diff --git a/libimage/image.go b/libimage/image.go
index bf3310da2..50dbc9725 100644
--- a/libimage/image.go
+++ b/libimage/image.go
@@ -624,8 +624,7 @@ func (i *Image) NamedRepoTags() ([]reference.Named, error) {
 }
 
 // inRepoTags looks for the specified name/tag pair in the image's repo tags.
-// Note that tag may be empty.
-func (i *Image) inRepoTags(name, tag string) (reference.Named, error) {
+func (i *Image) inRepoTags(namedTagged reference.NamedTagged) (reference.Named, error) {
 	repoTags, err := i.NamedRepoTags()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -636,8 +635,10 @@ func (i *Image) inRepoTags(name, tag string) (reference.Named, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	name := namedTagged.Name()
+	tag := namedTagged.Tag()
 	for _, pair := range pairs {
-		if tag != "" && tag != pair.Tag {
+		if tag != pair.Tag {
 			continue
 		}
 		if !strings.HasSuffix(pair.Name, name) {
diff --git a/libimage/pull_test.go b/libimage/pull_test.go
index eebda644d..c3e2c1707 100644
--- a/libimage/pull_test.go
+++ b/libimage/pull_test.go
@@ -85,35 +85,40 @@ func TestPullPlatforms(t *testing.T) {
 	localArch := goruntime.GOARCH
 	localOS := goruntime.GOOS
 
-	pulledImages, err := runtime.Pull(ctx, "busybox", config.PullPolicyAlways, pullOptions)
+	withTag := "busybox:musl"
+
+	pulledImages, err := runtime.Pull(ctx, withTag, config.PullPolicyAlways, pullOptions)
 	require.NoError(t, err, "pull busybox")
 	require.Len(t, pulledImages, 1)
 
-	image, _, err := runtime.LookupImage("busybox", nil)
+	image, _, err := runtime.LookupImage(withTag, nil)
 	require.NoError(t, err, "lookup busybox")
 	require.NotNil(t, image, "lookup busybox")
 
-	image, _, err = runtime.LookupImage("busybox", &LookupImageOptions{Architecture: localArch})
+	_, _, err = runtime.LookupImage("busybox", nil)
+	require.Error(t, err, "untagged image resolves to non-existent :latest")
+
+	image, _, err = runtime.LookupImage(withTag, &LookupImageOptions{Architecture: localArch})
 	require.NoError(t, err, "lookup busybox - by local arch")
 	require.NotNil(t, image, "lookup busybox - by local arch")
 
-	image, _, err = runtime.LookupImage("busybox", &LookupImageOptions{OS: localOS})
+	image, _, err = runtime.LookupImage(withTag, &LookupImageOptions{OS: localOS})
 	require.NoError(t, err, "lookup busybox - by local arch")
 	require.NotNil(t, image, "lookup busybox - by local arch")
 
-	_, _, err = runtime.LookupImage("busybox", &LookupImageOptions{Architecture: "bogus"})
+	_, _, err = runtime.LookupImage(withTag, &LookupImageOptions{Architecture: "bogus"})
 	require.Error(t, err, "lookup busybox - bogus arch")
 
-	_, _, err = runtime.LookupImage("busybox", &LookupImageOptions{OS: "bogus"})
+	_, _, err = runtime.LookupImage(withTag, &LookupImageOptions{OS: "bogus"})
 	require.Error(t, err, "lookup busybox - bogus OS")
 
 	pullOptions.Architecture = "arm"
-	pulledImages, err = runtime.Pull(ctx, "busybox", config.PullPolicyAlways, pullOptions)
+	pulledImages, err = runtime.Pull(ctx, withTag, config.PullPolicyAlways, pullOptions)
 	require.NoError(t, err, "pull busybox - arm")
 	require.Len(t, pulledImages, 1)
 	pullOptions.Architecture = ""
 
-	image, _, err = runtime.LookupImage("busybox", &LookupImageOptions{Architecture: "arm"})
+	image, _, err = runtime.LookupImage(withTag, &LookupImageOptions{Architecture: "arm"})
 	require.NoError(t, err, "lookup busybox - by arm")
 	require.NotNil(t, image, "lookup busybox - by local arch")
 }
diff --git a/libimage/runtime.go b/libimage/runtime.go
index d1b6e6cfb..31e6df1c8 100644
--- a/libimage/runtime.go
+++ b/libimage/runtime.go
@@ -389,16 +389,17 @@ func (r *Runtime) lookupImageInDigestsAndRepoTags(name string, options *LookupIm
 		return nil, "", err
 	}
 
-	if !shortnames.IsShortName(name) {
-		named, err := reference.ParseNormalizedNamed(name)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, "", err
-		}
-		digested, hasDigest := named.(reference.Digested)
-		if !hasDigest {
-			return nil, "", errors.Wrap(storage.ErrImageUnknown, name)
-		}
+	ref, err := reference.Parse(name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, "", err
+	}
+	named, isNamed := ref.(reference.Named)
+	if !isNamed {
+		return nil, "", errors.Wrap(storage.ErrImageUnknown, name)
+	}
 
+	digested, isDigested := named.(reference.Digested)
+	if isDigested {
 		logrus.Debug("Looking for image with matching recorded digests")
 		digest := digested.Digest()
 		for _, image := range allImages {
@@ -408,22 +409,17 @@ func (r *Runtime) lookupImageInDigestsAndRepoTags(name string, options *LookupIm
 				}
 			}
 		}
-
 		return nil, "", errors.Wrap(storage.ErrImageUnknown, name)
 	}
 
-	// Podman compat: if we're looking for a short name but couldn't
-	// resolve it via the registries.conf dance, we need to look at *all*
-	// images and check if the name we're looking for matches a repo tag.
-	// Split the name into a repo/tag pair
-	split := strings.SplitN(name, ":", 2)
-	repo := split[0]
-	tag := ""
-	if len(split) == 2 {
-		tag = split[1]
+	if !shortnames.IsShortName(name) {
+		return nil, "", errors.Wrap(storage.ErrImageUnknown, name)
 	}
+
+	named = reference.TagNameOnly(named) // Make sure to add ":latest" if needed
+	namedTagged, _ := named.(reference.NamedTagged)
 	for _, image := range allImages {
-		named, err := image.inRepoTags(repo, tag)
+		named, err := image.inRepoTags(namedTagged)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, "", err
 		}