diff --git a/docs/sources/reference/commandline/cli.rst b/docs/sources/reference/commandline/cli.rst
index d398b16e53..5f228f55b4 100644
--- a/docs/sources/reference/commandline/cli.rst
+++ b/docs/sources/reference/commandline/cli.rst
@@ -1145,7 +1145,7 @@ image is removed.
       --volumes-from="": Mount all volumes from the given container(s)
       --entrypoint="": Overwrite the default entrypoint set by the image
       -w, --workdir="": Working directory inside the container
-      --lxc-conf=[]: Add custom lxc options --lxc-conf="lxc.cgroup.cpuset.cpus = 0,1"
+      --lxc-conf=[]: (lxc exec-driver only) Add custom lxc options --lxc-conf="lxc.cgroup.cpuset.cpus = 0,1"
       --sig-proxy=true: Proxify all received signal to the process (even in non-tty mode)
       --expose=[]: Expose a port from the container without publishing it to your host
       --link="": Add link to another container (name:alias)
diff --git a/docs/sources/reference/run.rst b/docs/sources/reference/run.rst
index 0b4f7eebf4..d2fe449c22 100644
--- a/docs/sources/reference/run.rst
+++ b/docs/sources/reference/run.rst
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ Runtime Privilege and LXC Configuration
 ::
 
    --privileged=false: Give extended privileges to this container
-   --lxc-conf=[]: Add custom lxc options --lxc-conf="lxc.cgroup.cpuset.cpus = 0,1"
+   --lxc-conf=[]: (lxc exec-driver only) Add custom lxc options --lxc-conf="lxc.cgroup.cpuset.cpus = 0,1"
 
 By default, Docker containers are "unprivileged" and cannot, for
 example, run a Docker daemon inside a Docker container. This is
@@ -211,12 +211,13 @@ host. Additional information about running with ``--privileged`` is
 available on the `Docker Blog
 <http://blog.docker.io/2013/09/docker-can-now-run-within-docker/>`_.
 
-An operator can also specify LXC options using one or more
-``--lxc-conf`` parameters. These can be new parameters or override
-existing parameters from the lxc-template.go_. Note that in the
-future, a given host's Docker daemon may not use LXC, so this is an
-implementation-specific configuration meant for operators already
-familiar with using LXC directly.
+If the Docker daemon was started using the ``lxc`` exec-driver
+(``docker -d --exec-driver=lxc``) then the operator can also specify
+LXC options using one or more ``--lxc-conf`` parameters. These can be
+new parameters or override existing parameters from the lxc-template.go_.
+Note that in the future, a given host's Docker daemon may not use LXC,
+so this is an implementation-specific configuration meant for operators
+already familiar with using LXC directly.
 
 .. _lxc-template.go: https://github.com/dotcloud/docker/blob/master/execdriver/lxc/lxc_template.go
 
diff --git a/runconfig/parse.go b/runconfig/parse.go
index cc33188ad5..c2591722d5 100644
--- a/runconfig/parse.go
+++ b/runconfig/parse.go
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ func parseRun(cmd *flag.FlagSet, args []string, sysInfo *sysinfo.SysInfo) (*Conf
 	cmd.Var(&flDns, []string{"#dns", "-dns"}, "Set custom dns servers")
 	cmd.Var(&flDnsSearch, []string{"-dns-search"}, "Set custom dns search domains")
 	cmd.Var(&flVolumesFrom, []string{"#volumes-from", "-volumes-from"}, "Mount volumes from the specified container(s)")
-	cmd.Var(&flLxcOpts, []string{"#lxc-conf", "-lxc-conf"}, "Add custom lxc options --lxc-conf=\"lxc.cgroup.cpuset.cpus = 0,1\"")
+	cmd.Var(&flLxcOpts, []string{"#lxc-conf", "-lxc-conf"}, "(lxc exec-driver only) Add custom lxc options --lxc-conf=\"lxc.cgroup.cpuset.cpus = 0,1\"")
 
 	if err := cmd.Parse(args); err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, cmd, err