diff --git a/furnace/config.py b/furnace/config.py
index f83e145..cf1fe9a 100644
--- a/furnace/config.py
+++ b/furnace/config.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 
 Mount = namedtuple('Mount', ['destination', 'type', 'source', 'flags', 'options'])
 DeviceNode = namedtuple('DeviceNode', ['name', 'major', 'minor'])
+BindMount = namedtuple('BindMount', ['source', 'destination', 'readonly'])
 
 
 HOSTNAME = 'localhost'
@@ -137,3 +138,11 @@
         minor=9,
     ),
 ]
+
+HOST_NETWORK_BIND_MOUNTS = [
+    BindMount(
+        source=Path('/etc/resolv.conf'),            # absolute path on host machine
+        destination=Path('etc', 'resolv.conf'),     # relative path in container
+        readonly=True,
+    ),
+]
diff --git a/furnace/context.py b/furnace/context.py
index bc8cbeb..903dfb2 100644
--- a/furnace/context.py
+++ b/furnace/context.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
 # along with Furnace.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 #
-
+import contextlib
 import json
 import logging
 import os
@@ -24,12 +24,12 @@
 import subprocess
 import sys
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Union
+from typing import Union, List
 
 from . import pid1
-from .config import NAMESPACES
+from .config import NAMESPACES, HOST_NETWORK_BIND_MOUNTS, BindMount
 from .libc import unshare, setns, CLONE_NEWPID
-from .utils import PathEncoder
+from .utils import PathEncoder, BindMountContext
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -152,20 +152,46 @@ def __exit__(self, type, value, traceback):
 
 
 class ContainerContext:
-    def __init__(self, root_dir: Union[str, Path], *, isolate_networking=False):
+    def __init__(self, root_dir: Union[str, Path], *, isolate_networking: bool=False, bind_mounts: List[BindMount]=None):
         if not isinstance(root_dir, Path):
             root_dir = Path(root_dir)
         self.root_dir = root_dir.resolve()
+        self.bind_mounts = bind_mounts
+        if self.bind_mounts is None:
+            self.bind_mounts = []
+        if not isolate_networking:
+           self.bind_mounts.extend(HOST_NETWORK_BIND_MOUNTS)
         self.pid1 = ContainerPID1Manager(root_dir, isolate_networking=isolate_networking)
         self.setns_context = None
+        self.bind_mount_contexts = None
+
+    def create_target(self, source, destination):
+        if source.is_file():
+            if destination.is_symlink():
+                destination.unlink()
+            destination.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+            destination.touch()
+        else:
+            destination.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
     def __enter__(self):
         self.pid1.start()
         self.setns_context = SetnsContext(self.pid1.pid)
+        self.bind_mount_contexts = contextlib.ExitStack()
+        for bind_mount in self.bind_mounts:
+            self.create_target(bind_mount.source, self.root_dir.joinpath(bind_mount.destination))
+            self.bind_mount_contexts.enter_context(BindMountContext(
+                bind_mount.source,
+                self.root_dir.joinpath(bind_mount.destination),
+                bind_mount.readonly
+            ))
         return self
 
     def __exit__(self, type, value, traceback):
         self.setns_context = None
+        if self.bind_mount_contexts:
+            self.bind_mount_contexts.__exit__(type, value, traceback)
+            self.bind_mount_contexts = None
         self.pid1.kill()
         return False
 
diff --git a/test/test_container.py b/test/test_container.py
index 57c8ffa..a0084c4 100644
--- a/test/test_container.py
+++ b/test/test_container.py
@@ -144,15 +144,27 @@ def test_loop_mounts_work(rootfs_for_testing):
         # no assert, because the previous two commands would have thrown an Exception on error
 
 
-def test_using_container_does_not_touch_files(debootstrapped_dir, tmpdir_factory):
+def test_using_container_does_not_touch_files_if_network_isolated(debootstrapped_dir, tmpdir_factory):
     overlay_workdir = Path(tmpdir_factory.mktemp('overlay_work'))
     overlay_rwdir = Path(tmpdir_factory.mktemp('overlay_rw'))
     overlay_mounted = Path(tmpdir_factory.mktemp('overlay_mount'))
     with OverlayfsMountContext([debootstrapped_dir], overlay_rwdir, overlay_workdir, overlay_mounted):
-        with ContainerContext(overlay_mounted) as cnt:
+        with ContainerContext(overlay_mounted, isolate_networking=True) as cnt:
             cnt.run(["/bin/ls", "/"], check=True)
+
     modified_files = list(overlay_rwdir.iterdir())
-    assert len(modified_files) == 0, "No files should have been modified because of container run"
+    assert len(modified_files) == 0, "No files should have been modified because of container run if network isolated"
+
+
+def test_using_container_with_host_network(rootfs_for_testing, tmpdir_factory):
+    host_resolvconf_content = Path('/etc/resolv.conf').read_bytes()
+    with ContainerContext(rootfs_for_testing) as cnt:
+        cnt.run(["/bin/ls", "/"], check=True)
+        container_resolvconf_content = rootfs_for_testing.joinpath('etc', 'resolv.conf').read_bytes()
+
+    assert host_resolvconf_content == container_resolvconf_content, \
+        "The content of '/etc/resolv.conf' of the host machine should be equal to '/etc/resolv.conf' of the container " \
+        "if host networking is used"
 
 
 class ThreadForTesting(threading.Thread):