diff --git a/pkg/seccomp/default_linux.go b/pkg/seccomp/default_linux.go
index cf333744c..d196384f0 100644
--- a/pkg/seccomp/default_linux.go
+++ b/pkg/seccomp/default_linux.go
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ func DefaultProfile() *Seccomp {
 				"vmsplice",
 			},
 			Action:   ActErrno,
+			Errno:    "EPERM",
 			ErrnoRet: &eperm,
 			Args:     []*Arg{},
 		},
@@ -574,6 +575,7 @@ func DefaultProfile() *Seccomp {
 				"open_by_handle_at",
 			},
 			Action:   ActErrno,
+			Errno:    "EPERM",
 			ErrnoRet: &eperm,
 			Args:     []*Arg{},
 			Excludes: Filter{
@@ -609,6 +611,7 @@ func DefaultProfile() *Seccomp {
 				"setns",
 			},
 			Action:   ActErrno,
+			Errno:    "EPERM",
 			ErrnoRet: &eperm,
 			Args:     []*Arg{},
 			Excludes: Filter{
@@ -630,6 +633,7 @@ func DefaultProfile() *Seccomp {
 				"chroot",
 			},
 			Action:   ActErrno,
+			Errno:    "EPERM",
 			ErrnoRet: &eperm,
 			Args:     []*Arg{},
 			Excludes: Filter{
@@ -657,6 +661,7 @@ func DefaultProfile() *Seccomp {
 				"query_module",
 			},
 			Action:   ActErrno,
+			Errno:    "EPERM",
 			ErrnoRet: &eperm,
 			Args:     []*Arg{},
 			Excludes: Filter{
@@ -678,6 +683,7 @@ func DefaultProfile() *Seccomp {
 				"acct",
 			},
 			Action:   ActErrno,
+			Errno:    "EPERM",
 			ErrnoRet: &eperm,
 			Args:     []*Arg{},
 			Excludes: Filter{
@@ -707,6 +713,7 @@ func DefaultProfile() *Seccomp {
 				"ptrace",
 			},
 			Action:   ActErrno,
+			Errno:    "EPERM",
 			ErrnoRet: &eperm,
 			Args:     []*Arg{},
 			Excludes: Filter{
@@ -730,6 +737,7 @@ func DefaultProfile() *Seccomp {
 				"ioperm",
 			},
 			Action:   ActErrno,
+			Errno:    "EPERM",
 			ErrnoRet: &eperm,
 			Args:     []*Arg{},
 			Excludes: Filter{
@@ -757,6 +765,7 @@ func DefaultProfile() *Seccomp {
 				"clock_settime64",
 			},
 			Action:   ActErrno,
+			Errno:    "EPERM",
 			ErrnoRet: &eperm,
 			Args:     []*Arg{},
 			Excludes: Filter{
@@ -778,6 +787,7 @@ func DefaultProfile() *Seccomp {
 				"vhangup",
 			},
 			Action:   ActErrno,
+			Errno:    "EPERM",
 			ErrnoRet: &eperm,
 			Args:     []*Arg{},
 			Excludes: Filter{
@@ -789,6 +799,7 @@ func DefaultProfile() *Seccomp {
 				"socket",
 			},
 			Action:   ActErrno,
+			Errno:    "EINVAL",
 			ErrnoRet: &einval,
 			Args: []*Arg{
 				{
@@ -867,6 +878,7 @@ func DefaultProfile() *Seccomp {
 
