diff --git a/daemon/graphdriver/overlay/copy.go b/daemon/graphdriver/overlay/copy.go
index 7d81a83abd..666a5c0e04 100644
--- a/daemon/graphdriver/overlay/copy.go
+++ b/daemon/graphdriver/overlay/copy.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/docker/docker/pkg/pools"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/pkg/system"
+	rsystem "github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/system"
 )
 
 type copyFlags int
@@ -105,6 +106,10 @@ func copyDir(srcDir, dstDir string, flags copyFlags) error {
 		case os.ModeNamedPipe:
 			fallthrough
 		case os.ModeSocket:
+			if rsystem.RunningInUserNS() {
+				// cannot create a device if running in user namespace
+				return nil
+			}
 			if err := syscall.Mkfifo(dstPath, stat.Mode); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
diff --git a/pkg/archive/archive.go b/pkg/archive/archive.go
index ad3d65b2fc..2a2166d439 100644
--- a/pkg/archive/archive.go
+++ b/pkg/archive/archive.go
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ type (
 		// For each include when creating an archive, the included name will be
 		// replaced with the matching name from this map.
 		RebaseNames map[string]string
+		InUserNS    bool
 	}
 
 	// Archiver allows the reuse of most utility functions of this package
@@ -381,7 +382,7 @@ func (ta *tarAppender) addTarFile(path, name string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func createTarFile(path, extractDir string, hdr *tar.Header, reader io.Reader, Lchown bool, chownOpts *TarChownOptions) error {
+func createTarFile(path, extractDir string, hdr *tar.Header, reader io.Reader, Lchown bool, chownOpts *TarChownOptions, inUserns bool) error {
 	// hdr.Mode is in linux format, which we can use for sycalls,
 	// but for os.Foo() calls we need the mode converted to os.FileMode,
 	// so use hdrInfo.Mode() (they differ for e.g. setuid bits)
@@ -409,7 +410,16 @@ func createTarFile(path, extractDir string, hdr *tar.Header, reader io.Reader, L
 		}
 		file.Close()
 
-	case tar.TypeBlock, tar.TypeChar, tar.TypeFifo:
+	case tar.TypeBlock, tar.TypeChar:
+		if inUserns { // cannot create devices in a userns
+			return nil
+		}
+		// Handle this is an OS-specific way
+		if err := handleTarTypeBlockCharFifo(hdr, path); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+	case tar.TypeFifo:
 		// Handle this is an OS-specific way
 		if err := handleTarTypeBlockCharFifo(hdr, path); err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -817,7 +827,7 @@ loop:
 			}
 		}
 
-		if err := createTarFile(path, dest, hdr, trBuf, !options.NoLchown, options.ChownOpts); err != nil {
+		if err := createTarFile(path, dest, hdr, trBuf, !options.NoLchown, options.ChownOpts, options.InUserNS); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
diff --git a/pkg/archive/archive_test.go b/pkg/archive/archive_test.go
index 05db3d7ed9..6c6ac28a02 100644
--- a/pkg/archive/archive_test.go
+++ b/pkg/archive/archive_test.go
@@ -802,7 +802,7 @@ func TestTypeXGlobalHeaderDoesNotFail(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	defer os.RemoveAll(tmpDir)
-	err = createTarFile(filepath.Join(tmpDir, "pax_global_header"), tmpDir, &hdr, nil, true, nil)
+	err = createTarFile(filepath.Join(tmpDir, "pax_global_header"), tmpDir, &hdr, nil, true, nil, false)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/archive/archive_unix.go b/pkg/archive/archive_unix.go
index fbc3bb8c4d..7083f2fa53 100644
--- a/pkg/archive/archive_unix.go
+++ b/pkg/archive/archive_unix.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"syscall"
 
 	"github.com/docker/docker/pkg/system"
+	rsystem "github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/system"
 )
 
 // fixVolumePathPrefix does platform specific processing to ensure that if
@@ -80,6 +81,11 @@ func minor(device uint64) uint64 {
 // handleTarTypeBlockCharFifo is an OS-specific helper function used by
 // createTarFile to handle the following types of header: Block; Char; Fifo
 func handleTarTypeBlockCharFifo(hdr *tar.Header, path string) error {
+	if rsystem.RunningInUserNS() {
+		// cannot create a device if running in user namespace
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	mode := uint32(hdr.Mode & 07777)
 	switch hdr.Typeflag {
 	case tar.TypeBlock:
diff --git a/pkg/archive/diff.go b/pkg/archive/diff.go
index 1b08ad33ab..26da677c1f 100644
--- a/pkg/archive/diff.go
+++ b/pkg/archive/diff.go
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ func UnpackLayer(dest string, layer Reader, options *TarOptions) (size int64, er
 					}
 					defer os.RemoveAll(aufsTempdir)
 				}
-				if err := createTarFile(filepath.Join(aufsTempdir, basename), dest, hdr, tr, true, nil); err != nil {
+				if err := createTarFile(filepath.Join(aufsTempdir, basename), dest, hdr, tr, true, nil, options.InUserNS); err != nil {
 					return 0, err
 				}
 			}
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ func UnpackLayer(dest string, layer Reader, options *TarOptions) (size int64, er
 				}
 				srcHdr.Gid = xGID
 			}
-			if err := createTarFile(path, dest, srcHdr, srcData, true, nil); err != nil {
+			if err := createTarFile(path, dest, srcHdr, srcData, true, nil, options.InUserNS); err != nil {
 				return 0, err
 			}
 
diff --git a/pkg/chrootarchive/diff_unix.go b/pkg/chrootarchive/diff_unix.go
index a4adb74d58..066eda5fa7 100644
--- a/pkg/chrootarchive/diff_unix.go
+++ b/pkg/chrootarchive/diff_unix.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/docker/docker/pkg/archive"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/pkg/reexec"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/pkg/system"
+	rsystem "github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/system"
 )
 
 type applyLayerResponse struct {
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@ func applyLayer() {
 	runtime.LockOSThread()
 	flag.Parse()
 
+	inUserns := rsystem.RunningInUserNS()
 	if err := chroot(flag.Arg(0)); err != nil {
 		fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -49,6 +51,10 @@ func applyLayer() {
 		fatal(err)
 	}
 
+	if inUserns {
+		options.InUserNS = true
+	}
+
 	if tmpDir, err = ioutil.TempDir("/", "temp-docker-extract"); err != nil {
 		fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -88,6 +94,9 @@ func applyLayerHandler(dest string, layer archive.Reader, options *archive.TarOp
 	}
 	if options == nil {
 		options = &archive.TarOptions{}
+		if rsystem.RunningInUserNS() {
+			options.InUserNS = true
+		}
 	}
 	if options.ExcludePatterns == nil {
 		options.ExcludePatterns = []string{}