diff --git a/certification/config.go b/certification/config.go
index e0bd0405b..1d3e6e8c0 100644
--- a/certification/config.go
+++ b/certification/config.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ type containerConfig interface {
 	PyxisAPIToken() string
 	Submit() bool
 	Platform() string
+	Insecure() bool
 }
 
 // operatorConfig are configurables relevant to
diff --git a/certification/internal/engine/engine.go b/certification/internal/engine/engine.go
index 1376800c4..627351350 100644
--- a/certification/internal/engine/engine.go
+++ b/certification/internal/engine/engine.go
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@ func (c *CraneEngine) ExecuteChecks(ctx context.Context) error {
 		retryOnceAfter(5 * time.Second),
 	}
 
+	if c.Config.Insecure() {
+		options = append(options, crane.Insecure)
+	}
+
 	// pull the image and save to fs
 	log.Debug("pulling image from target registry")
 	img, err := crane.Pull(c.Image, options...)
diff --git a/certification/runtime/config.go b/certification/runtime/config.go
index 4d1138ff8..23525d984 100644
--- a/certification/runtime/config.go
+++ b/certification/runtime/config.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	DockerConfig           string
 	Submit                 bool
 	Platform               string
+	Insecure               bool
 	// Operator-Specific Fields
 	Namespace         string
 	ServiceAccount    string
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@ func (c *Config) storeContainerPolicyConfiguration(vcfg viper.Viper) {
 	c.PyxisHost = pyxisHostLookup(vcfg.GetString("pyxis_env"), vcfg.GetString("pyxis_host"))
 	c.CertificationProjectID = vcfg.GetString("certification_project_id")
 	c.Platform = vcfg.GetString("platform")
+	c.Insecure = vcfg.GetBool("insecure")
 }
 
 // storeOperatorPolicyConfiguration reads operator-policy-specific config
diff --git a/certification/runtime/config_read.go b/certification/runtime/config_read.go
index 096932e81..ccdcabfd9 100644
--- a/certification/runtime/config_read.go
+++ b/certification/runtime/config_read.go
@@ -97,3 +97,7 @@ func (ro *ReadOnlyConfig) IndexImage() string {
 func (ro *ReadOnlyConfig) Platform() string {
 	return ro.cfg.Platform
 }
+
+func (ro *ReadOnlyConfig) Insecure() bool {
+	return ro.cfg.Insecure
+}
diff --git a/certification/runtime/config_read_test.go b/certification/runtime/config_read_test.go
index d7a434e21..128fb4eb4 100644
--- a/certification/runtime/config_read_test.go
+++ b/certification/runtime/config_read_test.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Runtime ReadOnlyConfig test", func() {
 			DockerConfig:           "dockercfg",
 			Submit:                 true,
 			Platform:               "s390x",
+			Insecure:               true,
 			Namespace:              "ns",
 			ServiceAccount:         "sa",
 			ScorecardImage:         "scorecardimg",
@@ -46,6 +47,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Runtime ReadOnlyConfig test", func() {
 			Expect(cro.DockerConfig()).To(Equal("dockercfg"))
 			Expect(cro.Submit()).To(Equal(true))
 			Expect(cro.Platform()).To(Equal("s390x"))
+			Expect(cro.Insecure()).To(BeTrue())
 			Expect(cro.Namespace()).To(Equal("ns"))
 			Expect(cro.ServiceAccount()).To(Equal("sa"))
 			Expect(cro.ScorecardImage()).To(Equal("scorecardimg"))
diff --git a/certification/runtime/config_test.go b/certification/runtime/config_test.go
index ac29c6d3f..678d4e179 100644
--- a/certification/runtime/config_test.go
+++ b/certification/runtime/config_test.go
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ var _ = Describe("Viper to Runtime Config", func() {
 		expectedRuntimeCfg.CertificationProjectID = "000000000000"
 		baseViperCfg.Set("platform", "s390x")
 		expectedRuntimeCfg.Platform = "s390x"
+		baseViperCfg.Set("insecure", true)
+		expectedRuntimeCfg.Insecure = true
 
 		baseViperCfg.Set("namespace", "myns")
 		expectedRuntimeCfg.Namespace = "myns"
diff --git a/cmd/preflight/cmd/check_container.go b/cmd/preflight/cmd/check_container.go
index 960c4ab98..c59e4346a 100644
--- a/cmd/preflight/cmd/check_container.go
+++ b/cmd/preflight/cmd/check_container.go
@@ -31,22 +31,30 @@ func checkContainerCmd() *cobra.Command {
 		RunE:    checkContainerRunE,
 	}
 
-	checkContainerCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&submit, "submit", "s", false, "submit check container results to red hat")
-	_ = viper.BindPFlag("submit", checkContainerCmd.Flags().Lookup("submit"))
+	flags := checkContainerCmd.Flags()
 
