diff --git a/src/lxc/Makefile.am b/src/lxc/Makefile.am
index e1499a7eb..ef19df9e0 100644
--- a/src/lxc/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/lxc/Makefile.am
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ noinst_HEADERS = api_extensions.h \
 		 monitor.h \
 		 namespace.h \
 		 raw_syscalls.h \
+		 rexec.h \
 		 start.h \
 		 state.h \
 		 storage/btrfs.h \
@@ -180,7 +181,7 @@ liblxc_la_SOURCES += ../include/strlcat.c ../include/strlcat.h
 endif
 
 if ENFORCE_MEMFD_REXEC
-liblxc_la_SOURCES += rexec.c
+liblxc_la_SOURCES += rexec.c rexec.h
 endif
 
 AM_CFLAGS = -DLXCROOTFSMOUNT=\"$(LXCROOTFSMOUNT)\" \
@@ -307,6 +308,7 @@ LDADD = liblxc.la \
 
 if ENABLE_TOOLS
 lxc_attach_SOURCES = tools/lxc_attach.c \
+		     rexec.c rexec.h \
 		     tools/arguments.c tools/arguments.h
 lxc_autostart_SOURCES = tools/lxc_autostart.c \
 			tools/arguments.c tools/arguments.h
diff --git a/src/lxc/rexec.c b/src/lxc/rexec.c
index 3ce499b1e..024728d85 100644
--- a/src/lxc/rexec.c
+++ b/src/lxc/rexec.c
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ on_error:
 	errno = saved_errno;
 }
 
-static int lxc_rexec(const char *memfd_name)
+int lxc_rexec(const char *memfd_name)
 {
 	int ret;
 	char **argv = NULL, **envp = NULL;
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ static int lxc_rexec(const char *memfd_name)
  */
 __attribute__((constructor)) static void liblxc_rexec(void)
 {
-	if (lxc_rexec("liblxc")) {
+	if (getenv("LXC_MEMFD_REXEC") && lxc_rexec("liblxc")) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "Failed to re-execute liblxc via memory file descriptor\n");
 		_exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
diff --git a/src/lxc/rexec.h b/src/lxc/rexec.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..088ded932
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lxc/rexec.h
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/* liblxcapi
+ *
+ * Copyright © 2019 Christian Brauner <christian.brauner@ubuntu.com>.
+ * Copyright © 2019 Canonical Ltd.
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+ */
+
+#ifndef __LXC_REXEC_H
+#define __LXC_REXEC_H
+
+extern int lxc_rexec(const char *memfd_name);
+
+#endif /* __LXC_REXEC_H */
diff --git a/src/lxc/tools/lxc_attach.c b/src/lxc/tools/lxc_attach.c
index 3de0d7747..d10b6ecc2 100644
--- a/src/lxc/tools/lxc_attach.c
+++ b/src/lxc/tools/lxc_attach.c
@@ -44,10 +44,28 @@
 #include "config.h"
 #include "confile.h"
 #include "log.h"
+#include "rexec.h"
 #include "utils.h"
 
 lxc_log_define(lxc_attach, lxc);
 
+/**
+ * This function will copy any binary that calls liblxc into a memory file and
+ * will use the memfd to rexecute the binary. This is done to prevent attacks
+ * through the /proc/self/exe symlink to corrupt the host binary when host and
+ * container are in the same user namespace or have set up an identity id
+ * mapping: CVE-2019-5736.
+ */
+#ifdef ENFORCE_MEMFD_REXEC
+__attribute__((constructor)) static void lxc_attach_rexec(void)
+{
+	if (!getenv("LXC_MEMFD_REXEC") && lxc_rexec("lxc-attach")) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Failed to re-execute lxc-attach via memory file descriptor\n");
+		_exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
+}
+#endif
+
 static int my_parser(struct lxc_arguments *args, int c, char *arg);
 static int add_to_simple_array(char ***array, ssize_t *capacity, char *value);
 static bool stdfd_is_pty(void);