diff --git a/src/exec.c b/src/exec.c
index bdb1cd8..eb4d483 100644
--- a/src/exec.c
+++ b/src/exec.c
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include <sys/epoll.h>
 #include <sys/ioctl.h>
 #include <sys/wait.h>
+#include <sys/socket.h>
 #include <sched.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -188,6 +189,18 @@ int hyper_setup_exec_tty(struct hyper_exec *e)
 		e->errfd = errpipe[1];
 	}
 
+	if (!e->tty) { // don't use tty for stdio
+		int iopair[2];
+		if (socketpair(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM | SOCK_CLOEXEC, 0, iopair) < 0) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "creating stdio pair failed\n");
+			return -1;
+		}
+		hyper_setfd_nonblock(iopair[0]);
+		e->e.fd = iopair[0];
+		e->ptyfd = iopair[1];
+		goto done;
+	}
+
 	if (e->id) {
 		if (sprintf(path, "/tmp/hyper/%s/devpts/", e->id) < 0) {
 			fprintf(stderr, "get ptmx path failed\n");
@@ -229,6 +242,7 @@ int hyper_setup_exec_tty(struct hyper_exec *e)
 	e->ptyfd = open(ptmx, O_RDWR | O_NOCTTY | O_CLOEXEC);
 	fprintf(stdout, "get pty device for exec %s\n", ptmx);
 
+done:
 	fprintf(stdout, "%s pts event %p, fd %d %d\n",
 		__func__, &e->e, e->e.fd, e->ptyfd);
 	return 0;
@@ -257,7 +271,7 @@ int hyper_dup_exec_tty(int to, struct hyper_exec *e)
 		goto out;
 	}
 
-	if (e->seq && (ioctl(fd, TIOCSCTTY, NULL) < 0)) {
+	if (e->tty && (ioctl(fd, TIOCSCTTY, NULL) < 0)) {
 		perror("ioctl pty device for execcmd failed");
 		goto out;
 	}
diff --git a/src/exec.h b/src/exec.h
index 56320ca..97cb986 100644
--- a/src/exec.h
+++ b/src/exec.h
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ struct hyper_exec {
 	char			*id;
 	char			**argv;
 	int			argc;
+	int			tty; // use tty or not
 	uint64_t		seq;
 	uint64_t		errseq;
 	int			pid;
diff --git a/src/parse.c b/src/parse.c
index 5500929..fc529f6 100644
--- a/src/parse.c
+++ b/src/parse.c
@@ -497,6 +497,14 @@ static int hyper_parse_container(struct hyper_pod *pod, struct hyper_container *
 			fprintf(stdout, "container rootfs %s\n", c->rootfs);
 			i++;
 		} else if (json_token_streq(json, t, "tty") && t->size == 1) {
+			if (!json_token_streq(json, &toks[++i], "false")) {
+				c->exec.tty = 1;
+				fprintf(stdout, "container uses terminal\n");
+			} else {
+				fprintf(stdout, "container doesn't use terminal\n");
+			}
+			i++;
+		} else if (json_token_streq(json, t, "stdio") && t->size == 1) {
 			c->exec.seq = json_token_ll(json, &toks[++i]);
 			fprintf(stdout, "container seq %" PRIu64 "\n", c->exec.seq);
 			i++;