diff --git a/container.go b/container.go
index a2e0c7049c..7acbc7ba69 100644
--- a/container.go
+++ b/container.go
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ func (container *Container) ToDisk() (err error) {
 	return ioutil.WriteFile(container.jsonPath(), data, 0666)
 }
 
-func (container *Container) ReadTempHostConfig() (*HostConfig, error) {
+func (container *Container) ReadHostConfig() (*HostConfig, error) {
 	data, err := ioutil.ReadFile(container.hostConfigPath())
 	if err != nil {
 		return &HostConfig{}, err
@@ -278,9 +278,6 @@ func (container *Container) ReadTempHostConfig() (*HostConfig, error) {
 }
 
 func (container *Container) SaveHostConfig(hostConfig *HostConfig) (err error) {
-	if hostConfig == nil {
-		return os.Remove(container.hostConfigPath())
-	}
 	data, err := json.Marshal(hostConfig)
 	if err != nil {
 		return
@@ -491,6 +488,9 @@ func (container *Container) Attach(stdin io.ReadCloser, stdinCloser io.Closer, s
 func (container *Container) Start(hostConfig *HostConfig) error {
 	container.State.lock()
 	defer container.State.unlock()
+	if len(hostConfig.Binds) == 0 {
+		hostConfig, _ = container.ReadHostConfig()
+	}
 
 	if container.State.Running {
 		return fmt.Errorf("The container %s is already running.", container.ID)
@@ -815,8 +815,6 @@ func (container *Container) monitor() {
 		// FIXME: why are we serializing running state to disk in the first place?
 		//log.Printf("%s: Failed to dump configuration to the disk: %s", container.ID, err)
 	}
-	// Remove temp host config
-	container.SaveHostConfig(nil)
 }
 
 func (container *Container) kill() error {
diff --git a/runtime.go b/runtime.go
index 7e728cfe6f..d283540abb 100644
--- a/runtime.go
+++ b/runtime.go
@@ -144,8 +144,7 @@ func (runtime *Runtime) Register(container *Container) error {
 				utils.Debugf("Restarting")
 				container.State.Ghost = false
 				container.State.setStopped(0)
-				// assume empty host config
-				hostConfig, _ := container.ReadTempHostConfig()
+				hostConfig := &HostConfig{}
 				if err := container.Start(hostConfig); err != nil {
 					return err
 				}
@@ -156,8 +155,6 @@ func (runtime *Runtime) Register(container *Container) error {
 				if err := container.ToDisk(); err != nil {
 					return err
 				}
-				// remove temp host config
-				container.SaveHostConfig(nil)
 			}
 		}
 	}