diff --git a/with-container b/with-container
index 00032c90c27f0b18e92f360dda8af1a2d9f9d7a4..5b22ab0e3eea07feda0229ede5e7c29ae9f067bb 100755
--- a/with-container
+++ b/with-container
@@ -32,12 +32,20 @@ fi
 # /etc/ssl/certs. Copy everything to a bind-mountable dir.
 cp -rL /etc/ssl/certs /tmp/certs
 
+case "$image" in
+    localhost/*) ;;
+    *)
+        podman pull $image \
+            || die "error fetching image"
+        ;;
+esac
+
 set -x
 
 podman run \
          --rm \
          --name=test-container \
-         --pull=always \
+         --pull=never \
          --log-driver=none \
          --no-healthcheck \
          --network=host \