diff --git a/libcontainerd/remote/client.go b/libcontainerd/remote/client.go
index 8bdea8c2c7..7b30e7a860 100644
--- a/libcontainerd/remote/client.go
+++ b/libcontainerd/remote/client.go
@@ -154,7 +154,8 @@ func (c *container) Start(ctx context.Context, checkpointDir string, withStdin b
 	if checkpointDir != "" {
 		// write checkpoint to the content store
 		tar := archive.Diff(ctx, "", checkpointDir)
-		cp, err := c.client.writeContent(ctx, images.MediaTypeContainerd1Checkpoint, checkpointDir, tar)
+		var err error
+		cp, err = c.client.writeContent(ctx, images.MediaTypeContainerd1Checkpoint, checkpointDir, tar)
 		// remove the checkpoint when we're done
 		defer func() {
 			if cp != nil {