diff --git a/crates/openshell-driver-docker/src/lib.rs b/crates/openshell-driver-docker/src/lib.rs
index 4c9d2ac2bc..308a37f266 100644
--- a/crates/openshell-driver-docker/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/openshell-driver-docker/src/lib.rs
@@ -2960,6 +2960,7 @@ impl DockerComputeDriver {
     }
 
     async fn pull_image(&self, sandbox_id: &str, image: &str) -> Result<(), Status> {
+        let image_ref = normalize_docker_image_reference(image);
         self.publish_docker_progress(
             sandbox_id,
             "Pulling",
@@ -2968,7 +2969,7 @@ impl DockerComputeDriver {
         );
         let mut stream = self.docker.create_image(
             Some(CreateImageOptions {
-                from_image: Some(image.to_string()),
+                from_image: Some(image_ref),
                 ..Default::default()
             }),
             None,
@@ -2999,6 +3000,19 @@ impl DockerComputeDriver {
     }
 }
 
+fn normalize_docker_image_reference(image: &str) -> String {
+    if image.contains('@') {
+        return image.to_string();
+    }
+
+    let last_slash = image.rfind('/').map_or(0, |index| index + 1);
+    if image[last_slash..].contains(':') {
+        image.to_string()
+    } else {
+        format!("{image}:latest")
+    }
+}
+
 // Standalone and in-process servers both use this wrapper. Delegating to the
 // driver's canonical tonic implementation keeps request validation and Docker
 // operation spans identical across both deployment modes.
diff --git a/crates/openshell-driver-docker/src/tests.rs b/crates/openshell-driver-docker/src/tests.rs
index 8aa05302e0..74972f6842 100644
--- a/crates/openshell-driver-docker/src/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/openshell-driver-docker/src/tests.rs
@@ -24,6 +24,33 @@ use std::io::Read as _;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use tempfile::TempDir;
 
+#[test]
+fn docker_image_reference_defaults_bare_images_to_latest() {
+    assert_eq!(
+        normalize_docker_image_reference("nicolaka/netshoot"),
+        "nicolaka/netshoot:latest"
+    );
+    assert_eq!(
+        normalize_docker_image_reference("ubuntu"),
+        "ubuntu:latest"
+    );
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn docker_image_reference_preserves_tags_digests_and_registry_ports() {
+    assert_eq!(
+        normalize_docker_image_reference("localhost:5000/nicolaka/netshoot"),
+        "localhost:5000/nicolaka/netshoot:latest"
+    );
+    for image in [
+        "nicolaka/netshoot:v0.16",
+        "nicolaka/netshoot@sha256:abc",
+        "localhost:5000/nicolaka/netshoot:v0.16",
+    ] {
+        assert_eq!(normalize_docker_image_reference(image), image);
+    }
+}
+
 fn test_launch_authentication() -> Vec<u8> {
     serde_json::to_vec(&SandboxLaunchAuthentication {
         supervisor: SupervisorAuthBundle {