diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/memory.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/memory.go
index f1db078613e..a0c619b5c97 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/memory.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/fs2/memory.go
@@ -32,11 +32,16 @@ func numToStr(value int64) (ret string) {
 }
 
 func setMemory(dirPath string, cgroup *configs.Cgroup) error {
-	if val := numToStr(cgroup.Resources.MemorySwap); val != "" {
+	swap, err := cgroups.ConvertMemorySwapToCgroupV2Value(cgroup.Resources.MemorySwap, cgroup.Resources.Memory)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if val := numToStr(swap); val != "" {
 		if err := fscommon.WriteFile(dirPath, "memory.swap.max", val); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
+
 	if val := numToStr(cgroup.Resources.Memory); val != "" {
 		if err := fscommon.WriteFile(dirPath, "memory.max", val); err != nil {
 			return err
diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/unified_hierarchy.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/unified_hierarchy.go
index 7fab68fc450..2dffc34e076 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/unified_hierarchy.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/systemd/unified_hierarchy.go
@@ -84,6 +84,15 @@ func (m *UnifiedManager) Apply(pid int) error {
 			newProp("MemoryMax", uint64(c.Resources.Memory)))
 	}
 
+	swap, err := cgroups.ConvertMemorySwapToCgroupV2Value(c.Resources.MemorySwap, c.Resources.Memory)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if swap > 0 {
+		properties = append(properties,
+			newProp("MemorySwapMax", uint64(swap)))
+	}
+
 	if c.Resources.CpuWeight != 0 {
 		properties = append(properties,
 			newProp("CPUWeight", c.Resources.CpuWeight))
diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/utils.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/utils.go
index 51b743e2ce3..8002c052999 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/utils.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/utils.go
@@ -623,3 +623,25 @@ func ConvertCPUQuotaCPUPeriodToCgroupV2Value(quota int64, period uint64) string
 	}
 	return fmt.Sprintf("%d %d", quota, period)
 }
+
+// ConvertMemorySwapToCgroupV2Value converts MemorySwap value from OCI spec
+// for use by cgroup v2 drivers. A conversion is needed since Resources.MemorySwap
+// is defined as memory+swap combined, while in cgroup v2 swap is a separate value.
+func ConvertMemorySwapToCgroupV2Value(memorySwap, memory int64) (int64, error) {
+	if memorySwap == -1 || memorySwap == 0 {
+		// -1 is "max", 0 is "unset", so treat as is
+		return memorySwap, nil
+	}
+	// sanity checks
+	if memory == 0 || memory == -1 {
+		return 0, errors.New("unable to set swap limit without memory limit")
+	}
+	if memory < 0 {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid memory value: %d", memory)
+	}
+	if memorySwap < memory {
+		return 0, errors.New("memory+swap limit should be > memory limit")
+	}
+
+	return memorySwap - memory, nil
+}
diff --git a/libcontainer/cgroups/utils_test.go b/libcontainer/cgroups/utils_test.go
index 14a76bf725b..adf266858bf 100644
--- a/libcontainer/cgroups/utils_test.go
+++ b/libcontainer/cgroups/utils_test.go
@@ -530,3 +530,84 @@ func TestConvertCPUQuotaCPUPeriodToCgroupV2Value(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestConvertMemorySwapToCgroupV2Value(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		memswap, memory int64
+		expected        int64
+		expErr          bool
+	}{
+		{
+			memswap:  0,
+			memory:   0,
+			expected: 0,
+		},
+		{
+			memswap:  -1,
+			memory:   0,
+			expected: -1,
+		},
+		{
+			memswap:  -1,
+			memory:   -1,
+			expected: -1,
+		},
+		{
+			memswap: -2,
+			memory:  0,
+			expErr:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			memswap:  -1,
+			memory:   1000,
+			expected: -1,
+		},
+		{
+			memswap:  1000,
+			memory:   1000,
+			expected: 0,
+		},
+		{
+			memswap:  500,
+			memory:   200,
+			expected: 300,
+		},
+		{
+			memswap: 300,
+			memory:  400,
+			expErr:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			memswap: 300,
+			memory:  0,
+			expErr:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			memswap: 300,
+			memory:  -300,
+			expErr:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			memswap: 300,
+			memory:  -1,
+			expErr:  true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, c := range cases {
+		swap, err := ConvertMemorySwapToCgroupV2Value(c.memswap, c.memory)
+		if c.expErr {
+			if err == nil {
+				t.Errorf("memswap: %d, memory %d, expected error, got %d, nil", c.memswap, c.memory, swap)
+			}
+			// no more checks
+			continue
+		}
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("memswap: %d, memory %d, expected success, got error %s", c.memswap, c.memory, err)
+		}
+		if swap != c.expected {
+			t.Errorf("memswap: %d, memory %d, expected %d, got %d", c.memswap, c.memory, c.expected, swap)
+		}
+	}
+}