diff --git a/container/docker/factory.go b/container/docker/factory.go
index fca1811a66..ba7623cdcb 100644
--- a/container/docker/factory.go
+++ b/container/docker/factory.go
@@ -355,10 +355,11 @@ func Register(factory info.MachineInfoFactory, fsInfo fs.FsInfo, includedMetrics
 		}
 	}
 
-	if StorageDriver(dockerInfo.Driver) == ContainerdSnapshotterStorageDriver {
+	if StorageDriver(dockerInfo.Driver) == ContainerdSnapshotterStorageDriver && includedMetrics.Has(container.DiskUsageMetrics) {
 		containerdClient, err = containerd.Client(*containerd.ArgContainerdEndpoint, "moby")
 		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("unable to create containerd client: %v", err)
+			klog.Warningf("Docker filesystem stats will not be reported: unable to create containerd client: %v", err)
+			includedMetrics = includedMetrics.Difference(container.MetricSet{container.DiskUsageMetrics: struct{}{}})
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/container/docker/handler.go b/container/docker/handler.go
index 330ea46723..a7f4e2def5 100644
--- a/container/docker/handler.go
+++ b/container/docker/handler.go
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ func getRwLayerID(containerID, storageDir string, sd StorageDriver, dockerVersio
 
 // newContainerHandler returns a new container.ContainerHandler
 func newContainerHandler(
-	client *dclient.Client,
+	client dclient.APIClient,
 	containerdClient containerd.ContainerdClient,
 	name string,
 	machineInfoFactory info.MachineInfoFactory,
@@ -163,29 +163,34 @@ func newContainerHandler(
 	otherStorageDir := path.Join(storageDir, pathToContainersDir, id)
 
 	var rootfsStorageDir, zfsFilesystem, zfsParent string
-	if storageDriver == ContainerdSnapshotterStorageDriver {
-		ctx := namespaces.WithNamespace(context.Background(), "moby")
-		cntr, err := containerdClient.LoadContainer(ctx, id)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
+	if metrics.Has(container.DiskUsageMetrics) {
+		if storageDriver == ContainerdSnapshotterStorageDriver {
+			if containerdClient == nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("containerd client is required for Docker filesystem stats with %q storage driver", storageDriver)
+			}
+			ctx := namespaces.WithNamespace(context.Background(), "moby")
+			cntr, err := containerdClient.LoadContainer(ctx, id)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
 
-		var spec specs.Spec
-		if err := json.Unmarshal(cntr.Spec.Value, &spec); err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		rootfsStorageDir = spec.Root.Path
-	} else {
-		rwLayerID, err := getRwLayerID(id, storageDir, storageDriver, dockerVersion)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
+			var spec specs.Spec
+			if err := json.Unmarshal(cntr.Spec.Value, &spec); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			rootfsStorageDir = spec.Root.Path
+		} else {
+			rwLayerID, err := getRwLayerID(id, storageDir, storageDriver, dockerVersion)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
 
-		// Determine the rootfs storage dir OR the pool name to determine the device.
-		// For devicemapper, we only need the thin pool name, and that is passed in to this call
-		rootfsStorageDir, zfsFilesystem, zfsParent, err = DetermineDeviceStorage(storageDriver, storageDir, rwLayerID)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to determine device storage: %v", err)
+			// Determine the rootfs storage dir OR the pool name to determine the device.
+			// For devicemapper, we only need the thin pool name, and that is passed in to this call
+			rootfsStorageDir, zfsFilesystem, zfsParent, err = DetermineDeviceStorage(storageDriver, storageDir, rwLayerID)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to determine device storage: %v", err)
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/container/docker/handler_test.go b/container/docker/handler_test.go
index 8364d7d5fd..0936f1672c 100644
--- a/container/docker/handler_test.go
+++ b/container/docker/handler_test.go
@@ -27,8 +27,10 @@ import (
 	"github.com/moby/moby/api/types/container"
 	dclient "github.com/moby/moby/client"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 
 	info "github.com/google/cadvisor/info/v1"
+	cadvisorcontainer "github.com/google/cadvisor/lib/container"
 	"github.com/google/cadvisor/lib/fs"
 )
 
@@ -160,6 +162,56 @@ func TestDockerEnvWhitelist(t *testing.T) {
 
 }
 
+func TestNewContainerHandlerAllowsContainerdSnapshotterWithoutDiskMetrics(t *testing.T) {
+	as := assert.New(t)
+
+	containerID := "1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef"
+	created := "2026-07-09T15:47:24.000000000Z"
+	client := &mockDockerClientForExitCode{
+		inspectResp: dclient.ContainerInspectResult{
+			Container: container.InspectResponse{
+				ID:   containerID,
+				Name: "/test-container",
+				Config: &container.Config{
+					Image:  "redis:7-alpine",
+					Labels: map[string]string{"com.docker.compose.service": "redis"},
+				},
+				HostConfig:      &container.HostConfig{},
+				NetworkSettings: &container.NetworkSettings{},
+				State: &container.State{
+					Pid: 1,
+				},
+				Created: created,
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	handler, err := newContainerHandler(
+		client,
+		nil,
+		"/docker/"+containerID,
+		nil,
+		nil,
+		ContainerdSnapshotterStorageDriver,
+		"/var/lib/docker",
+		map[string]string{},
+		true,
+		nil,
+		[]int{28, 5, 1},
+		cadvisorcontainer.MetricSet{cadvisorcontainer.CpuUsageMetrics: struct{}{}},
+		"",
+		nil,
+		nil,
+	)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	ref, err := handler.ContainerReference()
+	as.NoError(err)
+	as.Equal("test-container", ref.Aliases[0])
+
+	as.Equal("redis", handler.GetContainerLabels()["com.docker.compose.service"])
+}
+
 func TestAddDiskStatsCheck(t *testing.T) {
 	var readsCompleted, readsMerged, sectorsRead, readTime, writesCompleted, writesMerged, sectorsWritten,
 		writeTime, ioInProgress, ioTime, weightedIoTime uint64 = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11