diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 03340aa..984789a 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ LABEL maintainer="StackRox" \
       io.k8s.display-name="roxie ACS Deployment Tool"
 
 # Install required tools via microdnf
-# kubectl, helm, skopeo are available in RHEL repos
+# kubectl, helm are available in RHEL repos
 # Note: UBI minimal comes with curl pre-installed, which is sufficient for our needs
 RUN microdnf install -y \
     # Core utilities
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ RUN microdnf install -y \
     unzip \
     ca-certificates \
     # Container tools
-    skopeo \
+    podman \
     # Python (required for gcloud SDK)
     python3 \
     # Clean up
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 81eb2fa..e79486c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -86,8 +86,8 @@ test-e2e: build ## Run end-to-end tests (requires kubectl context and cluster ac
 		echo "❌ No kubectl context found. Please configure kubectl first."; \
 		exit 1; \
 	fi
-	@if ! command -v skopeo >/dev/null 2>&1; then \
-		echo "❌ skopeo not found. Please install skopeo for E2E tests."; \
+	@if ! command -v podman >/dev/null 2>&1; then \
+		echo "❌ podman not found. Please install podman for E2E tests."; \
 		exit 1; \
 	fi
 	$(GOTEST) -v -tags=e2e -timeout=120m -parallel=1 ./tests/e2e/...
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 21aaa29..8cc1238 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@
               echo "  - helm ($(helm version --short 2>/dev/null || echo 'unknown'))"
               echo "  - Go $(go version | cut -d' ' -f3)"
               echo ""
-              echo "💡 For container tools (skopeo, podman), use:"
+              echo "💡 For full set of pre-installed tooling use:"
               echo "   nix develop .#full"
               echo ""
               echo "Run 'roxie --help' to get started"
@@ -120,8 +120,7 @@
               k9s
               stern
 
-              # Container tools (heavy dependencies!)
-              skopeo
+              # Container tools:
               podman
 
               # Load balancer
@@ -135,7 +134,6 @@
               echo "  - roxie ($(roxie version))"
               echo "  - kubectl ($(kubectl version --client --short 2>/dev/null || echo 'not configured'))"
               echo "  - helm ($(helm version --short 2>/dev/null || echo 'unknown'))"
-              echo "  - skopeo ($(skopeo --version | head -n1))"
               echo "  - podman ($(podman --version | head -n1))"
               echo "  - haproxy ($(haproxy -v | head -n1))"
               echo ""
diff --git a/internal/deployer/deployer.go b/internal/deployer/deployer.go
index e64cf4e..39b9b0d 100644
--- a/internal/deployer/deployer.go
+++ b/internal/deployer/deployer.go
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ func (d *Deployer) waitForNamespaceDeletion(namespace string) error {
 
 // checkRequiredTools verifies that required CLI tools are available
 func checkRequiredTools() error {
-	requiredTools := []string{"kubectl", "roxctl", "skopeo"}
+	requiredTools := []string{"kubectl", "roxctl"}
 
 	var missing []string
 	for _, tool := range requiredTools {
diff --git a/internal/imagecache/imagecache.go b/internal/imagecache/imagecache.go
index db135f1..123e494 100644
--- a/internal/imagecache/imagecache.go
+++ b/internal/imagecache/imagecache.go
@@ -132,11 +132,10 @@ func (ic *ImageCache) VerifyImagePullable(imageRef string) bool {
 		return true
 	}
 
-	// Use skopeo to check if image is pullable
 	_, stderr, err := helpers.RunCommandWithOutput(
 		"Verifying image pullability",
-		"skopeo",
-		[]string{"inspect", "--raw", fmt.Sprintf("docker://%s", imageRef)},
+		"podman",
+		[]string{"manifest", "inspect", imageRef},
 	)
 
 	if err == nil {
diff --git a/tests/README.md b/tests/README.md
index 4768b5a..1b43351 100644
--- a/tests/README.md
+++ b/tests/README.md
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ make test-short
 E2E tests require:
 - A running Kubernetes cluster
 - `kubectl` configured with the target cluster context
-- `skopeo` for image verification
 - The roxie binary built (`make build`)
 
 Run E2E tests:
diff --git a/tests/e2e/e2e_test.go b/tests/e2e/e2e_test.go
index 9a365a2..b438ad2 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/e2e_test.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/e2e_test.go
@@ -35,11 +35,6 @@ func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
-	if err := requireBinary("skopeo"); err != nil {
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "skopeo not found: %v\n", err)
-		os.Exit(1)
-	}
-
 	// Set default MAIN_IMAGE_TAG if not set
 	if os.Getenv("MAIN_IMAGE_TAG") == "" {
 		os.Setenv("MAIN_IMAGE_TAG", defaultMainImageTag)