diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/40839-docker_container_init.yml b/changelogs/fragments/40839-docker_container_init.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..733e866a1bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/40839-docker_container_init.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+- fixes docker_container compatibilty with docker-py < 2.2
diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/docker_common.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/docker_common.py
index 1d65de6c43e..b97fa3f35d1 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/docker_common.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/docker_common.py
@@ -187,10 +187,6 @@ class AnsibleDockerClient(Client):
         except Exception as exc:
             self.fail("Error connecting: %s" % exc)
 
-        docker_api_version = self.version()["ApiVersion"]
-        if self.module.params.get("init") and LooseVersion(docker_api_version) < LooseVersion("1.25"):
-            self.fail("docker API version is %s. Minimum version required is 1.25 to set init option." % (docker_api_version,))
-
     def log(self, msg, pretty_print=False):
         pass
         # if self.debug:
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/docker/docker_container.py b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/docker/docker_container.py
index a81c6aaa95b..489786e1d3b 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/docker/docker_container.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/docker/docker_container.py
@@ -598,6 +598,7 @@ docker_container:
 import os
 import re
 import shlex
+from distutils.version import LooseVersion
 
 from ansible.module_utils.basic import human_to_bytes
 from ansible.module_utils.docker_common import HAS_DOCKER_PY_2, HAS_DOCKER_PY_3, AnsibleDockerClient, DockerBaseClass
@@ -609,6 +610,7 @@ try:
         from docker.types import Ulimit, LogConfig
     else:
         from docker.utils.types import Ulimit, LogConfig
+    from ansible.module_utils.docker_common import docker_version
 except:
     # missing docker-py handled in ansible.module_utils.docker
     pass
@@ -907,10 +909,9 @@ class TaskParameters(DockerBaseClass):
             devices='devices',
             pid_mode='pid_mode',
             tmpfs='tmpfs',
-            init='init'
         )
 
-        if HAS_DOCKER_PY_2 or HAS_DOCKER_PY_3:
+        if self.client.HAS_AUTO_REMOVE_OPT:
             # auto_remove is only supported in docker>=2
             host_config_params['auto_remove'] = 'auto_remove'
 
@@ -919,6 +920,9 @@ class TaskParameters(DockerBaseClass):
             host_config_params['cpu_shares'] = 'cpu_shares'
             host_config_params['volume_driver'] = 'volume_driver'
 
+        if self.client.HAS_INIT_OPT:
+            host_config_params['init'] = 'init'
+
         params = dict()
         for key, value in host_config_params.items():
             if getattr(self, value, None) is not None:
@@ -1980,6 +1984,26 @@ class ContainerManager(DockerBaseClass):
         return response
 
 
+class AnsibleDockerClientContainer(AnsibleDockerClient):
+
+    def __init__(self, **kwargs):
+        super(AnsibleDockerClientContainer, self).__init__(**kwargs)
+
+        docker_api_version = self.version()['ApiVersion']
+        init_supported = LooseVersion(docker_api_version) >= LooseVersion('1.25')
+        if self.module.params.get("init") and not init_supported:
+            self.fail('docker API version is %s. Minimum version required is 1.25 to set init option.' % (docker_api_version,))
+
+        init_supported = init_supported and LooseVersion(docker_version) >= LooseVersion('2.2')
+        if self.module.params.get("init") and not init_supported:
+            self.fail('docker-py version is %s. Minimum version required is 2.2 to set init option.' % (docker_version,))
+
+        self.HAS_INIT_OPT = init_supported
+        self.HAS_AUTO_REMOVE_OPT = HAS_DOCKER_PY_2 or HAS_DOCKER_PY_3
+        if self.module.params.get('auto_remove') and not self.HAS_AUTO_REMOVE_OPT:
+            self.fail("'auto_remove' is not compatible with the 'docker-py' Python package. It requires the newer 'docker' Python package.")
+
+
 def main():
     argument_spec = dict(
         auto_remove=dict(type='bool', default=False),
@@ -2064,15 +2088,12 @@ def main():
         ('state', 'present', ['image'])
     ]
 
-    client = AnsibleDockerClient(
+    client = AnsibleDockerClientContainer(
         argument_spec=argument_spec,
         required_if=required_if,
         supports_check_mode=True
     )
 
-    if (not (HAS_DOCKER_PY_2 or HAS_DOCKER_PY_3)) and client.module.params.get('auto_remove'):
-        client.module.fail_json(msg="'auto_remove' is not compatible with the 'docker-py' Python package. It requires the newer 'docker' Python package.")
-
     cm = ContainerManager(client)
     client.module.exit_json(**cm.results)