diff --git a/src/rpm_ostree/cli_status.rs b/src/rpm_ostree/cli_status.rs
index 179f0a60..694a5f97 100644
--- a/src/rpm_ostree/cli_status.rs
+++ b/src/rpm_ostree/cli_status.rs
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ use std::collections::BTreeSet;
 use std::fs;
 use std::rc::Rc;
 
+/// The well-known Fedora CoreOS base image.
+const FEDORA_COREOS_CONTAINER: &str = "quay.io/fedora/fedora-coreos";
+
 /// Path to local OSTree deployments. We use its mtime to check for modifications (e.g. new deployments)
 /// to local deployments that might warrant querying `rpm-ostree status` again to update our knowledge
 /// of the current state of deployments.
@@ -48,6 +51,7 @@ pub struct StatusJson {
 #[serde(rename_all = "kebab-case")]
 pub struct DeploymentJson {
     booted: bool,
+    container_image_reference: Option<String>,
     base_checksum: Option<String>,
     #[serde(rename = "base-commit-meta")]
     base_metadata: BaseCommitMetaJson,
@@ -62,7 +66,7 @@ pub struct DeploymentJson {
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Deserialize)]
 struct BaseCommitMetaJson {
     #[serde(rename = "fedora-coreos.stream")]
-    stream: String,
+    stream: Option<String>,
 }
 
 impl DeploymentJson {
@@ -89,11 +93,37 @@ pub fn parse_booted(status: &StatusJson) -> Result<Release> {
     Ok(json.into_release())
 }
 
+fn fedora_coreos_stream_from_deployment(deploy: &DeploymentJson) -> Result<String> {
+    if let Some(cr) = deploy.container_image_reference.as_deref() {
+        let cr = super::imageref::OstreeImageReference::try_from(cr)
+            .with_context(|| format!("Failed to parse container image reference {cr}"))?;
+        let ir = &cr.imgref;
+        let tx = ir.transport;
+        if tx != super::imageref::Transport::Registry {
+            anyhow::bail!("Unhandled container transport {tx}");
+        }
+        let name = ir.name.as_str();
+        let (name, tag) = name
+            .rsplit_once(':')
+            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("Failed to find tag in {name}"))?;
+        if name != FEDORA_COREOS_CONTAINER {
+            anyhow::bail!("Unhandled container image {name}");
+        }
+        ensure!(!tag.is_empty(), "empty tag value");
+        Ok(tag.to_string())
+    } else {
+        let stream = deploy.base_metadata.stream.as_deref().ok_or_else(|| {
+            anyhow!("Failed to find Fedora CoreOS stream metadata from commit object")
+        })?;
+        ensure!(!stream.is_empty(), "empty stream value");
+        Ok(stream.to_string())
+    }
+}
+
 /// Parse updates stream for booted deployment from status object.
 pub fn parse_booted_updates_stream(status: &StatusJson) -> Result<String> {
     let json = booted_json(status)?;
-    ensure!(!json.base_metadata.stream.is_empty(), "empty stream value");
-    Ok(json.base_metadata.stream)
+    fedora_coreos_stream_from_deployment(&json)
 }
 
