diff --git a/pkg/api/handlers/compat/containers.go b/pkg/api/handlers/compat/containers.go
index 3ba2c17096..d20505bd47 100644
--- a/pkg/api/handlers/compat/containers.go
+++ b/pkg/api/handlers/compat/containers.go
@@ -864,7 +864,8 @@ func UpdateContainer(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		if resources.Pids == nil {
 			resources.Pids = new(spec.LinuxPids)
 		}
-		resources.Pids.Limit = options.PidsLimit
+		limit := specgenutil.PidsLimitForOCI(*options.PidsLimit)
+		resources.Pids.Limit = &limit
 	}
 
 	// Blkio Weight
diff --git a/pkg/specgen/generate/kube/kube.go b/pkg/specgen/generate/kube/kube.go
index 2aced8ef48..6c0abaddd7 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/generate/kube/kube.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/generate/kube/kube.go
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import (
 	"go.podman.io/podman/v6/pkg/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/intstr"
 	"go.podman.io/podman/v6/pkg/specgen"
 	"go.podman.io/podman/v6/pkg/specgen/generate"
+	"go.podman.io/podman/v6/pkg/specgenutil"
 	systemdDefine "go.podman.io/podman/v6/pkg/systemd/define"
 	"go.podman.io/podman/v6/pkg/util"
 	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/system"
@@ -410,11 +411,12 @@ func ToSpecGen(ctx context.Context, opts *CtrSpecGenOptions) (*specgen.SpecGener
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
+		limit := specgenutil.PidsLimitForOCI(pidslimitAsInt)
 		if s.ResourceLimits == nil {
 			s.ResourceLimits = &spec.LinuxResources{}
 		}
 		s.ResourceLimits.Pids = &spec.LinuxPids{
-			Limit: &pidslimitAsInt,
+			Limit: &limit,
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/specgenutil/pids.go b/pkg/specgenutil/pids.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6fcd151dae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/specgenutil/pids.go
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+package specgenutil
+
+// PidsLimitForOCI returns the value to store in the OCI runtime spec
+// linux.resources.pids.limit field.
+//
+// Docker documents HostConfig.PidsLimit 0 as unlimited. runc maps OCI limit 0 to
+// cgroup pids.max=1, while -1 means unlimited. crun treats 0 as unlimited.
+// Normalize 0 to -1 so all runtimes get unlimited pids.
+func PidsLimitForOCI(limit int64) int64 {
+	if limit == 0 {
+		return -1
+	}
+	return limit
+}
diff --git a/pkg/specgenutil/pids_test.go b/pkg/specgenutil/pids_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7970dd2a23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/specgenutil/pids_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+package specgenutil
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestPidsLimitForOCI(t *testing.T) {
+	assert.Equal(t, int64(-1), PidsLimitForOCI(0))
+	assert.Equal(t, int64(-1), PidsLimitForOCI(-1))
+	assert.Equal(t, int64(2048), PidsLimitForOCI(2048))
+}
diff --git a/pkg/specgenutil/specgen.go b/pkg/specgenutil/specgen.go
index 03fafbf679..0a0fb8861d 100644
--- a/pkg/specgenutil/specgen.go
+++ b/pkg/specgenutil/specgen.go
@@ -1328,8 +1328,9 @@ func GetResources(s *specgen.SpecGenerator, c *entities.ContainerCreateOptions)
 		}
 	}
 	if c.PIDsLimit != nil {
+		limit := PidsLimitForOCI(*c.PIDsLimit)
 		pids := specs.LinuxPids{
-			Limit: c.PIDsLimit,
+			Limit: &limit,
 		}
 
 		s.ResourceLimits.Pids = &pids
diff --git a/test/e2e/run_test.go b/test/e2e/run_test.go
index 95d7d02e38..d893ee609c 100644
--- a/test/e2e/run_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/run_test.go
@@ -1918,6 +1918,13 @@ VOLUME %s`, ALPINE, volPath, volPath)
 		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(ContainSubstring(limit))
 	})
 
+	It("podman run verify pids-limit 0 is unlimited", func() {
+		session := podmanTest.Podman([]string{"run", "--pids-limit", "0", "--net=none", "--rm", ALPINE, "cat", "/sys/fs/cgroup/pids.max"})
+		session.WaitWithDefaultTimeout()
+		Expect(session).Should(ExitCleanly())
+		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(ContainSubstring("max"))
+	})
+
 	It("podman run umask", func() {
 		if !strings.Contains(podmanTest.OCIRuntime, "crun") {
 			Skip("Test only works on crun")