The flow of hydraulic fluid induced by sliding movement of a piston in a cylinder is controlled by a pilot-type main valve and a pilot valve, which is a pressure control valve, thereby generating damping force. By thrust from a solenoid actuator, the valve-opening pressure of the pilot valve is controlled, and the pressure in a pilot chamber is also controlled to control the valve-opening pressure of the main valve. When there is a failure, a valve body of the pilot valve is retracted to abut against a fail-safe disk by spring force of a valve spring. Thus, damping force is generated by the fail-safe disk at the downstream side of the pilot valve, and the valve-opening pressure of the main valve is also controlled by the fail-safe disk to obtain an appropriate damping force.