 	return &Seccomp{
 		DefaultAction:   ActErrno,
+		DefaultErrno:    "ENOSYS",
 		DefaultErrnoRet: &enosys,
 		ArchMap:         arches(),
 		Syscalls:        syscalls,
diff --git a/pkg/seccomp/errno_list.go b/pkg/seccomp/errno_list.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..55b92ecc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/seccomp/errno_list.go
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+package seccomp
+
+import (
+	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
+)
+
+// Error table
+var errnoArch = map[string]uint{
+	"EPERM":           uint(unix.EPERM),
+	"ENOENT":          uint(unix.ENOENT),
+	"ESRCH":           uint(unix.ESRCH),
+	"EIO":             uint(unix.EIO),
+	"ENXIO":           uint(unix.ENXIO),
+	"E2BIG":           uint(unix.E2BIG),
+	"ENOEXEC":         uint(unix.ENOEXEC),
+	"EBADF":           uint(unix.EBADF),
+	"ECHILD":          uint(unix.ECHILD),
+	"EDEADLK":         uint(unix.EDEADLK),
+	"ENOMEM":          uint(unix.ENOMEM),
+	"EACCES":          uint(unix.EACCES),
+	"EFAULT":          uint(unix.EFAULT),
+	"ENOTBLK":         uint(unix.ENOTBLK),
+	"EBUSY":           uint(unix.EBUSY),
+	"EEXIST":          uint(unix.EEXIST),
+	"EXDEV":           uint(unix.EXDEV),
+	"ENODEV":          uint(unix.ENODEV),
+	"ENOTDIR":         uint(unix.ENOTDIR),
+	"EISDIR":          uint(unix.EISDIR),
+	"EINVAL":          uint(unix.EINVAL),
+	"ENFILE":          uint(unix.ENFILE),
+	"EMFILE":          uint(unix.EMFILE),
+	"ENOTTY":          uint(unix.ENOTTY),
+	"ETXTBSY":         uint(unix.ETXTBSY),
+	"EFBIG":           uint(unix.EFBIG),
+	"ENOSPC":          uint(unix.ENOSPC),
+	"ESPIPE":          uint(unix.ESPIPE),
+	"EROFS":           uint(unix.EROFS),
+	"EMLINK":          uint(unix.EMLINK),
+	"EPIPE":           uint(unix.EPIPE),
+	"EDOM":            uint(unix.EDOM),
+	"ERANGE":          uint(unix.ERANGE),
+	"EAGAIN":          uint(unix.EAGAIN),
+	"EINPROGRESS":     uint(unix.EINPROGRESS),
+	"EALREADY":        uint(unix.EALREADY),
+	"ENOTSOCK":        uint(unix.ENOTSOCK),
+	"EDESTADDRREQ":    uint(unix.EDESTADDRREQ),
+	"EMSGSIZE":        uint(unix.EMSGSIZE),
+	"EPROTOTYPE":      uint(unix.EPROTOTYPE),
+	"ENOPROTOOPT":     uint(unix.ENOPROTOOPT),
+	"EPROTONOSUPPORT": uint(unix.EPROTONOSUPPORT),
+	"ESOCKTNOSUPPORT": uint(unix.ESOCKTNOSUPPORT),
+	"EOPNOTSUPP":      uint(unix.EOPNOTSUPP),
+	"EPFNOSUPPORT":    uint(unix.EPFNOSUPPORT),
+	"EAFNOSUPPORT":    uint(unix.EAFNOSUPPORT),
+	"EADDRINUSE":      uint(unix.EADDRINUSE),
+	"EADDRNOTAVAIL":   uint(unix.EADDRNOTAVAIL),
+	"ENETDOWN":        uint(unix.ENETDOWN),
+	"ENETUNREACH":     uint(unix.ENETUNREACH),
+	"ENETRESET":       uint(unix.ENETRESET),
+	"ECONNABORTED":    uint(unix.ECONNABORTED),
+	"ECONNRESET":      uint(unix.ECONNRESET),
+	"ENOBUFS":         uint(unix.ENOBUFS),
+	"EISCONN":         uint(unix.EISCONN),
+	"ENOTCONN":        uint(unix.ENOTCONN),
+	"ESHUTDOWN":       uint(unix.ESHUTDOWN),
+	"ETOOMANYREFS":    uint(unix.ETOOMANYREFS),
+	"ETIMEDOUT":       uint(unix.ETIMEDOUT),
+	"ECONNREFUSED":    uint(unix.ECONNREFUSED),
+	"ELOOP":           uint(unix.ELOOP),
+	"ENAMETOOLONG":    uint(unix.ENAMETOOLONG),
+	"EHOSTDOWN":       uint(unix.EHOSTDOWN),
+	"EHOSTUNREACH":    uint(unix.EHOSTUNREACH),
+	"ENOTEMPTY":       uint(unix.ENOTEMPTY),
+	"EUSERS":          uint(unix.EUSERS),
+	"EDQUOT":          uint(unix.EDQUOT),
+	"ESTALE":          uint(unix.ESTALE),
+	"EREMOTE":         uint(unix.EREMOTE),
+	"ENOLCK":          uint(unix.ENOLCK),
+	"ENOSYS":          uint(unix.ENOSYS),
+	"EILSEQ":          uint(unix.EILSEQ),
+	"ENOMEDIUM":       uint(unix.ENOMEDIUM),
+	"EMEDIUMTYPE":     uint(unix.EMEDIUMTYPE),
+	"EOVERFLOW":       uint(unix.EOVERFLOW),
+	"ECANCELED":       uint(unix.ECANCELED),
+	"EIDRM":           uint(unix.EIDRM),
+	"ENOMSG":          uint(unix.ENOMSG),
+	"ENOTSUP":         uint(unix.ENOTSUP),
+	"EBADMSG":         uint(unix.EBADMSG),
+	"ENOTRECOVERABLE": uint(unix.ENOTRECOVERABLE),
+	"EOWNERDEAD":      uint(unix.EOWNERDEAD),
+}
diff --git a/pkg/seccomp/seccomp.json b/pkg/seccomp/seccomp.json
index c009134e3..9314eb3cc 100644
--- a/pkg/seccomp/seccomp.json
+++ b/pkg/seccomp/seccomp.json
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
 	"defaultAction": "SCMP_ACT_ERRNO",
 	"defaultErrnoRet": 38,
+	"defaultErrno": "ENOSYS",
 	"archMap": [
 		{
 			"architecture": "SCMP_ARCH_X86_64",
@@ -87,7 +88,8 @@
 			"comment": "",
 			"includes": {},
 			"excludes": {},
-			"errnoRet": 1
+			"errnoRet": 1,
+			"errno": "EPERM"
 		},
 		{
 			"names": [
@@ -650,7 +652,8 @@
 					"CAP_DAC_READ_SEARCH"
 				]
 			},
-			"errnoRet": 1
+			"errnoRet": 1,
+			"errno": "EPERM"
 		},
 		{
 			"names": [
@@ -693,7 +696,8 @@
 					"CAP_SYS_ADMIN"
 				]
 			},
-			"errnoRet": 1
+			"errnoRet": 1,
+			"errno": "EPERM"
 		},
 		{
 			"names": [
@@ -722,7 +726,8 @@
 					"CAP_SYS_CHROOT"
 				]
 			},
-			"errnoRet": 1
+			"errnoRet": 1,
+			"errno": "EPERM"
 		},
 		{
 			"names": [
@@ -757,7 +762,8 @@
 					"CAP_SYS_MODULE"
 				]
 			},
-			"errnoRet": 1
+			"errnoRet": 1,
+			"errno": "EPERM"
 		},
 		{
 			"names": [
@@ -786,7 +792,8 @@
 					"CAP_SYS_PACCT"
 				]
 			},
-			"errnoRet": 1
+			"errnoRet": 1,
+			"errno": "EPERM"
 		},
 		{
 			"names": [
@@ -823,7 +830,8 @@
 					"CAP_SYS_PTRACE"
 				]
 			},
-			"errnoRet": 1
+			"errnoRet": 1,
+			"errno": "EPERM"
 		},
 		{
 			"names": [
@@ -854,7 +862,8 @@
 					"CAP_SYS_RAWIO"
 				]
 			},
-			"errnoRet": 1
+			"errnoRet": 1,
+			"errno": "EPERM"
 		},
 		{
 			"names": [
@@ -889,7 +898,8 @@
 					"CAP_SYS_TIME"
 				]
 			},
-			"errnoRet": 1
+			"errnoRet": 1,
+			"errno": "EPERM"
 		},
 		{
 			"names": [
@@ -918,7 +928,8 @@
 					"CAP_SYS_TTY_CONFIG"
 				]
 			},
-			"errnoRet": 1
+			"errnoRet": 1,
+			"errno": "EPERM"
 		},
 		{
 			"names": [
@@ -946,7 +957,8 @@
 					"CAP_AUDIT_WRITE"
 				]
 			},
-			"errnoRet": 22
+			"errnoRet": 22,
+			"errno": "EINVAL"
 		},
 		{
 			"names": [
diff --git a/pkg/seccomp/seccomp_linux.go b/pkg/seccomp/seccomp_linux.go
index af36b9990..0c022ac7a 100644
--- a/pkg/seccomp/seccomp_linux.go
+++ b/pkg/seccomp/seccomp_linux.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"strconv"
 
