diff --git a/hack/dind b/hack/dind
index 456ba861a6..dbe6949792 100755
--- a/hack/dind
+++ b/hack/dind
@@ -62,10 +62,18 @@ if [ -f /sys/fs/cgroup/cgroup.controllers ]; then
 	# otherwise writing subtree_control fails with EBUSY.
 	# An error during moving non-existent process (i.e., "cat") is ignored.
 	mkdir -p /sys/fs/cgroup/init
-	xargs -rn1 < /sys/fs/cgroup/cgroup.procs > /sys/fs/cgroup/init/cgroup.procs || :
-	# enable controllers
-	sed -e 's/ / +/g' -e 's/^/+/' < /sys/fs/cgroup/cgroup.controllers \
-		> /sys/fs/cgroup/cgroup.subtree_control
+	# this happens in a loop because things like "docker exec" on our dind
+	# container will create new processes, which creates a race between our
+	# moving everything to "init" and enabling subtree_control
+	while ! {
+		# move the processes from the root group to the /init group,
+		# otherwise writing subtree_control fails with EBUSY.
+		# An error during moving non-existent process (i.e., "cat") is ignored.
+		xargs -rn1 < /sys/fs/cgroup/cgroup.procs > /sys/fs/cgroup/init/cgroup.procs || :
+		# enable controllers
+		sed -e 's/ / +/g' -e 's/^/+/' < /sys/fs/cgroup/cgroup.controllers \
+			> /sys/fs/cgroup/cgroup.subtree_control
+	}; do true; done
 fi
 
 # Change mount propagation to shared to make the environment more similar to a