diff --git a/libcontainer/configs/config.go b/libcontainer/configs/config.go
index 22fe0f9b4c1..f416179217e 100644
--- a/libcontainer/configs/config.go
+++ b/libcontainer/configs/config.go
@@ -480,6 +480,9 @@ func (c Command) Run(s *specs.State) error {
 		Stdout: &stdout,
 		Stderr: &stderr,
 	}
+	if cmd.Env == nil {
+		cmd.Env = []string{}
+	}
 	if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/tests/integration/hooks.bats b/tests/integration/hooks.bats
index 099337a2b2c..1c3f3f1edcb 100644
--- a/tests/integration/hooks.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/hooks.bats
@@ -42,3 +42,42 @@ function teardown() {
 		[[ "$output" == *"error running $hook hook #1:"* ]]
 	done
 }
+
+@test "runc run [hook with env property]" {
+	update_config '.process.args = ["/bin/true"]'
+	update_config '.process.env = ["TEST_VAR=val"]'
+	# All hooks except Poststop.
+	for hook in prestart createRuntime createContainer startContainer poststart; do
+		echo "testing hook $hook"
+		# shellcheck disable=SC2016
+		update_config '.hooks = {
+			"'$hook'": [{
+				"path": "/bin/sh",
+				"args": ["/bin/sh", "-c", "[ \"$TEST_VAR\"==\"val\" ] && echo yes, we got val from the env TEST_VAR && exit 1 || exit 0"],
+				"env": ["TEST_VAR=val"]
+			}]
+		}'
+		TEST_VAR="val" runc run "test_hook-$hook"
+		[ "$status" -ne 0 ]
+		[[ "$output" == *"yes, we got val from the env TEST_VAR"* ]]
+	done
+}
+
+# https://github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/blob/v1.0.1/config.md#posix-platform-hooks
+@test "runc run [hook without env property should not inherit host env]" {
+	update_config '.process.args = ["/bin/true"]'
+	update_config '.process.env = ["TEST_VAR=val"]'
+	# All hooks except Poststop.
+	for hook in prestart createRuntime createContainer startContainer poststart; do
+		echo "testing hook $hook"
+		# shellcheck disable=SC2016
+		update_config '.hooks = {
+			"'$hook'": [{
+				"path": "/bin/sh",
+				"args": ["/bin/sh", "-c", "[[ \"$TEST_VAR\" == \"val\" ]] && echo \"$TEST_VAR\" && exit 1 || exit 0"]
+			}]
+		}'
+		TEST_VAR="val" runc run "test_hook-$hook"
+		[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+	done
+}