diff --git a/libpod/runtime.go b/libpod/runtime.go
index fc358de026..993099cd58 100644
--- a/libpod/runtime.go
+++ b/libpod/runtime.go
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/libpod/shutdown"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/domain/entities"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/domain/entities/reports"
+	artStore "github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/libartifact/store"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/rootless"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/systemd"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/util"
@@ -83,6 +84,9 @@ type Runtime struct {
 	libimageEventsShutdown chan bool
 	lockManager            lock.Manager
 
+	// ArtifactStore returns the artifact store created from the runtime.
+	ArtifactStore func() (*artStore.ArtifactStore, error)
+
 	// Worker
 	workerChannel chan func()
 	workerGroup   sync.WaitGroup
@@ -533,6 +537,11 @@ func makeRuntime(ctx context.Context, runtime *Runtime) (retErr error) {
 		}
 		runtime.config.Network.NetworkBackend = string(netBackend)
 		runtime.network = netInterface
+
+		// Using sync once value to only init the store exactly once and only when it will be actually be used.
+		runtime.ArtifactStore = sync.OnceValues(func() (*artStore.ArtifactStore, error) {
+			return artStore.NewArtifactStore(filepath.Join(runtime.storageConfig.GraphRoot, "artifacts"), runtime.SystemContext())
+		})
 	}
 
 	// We now need to see if the system has restarted
diff --git a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/artifact.go b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/artifact.go
index fa70c28aac..0fd3c09b7d 100644
--- a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/artifact.go
+++ b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/artifact.go
@@ -5,22 +5,16 @@ package abi
 import (
 	"context"
 	"os"
-	"path/filepath"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/containers/common/libimage"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/domain/entities"
-	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/libartifact/store"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/libartifact/types"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/go-digest"
 )
 
-func getDefaultArtifactStore(ir *ImageEngine) string {
-	return filepath.Join(ir.Libpod.StorageConfig().GraphRoot, "artifacts")
-}
-
 func (ir *ImageEngine) ArtifactInspect(ctx context.Context, name string, _ entities.ArtifactInspectOptions) (*entities.ArtifactInspectReport, error) {
-	artStore, err := store.NewArtifactStore(getDefaultArtifactStore(ir), ir.Libpod.SystemContext())
+	artStore, err := ir.Libpod.ArtifactStore()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -41,7 +35,7 @@ func (ir *ImageEngine) ArtifactInspect(ctx context.Context, name string, _ entit
 
 func (ir *ImageEngine) ArtifactList(ctx context.Context, _ entities.ArtifactListOptions) ([]*entities.ArtifactListReport, error) {
 	reports := make([]*entities.ArtifactListReport, 0)
-	artStore, err := store.NewArtifactStore(getDefaultArtifactStore(ir), ir.Libpod.SystemContext())
+	artStore, err := ir.Libpod.ArtifactStore()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -80,7 +74,7 @@ func (ir *ImageEngine) ArtifactPull(ctx context.Context, name string, opts entit
 	if !opts.Quiet && pullOptions.Writer == nil {
 		pullOptions.Writer = os.Stderr
 	}
-	artStore, err := store.NewArtifactStore(getDefaultArtifactStore(ir), ir.Libpod.SystemContext())
+	artStore, err := ir.Libpod.ArtifactStore()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -92,7 +86,7 @@ func (ir *ImageEngine) ArtifactRm(ctx context.Context, name string, opts entitie
 		namesOrDigests []string
 	)
 	artifactDigests := make([]*digest.Digest, 0, len(namesOrDigests))
-	artStore, err := store.NewArtifactStore(getDefaultArtifactStore(ir), ir.Libpod.SystemContext())
+	artStore, err := ir.Libpod.ArtifactStore()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -133,7 +127,7 @@ func (ir *ImageEngine) ArtifactRm(ctx context.Context, name string, opts entitie
 func (ir *ImageEngine) ArtifactPush(ctx context.Context, name string, opts entities.ArtifactPushOptions) (*entities.ArtifactPushReport, error) {
 	var retryDelay *time.Duration
 
-	artStore, err := store.NewArtifactStore(getDefaultArtifactStore(ir), ir.Libpod.SystemContext())
+	artStore, err := ir.Libpod.ArtifactStore()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -189,7 +183,7 @@ func (ir *ImageEngine) ArtifactPush(ctx context.Context, name string, opts entit
 	return &entities.ArtifactPushReport{}, err
 }
 func (ir *ImageEngine) ArtifactAdd(ctx context.Context, name string, paths []string, opts *entities.ArtifactAddOptions) (*entities.ArtifactAddReport, error) {
-	artStore, err := store.NewArtifactStore(getDefaultArtifactStore(ir), ir.Libpod.SystemContext())
+	artStore, err := ir.Libpod.ArtifactStore()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -210,7 +204,7 @@ func (ir *ImageEngine) ArtifactAdd(ctx context.Context, name string, paths []str
 }
 
 func (ir *ImageEngine) ArtifactExtract(ctx context.Context, name string, target string, opts *entities.ArtifactExtractOptions) error {
-	artStore, err := store.NewArtifactStore(getDefaultArtifactStore(ir), ir.Libpod.SystemContext())
+	artStore, err := ir.Libpod.ArtifactStore()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}