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go"
 	libseccomp "github.com/seccomp/libseccomp-golang"
@@ -66,6 +67,37 @@ func inSlice(slice []string, s string) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+func getArchitectures(config *Seccomp, newConfig *specs.LinuxSeccomp) error {
+	if len(config.Architectures) != 0 && len(config.ArchMap) != 0 {
+		return errors.New("'architectures' and 'archMap' were specified in the seccomp profile, use either 'architectures' or 'archMap'")
+	}
+
+	// if config.Architectures == 0 then libseccomp will figure out the architecture to use
+	if len(config.Architectures) != 0 {
+		for _, a := range config.Architectures {
+			newConfig.Architectures = append(newConfig.Architectures, specs.Arch(a))
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func getErrno(errno string, def *uint) (*uint, error) {
+	if errno == "" {
+		return def, nil
+	}
+	v, err := strconv.ParseUint(errno, 10, 32)
+	if err == nil {
+		v2 := uint(v)
+		return &v2, nil
+	}
+
+	v2, found := errnoArch[errno]
+	if !found {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown errno %s", errno)
+	}
+	return &v2, nil
+}
+
 func setupSeccomp(config *Seccomp, rs *specs.Spec) (*specs.LinuxSeccomp, error) {
 	if config == nil {
 		return nil, nil
@@ -84,15 +116,8 @@ func setupSeccomp(config *Seccomp, rs *specs.Spec) (*specs.LinuxSeccomp, error)
 		arch = native.String()
 	}
 
