diff --git a/container/docker/factory.go b/container/docker/factory.go
index 6b7271e6..8ad8bd29 100644
--- a/container/docker/factory.go
+++ b/container/docker/factory.go
@@ -63,20 +63,19 @@ func (self *dockerFactory) NewContainerHandler(name string) (handler container.C
 }
 
 // Docker handles all containers under /docker
-// TODO(vishh): Change the CanHandle interface to be able to return errors.
-func (self *dockerFactory) CanHandle(name string) bool {
+func (self *dockerFactory) CanHandle(name string) (bool, error) {
 	// In systemd systems the containers are: /system.slice/docker-{ID}
 	if self.useSystemd {
 		if !strings.HasPrefix(name, "/system.slice/docker-") {
-			return false
+			return false, fmt.Errorf("Expected path prefix /system.slice/docker- but got %s", name)
 		}
 	} else if name == "/" {
-		return false
+		return false, nil
 	} else if name == "/docker" {
 		// We need the docker driver to handle /docker. Otherwise the aggregation at the API level will break.
-		return true
+		return true, nil
 	} else if !strings.HasPrefix(name, "/docker/") {
-		return false
+		return false, nil
 	}
 	// Check if the container is known to docker and it is active.
 	id := path.Base(name)
@@ -84,10 +83,10 @@ func (self *dockerFactory) CanHandle(name string) bool {
 	// We assume that if Inspect fails then the container is not known to docker.
 	// TODO(vishh): Detect lxc containers and avoid handling them.
 	if err != nil || !ctnr.State.Running {
-		return false
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("Error inspecting container: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	return true
+	return true, nil
 }
 
 func parseDockerVersion(full_version_string string) ([]int, error) {
diff --git a/container/factory.go b/container/factory.go
index 5386f577..0885fad1 100644
--- a/container/factory.go
+++ b/container/factory.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ type ContainerHandlerFactory interface {
 	NewContainerHandler(name string) (ContainerHandler, error)
 
 	// Returns whether this factory can handle the specified container.
-	CanHandle(name string) bool
+	CanHandle(name string) (bool, error)
 
 	// Name of the factory.
 	String() string
@@ -55,7 +55,11 @@ func NewContainerHandler(name string) (ContainerHandler, error) {
 
 	// Create the ContainerHandler with the first factory that supports it.
 	for _, factory := range factories {
-		if factory.CanHandle(name) {
+		canHandle, err := factory.CanHandle(name)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("Error trying to work out if we can hande %s: %v", name, err)
+		}
+		if canHandle {
 			glog.V(1).Infof("Using factory %q for container %q", factory.String(), name)
 			return factory.NewContainerHandler(name)
 		}
diff --git a/container/factory_test.go b/container/factory_test.go
index b96caab5..45b7945d 100644
--- a/container/factory_test.go
+++ b/container/factory_test.go
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ func (self *mockContainerHandlerFactory) String() string {
 	return self.Name
 }
 
-func (self *mockContainerHandlerFactory) CanHandle(name string) bool {
-	return self.CanHandleValue
+func (self *mockContainerHandlerFactory) CanHandle(name string) (bool, error) {
+	return self.CanHandleValue, nil
 }
 
 func (self *mockContainerHandlerFactory) NewContainerHandler(name string) (ContainerHandler, error) {
diff --git a/container/raw/factory.go b/container/raw/factory.go
index e20f5638..569c62c7 100644
--- a/container/raw/factory.go
+++ b/container/raw/factory.go
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ func (self *rawFactory) NewContainerHandler(name string) (container.ContainerHan
 }
 
 // The raw factory can handle any container.
-func (self *rawFactory) CanHandle(name string) bool {
-	return true
+func (self *rawFactory) CanHandle(name string) (bool, error) {
+	return true, nil
 }
 
 func Register(machineInfoFactory info.MachineInfoFactory) error {