diff --git a/api/client/stats.go b/api/client/stats.go
index b79d3a5f3f..06ec3039df 100644
--- a/api/client/stats.go
+++ b/api/client/stats.go
@@ -61,10 +61,16 @@ func (s *containerStats) Collect(cli *DockerCli, streamStats bool) {
 				u <- err
 				return
 			}
-			var (
+
+			var memPercent = 0.0
+			var cpuPercent = 0.0
+
+			// MemoryStats.Limit will never be 0 unless the container is not running and we havn't
+			// got any data from cgroup
+			if v.MemoryStats.Limit != 0 {
 				memPercent = float64(v.MemoryStats.Usage) / float64(v.MemoryStats.Limit) * 100.0
-				cpuPercent = 0.0
-			)
+			}
+
 			previousCPU = v.PreCPUStats.CPUUsage.TotalUsage
 			previousSystem = v.PreCPUStats.SystemUsage
 			cpuPercent = calculateCPUPercent(previousCPU, previousSystem, v)
diff --git a/api/server/container.go b/api/server/container.go
index 6699b0f876..468fe55605 100644
--- a/api/server/container.go
+++ b/api/server/container.go
@@ -74,6 +74,16 @@ func (s *Server) getContainersStats(version version.Version, w http.ResponseWrit
 	}
 
 	stream := boolValueOrDefault(r, "stream", true)
+
+	// If the container is not running and requires no stream, return an empty stats.
+	container, err := s.daemon.Get(vars["name"])
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if !container.IsRunning() && !stream {
+		return writeJSON(w, http.StatusOK, &types.Stats{})
+	}
+
 	var out io.Writer
 	if !stream {
 		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")