diff --git a/src/lxc/tools/arguments.c b/src/lxc/tools/arguments.c
index f16b19562..585bb1492 100644
--- a/src/lxc/tools/arguments.c
+++ b/src/lxc/tools/arguments.c
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 #include "arguments.h"
 #include "utils.h"
 #include "version.h"
+#include "namespace.h"
 
 static int build_shortopts(const struct option *a_options, char *a_shortopts,
 			   size_t a_size)
@@ -289,3 +290,34 @@ int lxc_arguments_str_to_int(struct lxc_arguments *args, const char *str)
 
 	return (int)val;
 }
+
+bool lxc_setup_shared_ns(struct lxc_arguments *args, struct lxc_container *c)
+{
+	int i;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < LXC_NS_MAX; i++) {
+		const char *key, *value;
+
+		value = args->share_ns[i];
+		if (!value)
+			continue;
+
+		if (i == LXC_NS_NET)
+			key = "lxc.namespace.net";
+		else if (i == LXC_NS_IPC)
+			key = "lxc.namespace.ipc";
+		else if (i == LXC_NS_UTS)
+			key = "lxc.namespace.uts";
+		else if (i == LXC_NS_PID)
+			key = "lxc.namespace.pid";
+		else
+			continue;
+
+		if (!c->set_config_item(c, key, value)) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "failed to set %s\n", key);
+			return false;
+		}
+	}
+
+	return true;
+}
diff --git a/src/lxc/tools/arguments.h b/src/lxc/tools/arguments.h
index b07caf42b..bfaa665de 100644
--- a/src/lxc/tools/arguments.h
+++ b/src/lxc/tools/arguments.h
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
+#include <lxc/lxccontainer.h>
 
 struct lxc_arguments;
 
@@ -160,6 +161,11 @@ struct lxc_arguments {
 #define OPT_VERSION OPT_USAGE - 1
 #define OPT_RCFILE OPT_USAGE - 2
 
+#define OPT_SHARE_NET OPT_USAGE + 1
+#define OPT_SHARE_IPC OPT_USAGE + 2
+#define OPT_SHARE_UTS OPT_USAGE + 3
+#define OPT_SHARE_PID OPT_USAGE + 4
+
 extern int lxc_arguments_parse(struct lxc_arguments *args, int argc,
 			       char *const argv[]);
 
@@ -170,4 +176,6 @@ extern int lxc_arguments_str_to_int(struct lxc_arguments *args,
 	if (!(arg)->quiet)                                                     \
 	fprintf(stderr, "%s: " fmt "\n", (arg)->progname, ##args)
 
+extern bool lxc_setup_shared_ns(struct lxc_arguments *args, struct lxc_container *c);
+
 #endif /* __LXC_ARGUMENTS_H */
diff --git a/src/lxc/tools/lxc_execute.c b/src/lxc/tools/lxc_execute.c
index 9af00886c..4b4120030 100644
--- a/src/lxc/tools/lxc_execute.c
+++ b/src/lxc/tools/lxc_execute.c
@@ -63,6 +63,10 @@ static int my_parser(struct lxc_arguments* args, int c, char* arg)
 	case 'g':
 		if (lxc_safe_uint(arg, &args->gid) < 0)
 			return -1;
+	case OPT_SHARE_NET: args->share_ns[LXC_NS_NET] = arg; break;
+	case OPT_SHARE_IPC: args->share_ns[LXC_NS_IPC] = arg; break;
+	case OPT_SHARE_UTS: args->share_ns[LXC_NS_UTS] = arg; break;
+	case OPT_SHARE_PID: args->share_ns[LXC_NS_PID] = arg; break;
 	}
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -73,6 +77,10 @@ static const struct option my_longopts[] = {
 	{"define", required_argument, 0, 's'},
 	{"uid", required_argument, 0, 'u'},
 	{"gid", required_argument, 0, 'g'},
+	{"share-net", required_argument, 0, OPT_SHARE_NET},
+	{"share-ipc", required_argument, 0, OPT_SHARE_IPC},
+	{"share-uts", required_argument, 0, OPT_SHARE_UTS},
+	{"share-pid", required_argument, 0, OPT_SHARE_PID},
 	LXC_COMMON_OPTIONS
 };
 
@@ -183,6 +191,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	if (my_args.gid)
 		c->lxc_conf->init_gid = my_args.gid;
 
+	if (!lxc_setup_shared_ns(&my_args, c)) {
+		lxc_container_put(c);
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
+
 	c->daemonize = my_args.daemonize == 1;
 	bret = c->start(c, 1, my_args.argv);
 	ret = c->error_num;
diff --git a/src/lxc/tools/lxc_start.c b/src/lxc/tools/lxc_start.c
index 7584b59f4..2909458a8 100644
--- a/src/lxc/tools/lxc_start.c
+++ b/src/lxc/tools/lxc_start.c
@@ -50,11 +50,6 @@
 #include "confile.h"
 #include "arguments.h"
 
-#define OPT_SHARE_NET OPT_USAGE + 1
-#define OPT_SHARE_IPC OPT_USAGE + 2
-#define OPT_SHARE_UTS OPT_USAGE + 3
-#define OPT_SHARE_PID OPT_USAGE + 4
-
 static struct lxc_list defines;
 
 static int ensure_path(char **confpath, const char *path)
@@ -152,7 +147,6 @@ Options :\n\
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
-	int i;
 	struct lxc_conf *conf;
 	struct lxc_log log;
 	const char *lxcpath;
@@ -284,27 +278,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		}
 	}
 
-	for (i = 0; i < LXC_NS_MAX; i++) {
-		const char *key, *value;
-
-		value = my_args.share_ns[i];
-		if (!value)
-			continue;
-
-		if (i == LXC_NS_NET)
-			key = "lxc.namespace.net";
-		else if (i == LXC_NS_IPC)
-			key = "lxc.namespace.ipc";
-		else if (i == LXC_NS_UTS)
-			key = "lxc.namespace.uts";
-		else if (i == LXC_NS_PID)
-			key = "lxc.namespace.pid";
-		else
-			continue;
-
-		if (!c->set_config_item(c, key, value))
-			goto out;
-	}
+	if (!lxc_setup_shared_ns(&my_args, c))
+		goto out;
 
 	if (!my_args.daemonize) {
 		c->want_daemonize(c, false);