config_value_empty(value))
 		return clr_config_cgroup_dir(key, lxc_conf, NULL);
 
-	if (lxc_conf->cgroup_meta.dir)
-		clr_config_cgroup_dir(key, lxc_conf, NULL);
-
 	return set_config_string_item(&lxc_conf->cgroup_meta.dir, value);
 }