-	if len(config.Architectures) != 0 && len(config.ArchMap) != 0 {
-		return nil, errors.New("'architectures' and 'archMap' were specified in the seccomp profile, use either 'architectures' or 'archMap'")
-	}
-
-	// if config.Architectures == 0 then libseccomp will figure out the architecture to use
-	if len(config.Architectures) != 0 {
-		for _, a := range config.Architectures {
-			newConfig.Architectures = append(newConfig.Architectures, specs.Arch(a))
-		}
+	if err := getArchitectures(config, newConfig); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	if len(config.ArchMap) != 0 {
@@ -111,7 +136,11 @@ func setupSeccomp(config *Seccomp, rs *specs.Spec) (*specs.LinuxSeccomp, error)
 	}
 
 	newConfig.DefaultAction = specs.LinuxSeccompAction(config.DefaultAction)
-	newConfig.DefaultErrnoRet = config.DefaultErrnoRet
+
+	newConfig.DefaultErrnoRet, err = getErrno(config.DefaultErrno, config.DefaultErrnoRet)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 
 Loop:
 	// Loop through all syscall blocks and convert them to libcontainer format after filtering them
@@ -145,12 +174,17 @@ Loop:
 			return nil, errors.New("'name' and 'names' were specified in the seccomp profile, use either 'name' or 'names'")
 		}
 
+		errno, err := getErrno(call.Errno, call.ErrnoRet)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
 		if call.Name != "" {
-			newConfig.Syscalls = append(newConfig.Syscalls, createSpecsSyscall([]string{call.Name}, call.Action, call.Args, call.ErrnoRet))
+			newConfig.Syscalls = append(newConfig.Syscalls, createSpecsSyscall([]string{call.Name}, call.Action, call.Args, errno))
 		}
 
 		if len(call.Names) > 0 {
-			newConfig.Syscalls = append(newConfig.Syscalls, createSpecsSyscall(call.Names, call.Action, call.Args, call.ErrnoRet))
+			newConfig.Syscalls = append(newConfig.Syscalls, createSpecsSyscall(call.Names, call.Action, call.Args, errno))
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/seccomp/types.go b/pkg/seccomp/types.go
index 07751f729..a8a9e9d4f 100644
--- a/pkg/seccomp/types.go
+++ b/pkg/seccomp/types.go
@@ -6,8 +6,12 @@ package seccomp
 
 // Seccomp represents the config for a seccomp profile for syscall restriction.
 type Seccomp struct {
-	DefaultAction   Action `json:"defaultAction"`
+	DefaultAction Action `json:"defaultAction"`
+
+	// DefaultErrnoRet is obsolete, please use DefaultErrno
 	DefaultErrnoRet *uint  `json:"defaultErrnoRet,omitempty"`
+	DefaultErrno    string `json:"defaultErrno,omitempty"`
+
 	// Architectures is kept to maintain backward compatibility with the old
 	// seccomp profile.
 	Architectures []Arch         `json:"architectures,omitempty"`
@@ -107,5 +111,7 @@ type Syscall struct {
 	Comment  string   `json:"comment"`
 	Includes Filter   `json:"includes"`
 	Excludes Filter   `json:"excludes"`
-	ErrnoRet *uint    `json:"errnoRet,omitempty"`
+	// ErrnoRet is obsolete, please use Errno
+	ErrnoRet *uint  `json:"errnoRet,omitempty"`
+	Errno    string `json:"errno,omitempty"`
 }