Aberdeen suffered their 19th consecutive league defeat at Celtic Park but they made the champions work for the victory.
Jason Denayer gave the Hoops an early lead after seven minutes before Kris Commons doubled the advantage 25 seconds after the break.
David Goodwillie pulled one back for Aberdeen after 61 minutes but Ronny Deila’s side held on for the win.
Aberdeen were without Jonny Hayes, whose wife was due to give birth but Willo Flood returned from a thigh injury in his absence, while Nicky Low retained his place in the Dons midfield.
Celtic were boosted by the inclusion of fit-again captain Scott Brown, while there were also starts for new signings Aleksander Tonev and Stefan Scepovic with John Guidetti and Mubarak Wakaso listed among the substitutes.
The Hoops broke the deadlock with only seven minutes gone when a Kris Commons corner fell to Efe Ambrose whose left-footed effort smashed off teammate Jason Denayer and into the back of the net.
It could and should have been two four minutes later when Emilio Izaguirre’s cross found Commons but the attacking midfielder headed wide from four yards out under pressure from Andrew Considine.
Aberdeen spurned a glorious chance to draw level after 19 minutes when a poor clearance from Brown fell for David Goodwillie but the Dons forward lashed the ball wildly off target.
After a shaky start, the Dons began to settle as the game wore on but were unable to level the scores before the break.
Celtic doubled their lead only 25 seconds in to the second half when Callum McGregor set up the unmarked Commons whose low effort deflected off Shaleum Logan and past the bemused Jamie Langfield.
The visitors almost pulled a goal back through a stunning strike from Peter Pawlett but the Dons midfielder was denied by an equally fine stop by Craig Gordon.
The on-slaught continued in the 56th minute with Virgil van Dijk striding out of the defence with the ball before teeing up Commons whose venomous strike from 25 yards struck the crossbar.
But Aberdeen gave themselves a lifeline after 61 minutes when Logan’s back-post cross was nodded back across goal by Considine for Goodwillie to head home his first goal for the Dons.
The goal gave the visitors a new sense of belief that they could take something from the match with Niall McGinn and Flood both testing Gordon with long range drives.
The Dons pushed for a late equaliser and went close when Rooney nodded the ball into the path of McGinn who volleyed over from close range.
See the best of the action from the match in our gallery.
Celtic: Gordon, Ambrose, Izaguirre, Denayer, van Dijk, Johansen, Brown (Guidetti 61), McGregor, Tonev (Bitton 71), Scepovic (Kayal 61), Commons.
Aberdeen: Langfield, Logan, Reynolds, Considine (Rooney 77), Taylor, Pawlett, Low (Monakana 62), Flood, McGinn, Jack, Goodwillie.