diff --git a/roles/container-engine/containerd/defaults/main.yml b/roles/container-engine/containerd/defaults/main.yml
index 87f629220..5575091eb 100644
--- a/roles/container-engine/containerd/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/container-engine/containerd/defaults/main.yml
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ containerd_default_base_runtime_spec_patch:
         hard: "{{ containerd_base_runtime_spec_rlimit_nofile }}"
         soft: "{{ containerd_base_runtime_spec_rlimit_nofile }}"
 
-# Can help reduce disk usage
-# https://github.com/containerd/containerd/discussions/6295
+# Only for containerd < 2.1; discard unpacked layers to save disk space
+# https://github.com/containerd/containerd/blob/release/2.1/docs/cri/config.md#image-pull-configuration-since-containerd-v21
 containerd_discard_unpacked_layers: true
 
 containerd_base_runtime_specs:
diff --git a/roles/container-engine/containerd/templates/config.toml.j2 b/roles/container-engine/containerd/templates/config.toml.j2
index 7c3da7843..37534ff64 100644
--- a/roles/container-engine/containerd/templates/config.toml.j2
+++ b/roles/container-engine/containerd/templates/config.toml.j2
@@ -76,7 +76,9 @@ oom_score = {{ containerd_oom_score }}
 
   [plugins."io.containerd.cri.v1.images"]
     snapshotter = "{{ containerd_snapshotter }}"
+{% if containerd_discard_unpacked_layers and containerd_version is version('2.1.0', '<') %}
     discard_unpacked_layers = {{ containerd_discard_unpacked_layers | lower }}
+{% endif %}
     image_pull_progress_timeout = "{{ containerd_image_pull_progress_timeout }}"
   [plugins."io.containerd.cri.v1.images".pinned_images]
     sandbox = "{{ pod_infra_image_repo }}:{{ pod_infra_image_tag }}"