diff --git a/lib/src/cli.rs b/lib/src/cli.rs
index 080ef32a..8c172e37 100644
--- a/lib/src/cli.rs
+++ b/lib/src/cli.rs
@@ -802,6 +802,7 @@ where
                         kargs: kargs.as_deref(),
                         target_imgref: target_imgref.as_ref(),
                         proxy_cfg: Some(proxyopts.into()),
+                        ..Default::default()
                     };
                     let state = crate::container::deploy::deploy(
                         sysroot,
diff --git a/lib/src/container/deploy.rs b/lib/src/container/deploy.rs
index 855f1186..38e41df3 100644
--- a/lib/src/container/deploy.rs
+++ b/lib/src/container/deploy.rs
@@ -27,6 +27,12 @@ pub struct DeployOpts<'a> {
 
     /// Configuration for fetching containers.
     pub proxy_cfg: Option<super::store::ImageProxyConfig>,
+
+    /// If true, then no image reference will be written; but there will be refs
+    /// for the fetched layers.  This ensures that if the machine is later updated
+    /// to a different container image, the fetch process will reuse shared layers, but
+    /// it will not be necessary to remove the previous image.
+    pub no_imgref: bool,
 }
 
 /// Write a container image to an OSTree deployment.
@@ -48,6 +54,9 @@ pub async fn deploy(
     if let Some(target) = options.target_imgref {
         imp.set_target(target);
     }
+    if options.no_imgref {
+        imp.set_no_imgref();
+    }
     let state = match imp.prepare().await? {
         PrepareResult::AlreadyPresent(r) => r,
         PrepareResult::Ready(prep) => imp.import(prep).await?,
diff --git a/lib/src/container/store.rs b/lib/src/container/store.rs
index f6ceb69c..61fdb344 100644
--- a/lib/src/container/store.rs
+++ b/lib/src/container/store.rs
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ pub struct ImageImporter {
     pub(crate) proxy: ImageProxy,
     imgref: OstreeImageReference,
     target_imgref: Option<OstreeImageReference>,
+    no_imgref: bool, // If true, do not write final image ref
     pub(crate) proxy_img: OpenedImage,
 
     layer_progress: Option<Sender<ImportProgress>>,
@@ -405,6 +406,7 @@ impl ImageImporter {
             proxy,
             proxy_img,
             target_imgref: None,
+            no_imgref: false,
             imgref: imgref.clone(),
             layer_progress: None,
             layer_byte_progress: None,
@@ -416,6 +418,13 @@ impl ImageImporter {
         self.target_imgref = Some(target.clone())
     }
 
+    /// Do not write the final image ref, but do write refs for shared layers.
+    /// This is useful in scenarios where you want to "pre-pull" an image,
+    /// but in such a way that it does not need to be manually removed later.
+    pub fn set_no_imgref(&mut self) {
+        self.no_imgref = true;
+    }
+
     /// Determine if there is a new manifest, and if so return its digest.
     pub async fn prepare(&mut self) -> Result<PrepareResult> {
         self.prepare_internal(false).await
@@ -787,7 +796,9 @@ impl ImageImporter {
                 let merged_commit = repo
                     .write_commit(None, None, None, Some(&metadata), &merged_root, cancellable)
                     .context("Writing commit")?;
-                repo.transaction_set_ref(None, &ostree_ref, Some(merged_commit.as_str()));
+                if !self.no_imgref {
+                    repo.transaction_set_ref(None, &ostree_ref, Some(merged_commit.as_str()));
+                }
                 txn.commit(cancellable)?;
                 // Here we re-query state just to run through the same code path,
                 // though it'd be cheaper to synthesize it from the data we already have.