diff --git a/volume/local/local.go b/volume/local/local.go
index 1417941cca..b4f3a3669a 100644
--- a/volume/local/local.go
+++ b/volume/local/local.go
@@ -83,13 +83,18 @@ func New(scope string, rootIdentity idtools.Identity) (*Root, error) {
 			quotaCtl:   r.quotaCtl,
 		}
 
-		// unmount anything that may still be mounted (for example, from an
-		// unclean shutdown). This is a no-op on windows
-		unmount(v.path)
-
 		if err := v.loadOpts(); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
+
+		if err := v.restoreIfMounted(); err != nil {
+			log.G(context.TODO()).WithFields(log.Fields{
+				"volume": v.name,
+				"path":   v.path,
+				"error":  err,
+			}).Warn("restoreIfMounted failed")
+		}
+
 		r.volumes[name] = v
 	}
 
@@ -338,6 +343,10 @@ func (v *localVolume) Unmount(id string) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	if !v.active.mounted {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	logger.Debug("Unmounting volume")
 	return v.unmount()
 }
diff --git a/volume/local/local_unix.go b/volume/local/local_unix.go
index 2db5f8ef09..0b534653b9 100644
--- a/volume/local/local_unix.go
+++ b/volume/local/local_unix.go
@@ -99,10 +99,6 @@ func (v *localVolume) setOpts(opts map[string]string) error {
 	return v.saveOpts()
 }
 
-func unmount(path string) {
-	_ = mount.Unmount(path)
-}
-
 func (v *localVolume) needsMount() bool {
 	if v.opts == nil {
 		return false
@@ -163,6 +159,29 @@ func (v *localVolume) unmount() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// restoreIfMounted restores the mounted status if the _data directory is already mounted.
+func (v *localVolume) restoreIfMounted() error {
+	if v.needsMount() {
+		// Check if the _data directory is already mounted.
+		mounted, err := mountinfo.Mounted(v.path)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to determine if volume _data path is already mounted: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		if mounted {
+			// Mark volume as mounted, but don't increment active count. If
+			// any container needs this, the refcount will be incremented
+			// by the live-restore (if enabled).
+			// In other case, refcount will be zero but the volume will
+			// already be considered as mounted when Mount is called, and
+			// only the refcount will be incremented.
+			v.active.mounted = true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (v *localVolume) CreatedAt() (time.Time, error) {
 	fileInfo, err := os.Stat(v.rootPath)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/volume/local/local_windows.go b/volume/local/local_windows.go
index 43b89b3cb1..11723b02f3 100644
--- a/volume/local/local_windows.go
+++ b/volume/local/local_windows.go
@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ func (v *localVolume) postMount() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// restoreIfMounted is a no-op on Windows (because mounts are not supported).
+func (v *localVolume) restoreIfMounted() error {
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (v *localVolume) CreatedAt() (time.Time, error) {
 	fileInfo, err := os.Stat(v.rootPath)
 	if err != nil {