diff --git a/src/util/vircgroup.c b/src/util/vircgroup.c
index 3f06f1ee1a3a47af303c0ebf52c1253ea119b51b..2c7f95e9f20e31b72bdfa3549e4069dcffb1c6b7 100644
--- a/src/util/vircgroup.c
+++ b/src/util/vircgroup.c
@@ -707,10 +707,28 @@ virCgroupDetect(virCgroupPtr group,
                 virCgroupPtr parent)
 {
     int rc;
+    size_t i;
+    virCgroupBackendPtr *backends = virCgroupBackendGetAll();
 
     VIR_DEBUG("group=%p controllers=%d path=%s parent=%p",
               group, controllers, path, parent);
 
+    if (!backends)
+        return -1;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < VIR_CGROUP_BACKEND_TYPE_LAST; i++) {
+        if (backends[i] && backends[i]->available()) {
+            group->backend = backends[i];
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (!group->backend) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                       _("no cgroup backend available"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
     if (parent) {
         if (virCgroupCopyMounts(group, parent) < 0)
             return -1;
diff --git a/src/util/vircgrouppriv.h b/src/util/vircgrouppriv.h
index 046c96c52c39fca3e09deb7243098cf464a170aa..2caa966fee73295024a811996f5c7fa4ecf37857 100644
--- a/src/util/vircgrouppriv.h
+++ b/src/util/vircgrouppriv.h
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 # define __VIR_CGROUP_PRIV_H__
 
 # include "vircgroup.h"
+# include "vircgroupbackend.h"
 
 struct _virCgroupController {
     int type;
@@ -47,6 +48,8 @@ typedef virCgroupController *virCgroupControllerPtr;
 struct _virCgroup {
     char *path;
 
+    virCgroupBackendPtr backend;
+
     virCgroupController controllers[VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_LAST];
 };
 
diff --git a/tests/vircgrouptest.c b/tests/vircgrouptest.c
index b6564bdd451191bb2814b49a4f4175f7185dceed..27ce173f8fb8489c44dcabe9e241d41fc366de73 100644
--- a/tests/vircgrouptest.c
+++ b/tests/vircgrouptest.c
@@ -113,16 +113,6 @@ const char *mountsAllInOne[VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_LAST] = {
     [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_BLKIO] = "/not/really/sys/fs/cgroup",
     [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_SYSTEMD] = NULL,
 };
-const char *mountsLogind[VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_LAST] = {
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPU] = NULL,
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPUACCT] = NULL,
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPUSET] = NULL,
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_MEMORY] = NULL,
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_DEVICES] = NULL,
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_FREEZER] = NULL,
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_BLKIO] = NULL,
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_SYSTEMD] = "/not/really/sys/fs/cgroup/systemd",
-};
 
 const char *links[VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_LAST] = {
     [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPU] = "/not/really/sys/fs/cgroup/cpu",
@@ -146,17 +136,6 @@ const char *linksAllInOne[VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_LAST] = {
     [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_SYSTEMD] = NULL,
 };
 
-const char *linksLogind[VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_LAST] = {
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPU] = NULL,
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPUACCT] = NULL,
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPUSET] = NULL,
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_MEMORY] = NULL,
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_DEVICES] = NULL,
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_FREEZER] = NULL,
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_BLKIO] = NULL,
-    [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_SYSTEMD] = NULL,
-};
-
 
 struct _detectMountsData {
     const char *file;
@@ -554,24 +533,13 @@ static int testCgroupNewForSelfLogind(const void *args ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
 {
     virCgroupPtr cgroup = NULL;
     int ret = -1;
-    const char *placement[VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_LAST] = {
-        [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPU] = NULL,
-        [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPUACCT] = NULL,
-        [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPUSET] = NULL,
-        [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_MEMORY] = NULL,
-        [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_DEVICES] = NULL,
-        [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_FREEZER] = NULL,
-        [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_BLKIO] = NULL,
-        [VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_SYSTEMD] = "/",
-    };
 
-    if (virCgroupNewSelf(&cgroup) < 0) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Cannot create cgroup for self\n");
+    if (virCgroupNewSelf(&cgroup) == 0) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Expected cgroup creation to fail.\n");
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    ret = validateCgroup(cgroup, "", mountsLogind, linksLogind, placement);
-
+    ret = 0;
  cleanup:
     virCgroupFree(&cgroup);
     return ret;