diff --git a/internal/pkg/sysinfo/probes/linux/cgroup_v2.go b/internal/pkg/sysinfo/probes/linux/cgroup_v2.go
index 9b2d9e8e5942..b1f78e7260b1 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/sysinfo/probes/linux/cgroup_v2.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/sysinfo/probes/linux/cgroup_v2.go
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ package linux
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
 
@@ -43,26 +45,66 @@ func (g *cgroupV2) probeController(controllerName string) (cgroupControllerAvail
 }
 
 func (g *cgroupV2) loadControllers(seen func(string, string)) error {
-	// Some controllers are implicitly enabled by the kernel. Those controllers
-	// do not appear in the cgroup.controllers file. Their availability is
-	// assumed based on the kernel version, as it is hard to detect them
-	// directly.
-	// https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v5.3/kernel/cgroup/cgroup.c#L433-L434
+	// The device controller has no interface files. Its availability is assumed
+	// based on the kernel version, as it is hard to detect it directly.
+	// https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v5.3/Documentation/admin-guide/cgroup-v2.rst#device-controller
 	if major, minor, err := parseKernelRelease(g.probeUname); err == nil {
 		/* devices: since 4.15 */ if major > 4 || (major == 4 && minor >= 15) {
 			seen("devices", "assumed")
 		}
-		/* freezer: since 5.2 */ if major > 5 || (major == 5 && minor >= 2) {
-			seen("freezer", "assumed")
-		}
 	} else {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if err := g.detectListedRootControllers(seen); err != nil {
-		return err
+	return errors.Join(
+		g.detectFreezerController(seen),
+		g.detectListedRootControllers(seen),
+	)
+}
+
+// Detect the freezer controller. It doesn't appear in the cgroup.controllers
+// file. Check for the existence of the cgroup.freeze file in the k0s cgroup
+// instead, or try to create a dummy cgroup if k0s runs in the root cgroup.
+//
+// https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v5.3/Documentation/admin-guide/cgroup-v2.rst#core-interface-files
+func (g *cgroupV2) detectFreezerController(seen func(string, string)) (err error) {
+
+	// Detect the freezer controller by checking k0s's cgroup for the existence
+	// of the cgroup.freeze file.
+	// https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/v5.3/Documentation/admin-guide/cgroup-v2.rst#processes
+	cgroupPath, err := cgroup2.NestedGroupPath("")
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get k0s cgroup: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	if cgroupPath != "/" {
+		cgroupPath = filepath.Join(g.mountPoint, cgroupPath)
+	} else { // The root cgroup cannot be frozen. Try to create a dummy cgroup.
+		tmpCgroupPath, err := os.MkdirTemp(g.mountPoint, "k0s-freezer-detection-*")
+		if err := os.Mkdir(tmpCgroupPath, 0700); err != nil {
+			if errors.Is(err, os.ErrPermission) && os.Geteuid() != 0 {
+				seen("freezer", "assumed, insufficient permissions, try with elevated permissions")
+				return nil
+			}
+
+			return err
+		}
+		defer func() { err = errors.Join(err, os.Remove(tmpCgroupPath)) }()
+		cgroupPath = tmpCgroupPath
+	}
+
+	// Check if the cgroup.freeze exists
+	freezePath := filepath.Join(cgroupPath, "cgroup.freeze")
+	stat, err := os.Stat(freezePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			return nil
+		}
+		return err
+	}
+	if !stat.IsDir() {
+		seen("freezer", "cgroup.freeze exists")
+	}
 	return nil
 }