 /// Parse pending deployment from status object.
@@ -105,8 +135,7 @@ pub fn parse_pending_deployment(status: &StatusJson) -> Result<Option<(Release,
     match staged {
         None => Ok(None),
         Some(json) => {
-            let stream = json.base_metadata.stream.clone();
-            ensure!(!stream.is_empty(), "empty stream value");
+            let stream = fedora_coreos_stream_from_deployment(&json)?;
             let release = json.into_release();
             Ok(Some((release, stream)))
         }
@@ -239,6 +268,7 @@ mod tests {
     fn mock_booted_updates_stream() {
         let status = mock_status("tests/fixtures/rpm-ostree-status.json").unwrap();
         let booted = booted_json(&status).unwrap();
-        assert_eq!(booted.base_metadata.stream, "testing-devel");
+        let stream = fedora_coreos_stream_from_deployment(&booted).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(stream, "testing-devel");
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/rpm_ostree/imageref.rs b/src/rpm_ostree/imageref.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c14c6f5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/rpm_ostree/imageref.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,207 @@
+//! This is a copy of code from ostreedev/ostree-rs-ext to avoid
+//! depending on that whole library.
+
+use std::borrow::Cow;
+use std::str::FromStr;
+
+use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
+
+/// A backend/transport for OCI/Docker images.
+#[derive(Copy, Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum Transport {
+    /// A remote Docker/OCI registry (`registry:` or `docker://`)
+    Registry,
+    /// A local OCI directory (`oci:`)
+    OciDir,
+    /// A local OCI archive tarball (`oci-archive:`)
+    OciArchive,
+    /// Local container storage (`containers-storage:`)
+    ContainerStorage,
+}
+
+/// Combination of a remote image reference and transport.
+///
+/// For example,
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub struct ImageReference {
+    /// The storage and transport for the image
+    pub transport: Transport,
+    /// The image name (e.g. `quay.io/somerepo/someimage:latest`)
+    pub name: String,
+}
+
+/// Policy for signature verification.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum SignatureSource {
+    /// Fetches will use the named ostree remote for signature verification of the ostree commit.
+    OstreeRemote(String),
+    /// Fetches will defer to the `containers-policy.json`, but we make a best effort to reject `default: insecureAcceptAnything` policy.
+    ContainerPolicy,
+    /// NOT RECOMMENDED.  Fetches will defer to the `containers-policy.json` default which is usually `insecureAcceptAnything`.
+    ContainerPolicyAllowInsecure,
+}
+
+/// Combination of a signature verification mechanism, and a standard container image reference.
+///
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub struct OstreeImageReference {
+    /// The signature verification mechanism.
+    pub sigverify: SignatureSource,
+    /// The container image reference.
+    pub imgref: ImageReference,
+}
+
+impl TryFrom<&str> for Transport {
+    type Error = anyhow::Error;
+
+    fn try_from(value: &str) -> Result<Self> {
+        Ok(match value {
+            "registry" | "docker" => Self::Registry,
+            "oci" => Self::OciDir,
+            "oci-archive" => Self::OciArchive,
+            "containers-storage" => Self::ContainerStorage,
+            o => return Err(anyhow!("Unknown transport '{}'", o)),
+        })
+    }
+}
+
+impl TryFrom<&str> for ImageReference {
+    type Error = anyhow::Error;
+
+    fn try_from(value: &str) -> Result<Self> {
+        let (transport_name, mut name) = value
+            .split_once(':')
+            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("Missing ':' in {}", value))?;
+        let transport: Transport = transport_name.try_into()?;
+        if name.is_empty() {
+            return Err(anyhow!("Invalid empty name in {}", value));
+        }
+        if transport_name == "docker" {
+            name = name
+                .strip_prefix("//")
+                .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("Missing // in docker:// in {}", value))?;
+        }
+        Ok(Self {
+            transport,
+            name: name.to_string(),
+        })
+    }
+}
+
+impl FromStr for ImageReference {
+    type Err = anyhow::Error;
+
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self> {
+        Self::try_from(s)
+    }
+}
+
+impl TryFrom<&str> for SignatureSource {
+    type Error = anyhow::Error;
+
+    fn try_from(value: &str) -> Result<Self> {
+        match value {
+            "ostree-image-signed" => Ok(Self::ContainerPolicy),
+            "ostree-unverified-image" => Ok(Self::ContainerPolicyAllowInsecure),
+            o => match o.strip_prefix("ostree-remote-image:") {
+                Some(rest) => Ok(Self::OstreeRemote(rest.to_string())),
+                _ => Err(anyhow!("Invalid signature source: {}", o)),
+            },
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl FromStr for SignatureSource {
+    type Err = anyhow::Error;
+
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self> {
+        Self::try_from(s)
+    }
+}
+
+impl TryFrom<&str> for OstreeImageReference {
+    type Error = anyhow::Error;
+
+    fn try_from(value: &str) -> Result<Self> {
+        let (first, second) = value
+            .split_once(':')
+            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("Missing ':' in {}", value))?;
+        let (sigverify, rest) = match first {
+            "ostree-image-signed" => (SignatureSource::ContainerPolicy, Cow::Borrowed(second)),
+            "ostree-unverified-image" => (
+                SignatureSource::ContainerPolicyAllowInsecure,
+                Cow::Borrowed(second),
+            ),
+            // Shorthand for ostree-unverified-image:registry:
+            "ostree-unverified-registry" => (
+                SignatureSource::ContainerPolicyAllowInsecure,
+                Cow::Owned(format!("registry:{second}")),
+            ),
+            // This is a shorthand for ostree-remote-image with registry:
+            "ostree-remote-registry" => {
+                let (remote, rest) = second
+                    .split_once(':')
+                    .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("Missing second ':' in {}", value))?;
+                (
+                    SignatureSource::OstreeRemote(remote.to_string()),
+                    Cow::Owned(format!("registry:{rest}")),
+                )
+            }
+            "ostree-remote-image" => {
+                let (remote, rest) = second
+                    .split_once(':')
+                    .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("Missing second ':' in {}", value))?;
+                (
+                    SignatureSource::OstreeRemote(remote.to_string()),
+                    Cow::Borrowed(rest),
+                )
+            }
+            o => {
+                return Err(anyhow!("Invalid ostree image reference scheme: {}", o));
+            }
+        };
+        let imgref = (&*rest).try_into()?;
+        Ok(Self { sigverify, imgref })
+    }
+}
+
+impl FromStr for OstreeImageReference {
+    type Err = anyhow::Error;
+
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self> {
+        Self::try_from(s)
+    }
+}
+
+impl std::fmt::Display for Transport {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        let s = match self {
+            // TODO once skopeo supports this, canonicalize as registry:
+            Self::Registry => "docker://",
+            Self::OciArchive => "oci-archive:",
+            Self::OciDir => "oci:",
+            Self::ContainerStorage => "containers-storage:",
+        };
+        f.write_str(s)
+    }
+}
+
+impl std::fmt::Display for ImageReference {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        write!(f, "{}{}", self.transport, self.name)
+    }
+}
+
+impl std::fmt::Display for OstreeImageReference {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        match &self.sigverify {
+            SignatureSource::OstreeRemote(r) => {
+                write!(f, "ostree-remote-image:{}:{}", r, self.imgref)
+            }
+            SignatureSource::ContainerPolicy => write!(f, "ostree-image-signed:{}", self.imgref),
+            SignatureSource::ContainerPolicyAllowInsecure => {
+                write!(f, "ostree-unverified-image:{}", self.imgref)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/rpm_ostree/mod.rs b/src/rpm_ostree/mod.rs
index 621882de..6090599f 100644
--- a/src/rpm_ostree/mod.rs
+++ b/src/rpm_ostree/mod.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ pub use actor::{
     QueryPendingDeploymentStream, RegisterAsDriver, RpmOstreeClient, StageDeployment,
 };
 
+mod imageref;
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod mock_tests;