diff --git a/api/client/lib/pause.go b/api/client/lib/pause.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3247ec3a57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/client/lib/pause.go
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+package lib
+
+// ContainerPause pauses the main process of a given container without terminating it.
+func (cli *Client) ContainerPause(containerID string) error {
+	resp, err := cli.post("/containers/"+containerID+"/pause", nil, nil, nil)
+	ensureReaderClosed(resp)
+	return err
+}
diff --git a/api/client/pause.go b/api/client/pause.go
index e144a0bd55..76de3e3d59 100644
--- a/api/client/pause.go
+++ b/api/client/pause.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ func (cli *DockerCli) CmdPause(args ...string) error {
 
 	var errNames []string
 	for _, name := range cmd.Args() {
-		if _, _, err := readBody(cli.call("POST", fmt.Sprintf("/containers/%s/pause", name), nil, nil)); err != nil {
+		if err := cli.client.ContainerPause(name); err != nil {
 			fmt.Fprintf(cli.err, "%s\n", err)
 			errNames = append(errNames, name)
 		} else {