diff --git a/container/state.go b/container/state.go
index cdf88fe371..b3bba4ba2b 100644
--- a/container/state.go
+++ b/container/state.go
@@ -268,13 +268,23 @@ func (s *State) SetExitCode(ec int) {
 	s.ExitCodeValue = ec
 }
 
-// SetRunning sets the state of the container to "running".
-func (s *State) SetRunning(ctr libcontainerdtypes.Container, tsk libcontainerdtypes.Task, initial bool) {
+// SetRunning sets the running state along with StartedAt time.
+func (s *State) SetRunning(ctr libcontainerdtypes.Container, tsk libcontainerdtypes.Task, start time.Time) {
+	s.setRunning(ctr, tsk, &start)
+}
+
+// SetRunningExternal sets the running state without setting the `StartedAt` time (used for containers not started by Docker instead of SetRunning).
+func (s *State) SetRunningExternal(ctr libcontainerdtypes.Container, tsk libcontainerdtypes.Task) {
+	s.setRunning(ctr, tsk, nil)
+}
+
+// setRunning sets the state of the container to "running".
+func (s *State) setRunning(ctr libcontainerdtypes.Container, tsk libcontainerdtypes.Task, start *time.Time) {
 	s.ErrorMsg = ""
 	s.Paused = false
 	s.Running = true
 	s.Restarting = false
-	if initial {
+	if start != nil {
 		s.Paused = false
 	}
 	s.ExitCodeValue = 0
@@ -286,8 +296,8 @@ func (s *State) SetRunning(ctr libcontainerdtypes.Container, tsk libcontainerdty
 		s.Pid = 0
 	}
 	s.OOMKilled = false
-	if initial {
-		s.StartedAt = time.Now().UTC()
+	if start != nil {
+		s.StartedAt = start.UTC()
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/container/state_test.go b/container/state_test.go
index f4f22f70d6..2043a66053 100644
--- a/container/state_test.go
+++ b/container/state_test.go
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ func TestStateRunStop(t *testing.T) {
 
 		// Set the state to "Running".
 		s.Lock()
-		s.SetRunning(nil, &mockTask{pid: uint32(i)}, true)
+		s.SetRunning(nil, &mockTask{pid: uint32(i)}, time.Now())
 		s.Unlock()
 
 		// Assert desired state.
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ func TestStateTimeoutWait(t *testing.T) {
 	s := NewState()
 
 	s.Lock()
-	s.SetRunning(nil, nil, true)
+	s.SetRunning(nil, nil, time.Now())
 	s.Unlock()
 
 	// Start a wait with a timeout.
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ func TestCorrectStateWaitResultAfterRestart(t *testing.T) {
 	s := NewState()
 
 	s.Lock()
-	s.SetRunning(nil, nil, true)
+	s.SetRunning(nil, nil, time.Now())
 	s.Unlock()
 
 	waitC := s.Wait(context.Background(), WaitConditionNotRunning)
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ func TestCorrectStateWaitResultAfterRestart(t *testing.T) {
 	s.Unlock()
 
 	s.Lock()
-	s.SetRunning(nil, nil, true)
+	s.SetRunning(nil, nil, time.Now())
 	s.Unlock()
 
 	got := <-waitC
diff --git a/daemon/delete_test.go b/daemon/delete_test.go
index 9733498cac..fe727edcdf 100644
--- a/daemon/delete_test.go
+++ b/daemon/delete_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/docker/docker/api/types/backend"
 	containertypes "github.com/docker/docker/api/types/container"
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ func TestContainerDelete(t *testing.T) {
 			errMsg: "container is restarting: stop the container before removing or force remove",
 			initContainer: func() *container.Container {
 				c := newContainerWithState(container.NewState())
-				c.SetRunning(nil, nil, true)
+				c.SetRunning(nil, nil, time.Now())
 				c.SetRestarting(&container.ExitStatus{})
 				return c
 			},
diff --git a/daemon/monitor.go b/daemon/monitor.go
index 7c47ae0786..65c82fdf85 100644
--- a/daemon/monitor.go
+++ b/daemon/monitor.go
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ func (daemon *Daemon) ProcessEvent(id string, e libcontainerdtypes.EventType, ei
 				}
 				return err
 			}
-			c.SetRunning(ctr, tsk, false)
+			c.SetRunningExternal(ctr, tsk)
 			c.HasBeenManuallyStopped = false
 			c.HasBeenStartedBefore = true
 			daemon.setStateCounter(c)
diff --git a/daemon/start.go b/daemon/start.go
index b967947af2..f10bacc04c 100644
--- a/daemon/start.go
+++ b/daemon/start.go
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@ func (daemon *Daemon) containerStart(ctx context.Context, daemonCfg *configStore
 		}
 	}()
 
+	startupTime := time.Now()
 	// TODO(mlaventure): we need to specify checkpoint options here
 	tsk, err := ctr.NewTask(context.TODO(), // Passing ctx caused integration tests to be stuck in the cleanup phase
 		checkpointDir, container.StreamConfig.Stdin() != nil || container.Config.Tty,
@@ -204,7 +205,7 @@ func (daemon *Daemon) containerStart(ctx context.Context, daemonCfg *configStore
 	}
 
 	container.HasBeenManuallyRestarted = false
-	container.SetRunning(ctr, tsk, true)
+	container.SetRunning(ctr, tsk, startupTime)
 	container.HasBeenStartedBefore = true
 	daemon.setStateCounter(container)
 
diff --git a/integration/container/daemon_linux_test.go b/integration/container/daemon_linux_test.go
index 41bddd96f9..3b60a39d68 100644
--- a/integration/container/daemon_linux_test.go
+++ b/integration/container/daemon_linux_test.go
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ func TestHardRestartWhenContainerIsRunning(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for _, id := range []string{noPolicy, onFailure} {
 		d.TamperWithContainerConfig(t, id, func(c *realcontainer.Container) {
-			c.SetRunning(nil, nil, true)
+			c.SetRunning(nil, nil, time.Now())
 			c.HasBeenStartedBefore = true
 		})
 	}