diff --git a/gnu/local.mk b/gnu/local.mk
index 9a316f6edb..1f7cad9d32 100644
--- a/gnu/local.mk
+++ b/gnu/local.mk
@@ -794,6 +794,7 @@ dist_patch_DATA =						\
   %D%/packages/patches/coda-use-system-libs.patch		\
   %D%/packages/patches/combinatorial-blas-awpm.patch		\
   %D%/packages/patches/combinatorial-blas-io-fix.patch		\
+  %D%/packages/patches/containerd-test-with-go1.13.patch		\
   %D%/packages/patches/cpufrequtils-fix-aclocal.patch		\
   %D%/packages/patches/crawl-upgrade-saves.patch		\
   %D%/packages/patches/crda-optional-gcrypt.patch		\
diff --git a/gnu/packages/docker.scm b/gnu/packages/docker.scm
index 1f832a25e5..cc353fd11f 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/docker.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/docker.scm
@@ -183,7 +183,9 @@ (define-public containerd
             (commit (string-append "v" version))))
       (file-name (git-file-name name version))
       (sha256
-       (base32 "0npbzixf3c0jvzm159vygvkydrr8h36c9sq50yv0mdinrys2bvg0"))))
+       (base32 "0npbzixf3c0jvzm159vygvkydrr8h36c9sq50yv0mdinrys2bvg0"))
+      (patches
+        (search-patches "containerd-test-with-go1.13.patch"))))
     (build-system go-build-system)
     (arguments
      `(#:import-path "github.com/containerd/containerd"
diff --git a/gnu/packages/patches/containerd-test-with-go1.13.patch b/gnu/packages/patches/containerd-test-with-go1.13.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..964adee9e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gnu/packages/patches/containerd-test-with-go1.13.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+Compatibility fix for go 1.13, flag.Parse() shouldn't be called during
+package initialization.
+https://golang.org/doc/go1.13#testing
+--- a/client_test.go	2020-02-12 14:50:28.991245371 -0500
++++ b/client_test.go	2020-02-12 15:12:37.383523980 -0500
+@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@
+ 	flag.StringVar(&address, "address", defaultAddress, "The address to the containerd socket for use in the tests")
+ 	flag.BoolVar(&noDaemon, "no-daemon", false, "Do not start a dedicated daemon for the tests")
+ 	flag.BoolVar(&noCriu, "no-criu", false, "Do not run the checkpoint tests")
+-	flag.Parse()
+ }
+ 
+ func testContext() (context.Context, context.CancelFunc) {
+@@ -59,6 +58,7 @@
+ }
+ 
+ func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
++	flag.Parse()
+ 	if testing.Short() {
+ 		os.Exit(m.Run())
+ 	}