diff --git a/virtcontainers/device/config/config.go b/virtcontainers/device/config/config.go
index 18fcfedcec..5f73cf7d8c 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/device/config/config.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/device/config/config.go
@@ -117,6 +117,10 @@ type DeviceInfo struct {
 	// for a nvdimm device in the guest.
 	Pmem bool
 
+	// ColdPlug specifies whether the device must be cold plugged (true)
+	// or hot plugged (false).
+	ColdPlug bool
+
 	// FileMode permission bits for the device.
 	FileMode os.FileMode
 
diff --git a/virtcontainers/device/drivers/generic.go b/virtcontainers/device/drivers/generic.go
index c8152cf84a..dc828fb1bb 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/device/drivers/generic.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/device/drivers/generic.go
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ func (device *GenericDevice) Save() persistapi.DeviceState {
 		dss.Major = info.Major
 		dss.Minor = info.Minor
 		dss.DriverOptions = info.DriverOptions
+		dss.ColdPlug = info.ColdPlug
 	}
 	return dss
 }
@@ -155,5 +156,6 @@ func (device *GenericDevice) Load(ds persistapi.DeviceState) {
 		Major:         ds.Major,
 		Minor:         ds.Minor,
 		DriverOptions: ds.DriverOptions,
+		ColdPlug:      ds.ColdPlug,
 	}
 }
diff --git a/virtcontainers/persist/api/device.go b/virtcontainers/persist/api/device.go
index 34916ed0b3..8900c5f6fa 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/persist/api/device.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/persist/api/device.go
@@ -103,6 +103,10 @@ type DeviceState struct {
 	Major int64
 	Minor int64
 
+	// ColdPlug specifies whether the device must be cold plugged (true)
+	// or hot plugged (false).
+	ColdPlug bool
+
 	// DriverOptions is specific options for each device driver
 	// for example, for BlockDevice, we can set DriverOptions["blockDriver"]="virtio-blk"
 	DriverOptions map[string]string