diff --git a/common/libimage/copier.go b/common/libimage/copier.go
index 4f5c7d0a16..4599895793 100644
--- a/common/libimage/copier.go
+++ b/common/libimage/copier.go
@@ -218,15 +218,7 @@ func (r *Runtime) newCopier(options *CopyOptions) (*copier, error) {
 
 	c.systemContext.DockerArchiveAdditionalTags = options.dockerArchiveAdditionalTags
 
-	if options.Architecture != "" {
-		c.systemContext.ArchitectureChoice = options.Architecture
-	}
-	if options.OS != "" {
-		c.systemContext.OSChoice = options.OS
-	}
-	if options.Variant != "" {
-		c.systemContext.VariantChoice = options.Variant
-	}
+	c.systemContext.OSChoice, c.systemContext.ArchitectureChoice, c.systemContext.VariantChoice = NormalizePlatform(options.OS, options.Architecture, options.Variant)
 
 	if options.SignaturePolicyPath != "" {
 		c.systemContext.SignaturePolicyPath = options.SignaturePolicyPath
diff --git a/common/libimage/normalize.go b/common/libimage/normalize.go
index bfea807c8b..7ceb628306 100644
--- a/common/libimage/normalize.go
+++ b/common/libimage/normalize.go
@@ -1,13 +1,51 @@
 package libimage
 
 import (
+	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/platforms"
 	"github.com/containers/image/v5/docker/reference"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
+// NormalizePlatform normalizes (according to the OCI spec) the specified os,
+// arch and variant.  If left empty, the individual item will not be normalized.
+func NormalizePlatform(rawOS, rawArch, rawVariant string) (os, arch, variant string) {
+	os, arch, variant = rawOS, rawArch, rawVariant
+	if os == "" {
+		os = runtime.GOOS
+	}
+	if arch == "" {
+		arch = runtime.GOARCH
+	}
+	rawPlatform := os + "/" + arch
+	if variant != "" {
+		rawPlatform += "/" + variant
+	}
+
+	normalizedPlatform, err := platforms.Parse(rawPlatform)
+	if err != nil {
+		logrus.Debugf("Error normalizing platform: %v", err)
+		return rawOS, rawArch, rawVariant
+	}
+	logrus.Debugf("Normalized platform %s to %s", rawPlatform, normalizedPlatform)
+	os = rawOS
+	if rawOS != "" {
+		os = normalizedPlatform.OS
+	}
+	arch = rawArch
+	if rawArch != "" {
+		arch = normalizedPlatform.Architecture
+	}
+	variant = rawVariant
+	if rawVariant != "" {
+		variant = normalizedPlatform.Variant
+	}
+	return os, arch, variant
+}
+
 // NormalizeName normalizes the provided name according to the conventions by
 // Podman and Buildah.  If tag and digest are missing, the "latest" tag will be
 // used.  If it's a short name, it will be prefixed with "localhost/".
diff --git a/common/libimage/normalize_test.go b/common/libimage/normalize_test.go
index 2dcd284481..63659178b1 100644
--- a/common/libimage/normalize_test.go
+++ b/common/libimage/normalize_test.go
@@ -7,6 +7,61 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
+func TestNormalizePlatform(t *testing.T) {
+	type platform struct {
+		os, arch, variant string
+	}
+	for _, test := range []struct {
+		input, expected platform
+	}{
+		{
+			platform{"", "", ""},
+			platform{"", "", ""},
+		},
+		{
+			platform{"foo", "", "garbage"},
+			platform{"foo", "", "garbage"},
+		},
+		{
+			platform{"&", "invalid", "os"},
+			platform{"&", "invalid", "os"},
+		},
+		{
+			platform{"linux", "", ""},
+			platform{"linux", "", ""},
+		},
+		{
+			platform{"LINUX", "", ""},
+			platform{"linux", "", ""},
+		},
+		{
+			platform{"", "aarch64", ""},
+			platform{"", "arm64", ""},
+		},
+		{
+			platform{"macos", "x86_64", ""},
+			platform{"darwin", "amd64", ""},
+		},
+		{
+			platform{"linux", "amd64", ""},
+			platform{"linux", "amd64", ""},
+		},
+		{
+			platform{"linux", "arm64", "v8"},
+			platform{"linux", "arm64", "v8"},
+		},
+		{
+			platform{"linux", "aarch64", ""},
+			platform{"linux", "arm64", ""},
+		},
+	} {
+		os, arch, variant := NormalizePlatform(test.input.os, test.input.arch, test.input.variant)
+		assert.Equal(t, test.expected.os, os, test.input)
+		assert.Equal(t, test.expected.arch, arch, test.input)
+		assert.Equal(t, test.expected.variant, variant, test.input)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestNormalizeName(t *testing.T) {
 	const digestSuffix = "@sha256:0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"
 
diff --git a/common/libimage/pull_test.go b/common/libimage/pull_test.go
index c3fd4ddea5..6bd6137b22 100644
--- a/common/libimage/pull_test.go
+++ b/common/libimage/pull_test.go
@@ -123,7 +123,12 @@ func TestPullPlatforms(t *testing.T) {
 
 	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")
+	require.NotNil(t, image, "lookup busybox - by arm")
+
+	pullOptions.Architecture = "aarch64"
+	pulledImages, err = runtime.Pull(ctx, withTag, config.PullPolicyAlways, pullOptions)
+	require.NoError(t, err, "pull busybox - aarch64")
+	require.Len(t, pulledImages, 1)
 }
 
 func TestPullPolicy(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/common/libimage/runtime.go b/common/libimage/runtime.go
index c7cf8124a1..486be20bc9 100644
--- a/common/libimage/runtime.go
+++ b/common/libimage/runtime.go
@@ -253,6 +253,8 @@ func (r *Runtime) LookupImage(name string, options *LookupImageOptions) (*Image,
 	if options.Variant == "" {
 		options.Variant = r.systemContext.VariantChoice
 	}
+	// Normalize platform to be OCI compatible (e.g., "aarch64" -> "arm64").
+	options.OS, options.Architecture, options.Variant = NormalizePlatform(options.OS, options.Architecture, options.Variant)
 
 	// First, check if we have an exact match in the storage. Maybe an ID
 	// or a fully-qualified image name.
@@ -489,13 +491,16 @@ func (r *Runtime) imageReferenceMatchesContext(ref types.ImageReference, options
 	}
 
 	if options.Architecture != "" && options.Architecture != data.Architecture {
-		return false, err
+		logrus.Debugf("architecture %q does not match architecture %q of image %s", options.Architecture, data.Architecture, ref)
+		return false, nil
 	}
 	if options.OS != "" && options.OS != data.Os {
-		return false, err
+		logrus.Debugf("OS %q does not match OS %q of image %s", options.OS, data.Os, ref)
+		return false, nil
 	}
 	if options.Variant != "" && options.Variant != data.Variant {
-		return false, err
+		logrus.Debugf("variant %q does not match variant %q of image %s", options.Variant, data.Variant, ref)
+		return false, nil
 	}
 
 	return true, nil