diff --git a/src/ContainerStore.js b/src/ContainerStore.js
index 92fb1375aa..1ec6b04b87 100644
--- a/src/ContainerStore.js
+++ b/src/ContainerStore.js
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ var ContainerUtil = require('./ContainerUtil');
 
 var convert = new Convert();
 var _recommended = [];
-var _placeholders = {};
 var _containers = {};
 var _progress = {};
 var _logs = {};
@@ -24,8 +23,32 @@ var ContainerStore = assign(Object.create(EventEmitter.prototype), {
   SERVER_CONTAINER_EVENT: 'server_container_event',
   SERVER_PROGRESS_EVENT: 'server_progress_event',
   SERVER_LOGS_EVENT: 'server_logs_event',
+  _pullScratchImage: function (callback) {
+    var image = docker.client().getImage('scratch:latest');
+    image.inspect(function (err, data) {
+      if (!data) {
+        docker.client().pull('scratch:latest', function (err, stream) {
+          if (err) {
+            callback(err);
+            return;
+          }
+          stream.setEncoding('utf8');
+          stream.on('data', function () {});
+          stream.on('end', function () {
+            callback();
+          });
+        });
+      } else {
+        callback();
+      }
+    });
+  },
   _pullImage: function (repository, tag, callback, progressCallback) {
     registry.layers(repository, tag, function (err, layerSizes) {
+
+      // TODO: Support v2 registry API
+      // TODO: clean this up- It's messy to work with pulls from both the v1 and v2 registry APIs
+      // Use the per-layer pull progress % to update the total progress.
       docker.client().listImages({all: 1}, function(err, images) {
         var existingIds = new Set(images.map(function (image) {
           return image.Id.slice(0, 12);
@@ -139,14 +162,29 @@ var ContainerStore = assign(Object.create(EventEmitter.prototype), {
     });
   },
   _createPlaceholderContainer: function (imageName, name, callback) {
-    if (_placeholders[name]) {
-      delete _placeholders[name];
-    }
-    _placeholders[name] = {
-      State: {
+    var self = this;
+    this._pullScratchImage(function (err) {
+      if (err) {
+        callback(err);
+        return;
       }
-    };
-    return _placeholders[name];
+      docker.client().createContainer({
+        Image: 'scratch:latest',
+        Tty: false,
+        Env: [
+          'KITEMATIC_DOWNLOADING=true',
+          'KITEMATIC_DOWNLOADING_IMAGE=' + imageName
+        ],
+        Cmd: 'placeholder',
+        name: name
+      }, function (err) {
+        if (err) {
+          callback(err);
+          return;
+        }
+        self.fetchContainer(name, callback);
+      });
+    });
   },
   _generateName: function (repository) {
     var base = _.last(repository.split('/'));
@@ -348,24 +386,28 @@ var ContainerStore = assign(Object.create(EventEmitter.prototype), {
     var self = this;
     var imageName = repository + ':' + tag;
     var containerName = this._generateName(repository);
-
-    // Create placeholder container
-    var container = this._createPlaceholderContainer(imageName, containerName);
-    _containers[containerName] = container;
-    self.emit(self.CLIENT_CONTAINER_EVENT, containerName, 'create');
-    _muted[containerName] = true;
-    _progress[containerName] = 0;
-    self._pullImage(repository, tag, function () {
-      self._createContainer(containerName, {Image: imageName}, function () {
-        delete _progress[containerName];
-        _muted[containerName] = false;
-        self.emit(self.CLIENT_CONTAINER_EVENT, containerName);
+    // Pull image
+    self._createPlaceholderContainer(imageName, containerName, function (err, container) {
+      if (err) {
+        callback(err);
+        return;
+      }
+      _containers[containerName] = container;
+      self.emit(self.CLIENT_CONTAINER_EVENT, containerName, 'create');
+      _muted[containerName] = true;
+      _progress[containerName] = 0;
+      self._pullImage(repository, tag, function () {
+        self._createContainer(containerName, {Image: imageName}, function () {
+          delete _progress[containerName];
+          _muted[containerName] = false;
+          self.emit(self.CLIENT_CONTAINER_EVENT, containerName);
+        });
+      }, function (progress) {
+        _progress[containerName] = progress;
+        self.emit(self.SERVER_PROGRESS_EVENT, containerName);
       });
-    }, function (progress) {
-      _progress[containerName] = progress;
-      self.emit(self.SERVER_PROGRESS_EVENT, containerName);
+      callback(null, containerName);
     });
-    callback(null, containerName);
   },
   updateContainer: function (name, data, callback) {
     _muted[name] = true;