diff --git a/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/app-emulation/containerd/files/containerd-1.0.0.service b/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/app-emulation/containerd/files/containerd-1.0.0.service
index 670a9b81c6..d5508823e4 100644
--- a/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/app-emulation/containerd/files/containerd-1.0.0.service
+++ b/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/app-emulation/containerd/files/containerd-1.0.0.service
@@ -8,9 +8,12 @@ Delegate=yes
 Environment=CONTAINERD_CONFIG=/usr/share/containerd/config.toml
 ExecStartPre=mkdir -p /run/docker/libcontainerd
 ExecStartPre=ln -fs /run/containerd/containerd.sock /run/docker/libcontainerd/docker-containerd.sock
+ExecStartPre=-/sbin/modprobe overlay
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/containerd --config ${TORCX_UNPACKDIR}${TORCX_IMAGEDIR}${CONTAINERD_CONFIG}
 KillMode=process
+Type=notify
 Restart=always
+RestartSec=5
 
 # (lack of) limits from the upstream docker service unit
 LimitNOFILE=1048576