-	checkContainerCmd.Flags().String("pyxis-api-token", "", "API token for Pyxis authentication (env: PFLT_PYXIS_API_TOKEN)")
-	_ = viper.BindPFlag("pyxis_api_token", checkContainerCmd.Flags().Lookup("pyxis-api-token"))
+	flags.BoolVarP(&submit, "submit", "s", false, "submit check container results to Red Hat")
+	_ = viper.BindPFlag("submit", flags.Lookup("submit"))
 
-	checkContainerCmd.Flags().String("pyxis-host", "", fmt.Sprintf("Host to use for Pyxis submissions. This will override Pyxis Env. Only set this if you know what you are doing.\n"+
+	flags.Bool("insecure", false, "Use insecure protocol for the registry. Default is False. Cannot be used with submit.")
+	_ = viper.BindPFlag("insecure", flags.Lookup("insecure"))
+
+	// Make --submit mutually exclusive to --insecure
+	checkContainerCmd.MarkFlagsMutuallyExclusive("submit", "insecure")
+
+	flags.String("pyxis-api-token", "", "API token for Pyxis authentication (env: PFLT_PYXIS_API_TOKEN)")
+	_ = viper.BindPFlag("pyxis_api_token", flags.Lookup("pyxis-api-token"))
+
+	flags.String("pyxis-host", "", fmt.Sprintf("Host to use for Pyxis submissions. This will override Pyxis Env. Only set this if you know what you are doing.\n"+
 		"If you do set it, it should include just the host, and the URI path. (env: PFLT_PYXIS_HOST)"))
-	_ = viper.BindPFlag("pyxis_host", checkContainerCmd.Flags().Lookup("pyxis-host"))
+	_ = viper.BindPFlag("pyxis_host", flags.Lookup("pyxis-host"))
 
-	checkContainerCmd.Flags().String("pyxis-env", certification.DefaultPyxisEnv, "Env to use for Pyxis submissions.")
-	_ = viper.BindPFlag("pyxis_env", checkContainerCmd.Flags().Lookup("pyxis-env"))
+	flags.String("pyxis-env", certification.DefaultPyxisEnv, "Env to use for Pyxis submissions.")
+	_ = viper.BindPFlag("pyxis_env", flags.Lookup("pyxis-env"))
 
-	checkContainerCmd.Flags().String("certification-project-id", "", fmt.Sprintf("Certification Project ID from connect.redhat.com/projects/{certification-project-id}/overview\n"+
+	flags.String("certification-project-id", "", fmt.Sprintf("Certification Project ID from connect.redhat.com/projects/{certification-project-id}/overview\n"+
 		"URL paramater. This value may differ from the PID on the overview page. (env: PFLT_CERTIFICATION_PROJECT_ID)"))
-	_ = viper.BindPFlag("certification_project_id", checkContainerCmd.Flags().Lookup("certification-project-id"))
+	_ = viper.BindPFlag("certification_project_id", flags.Lookup("certification-project-id"))
 
 	checkContainerCmd.Flags().String("platform", rt.GOARCH, "Architecture of image to pull. Defaults to current platform.")
 	_ = viper.BindPFlag("platform", checkContainerCmd.Flags().Lookup("platform"))
diff --git a/cmd/preflight/cmd/check_container_test.go b/cmd/preflight/cmd/check_container_test.go
index 2656ab1aa..a8082c5cc 100644
--- a/cmd/preflight/cmd/check_container_test.go
+++ b/cmd/preflight/cmd/check_container_test.go
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Check Container Command", func() {
 			Entry("certification-project-id flag is present but empty because of '='", "cannot be empty when --submit is present", []string{"foo", "--submit", "--certification-project-id=", "--pyxis-api-token=footoken"}),
 			Entry("submit is passed after empty api token", "pyxis API token and certification ID are required when --submit is present", []string{"foo", "--certification-project-id=fooid", "--pyxis-api-token", "--submit"}),
 			Entry("submit is passed with explicit value after empty api token", "pyxis API token and certification ID are required when --submit is present", []string{"foo", "--certification-project-id=fooid", "--pyxis-api-token", "--submit=true"}),
+			Entry("submit is passed and insecure is specified", "if any flags in the group [submit insecure] are set", []string{"foo", "--submit", "--insecure", "--certification-project-id=fooid", "--pyxis-api-token=footoken"}),
 		)
 
 		When("the user enables the submit flag", func() {
diff --git a/docs/RECIPES.md b/docs/RECIPES.md
index 272345fc0..c87e4c4cb 100644
--- a/docs/RECIPES.md
+++ b/docs/RECIPES.md
@@ -229,3 +229,19 @@ $CONTAINER_TOOL run \
   -v ./temp-authfile.json:/temp-authfile.json:ro \
   quay.io/opdev/preflight:stable check container registry.example.org/your-namespace/your-bundle-image:sometag --submit
 ```
+
+### Testing a local container, i.e. not yet pushed to a registry
+
+Preflight does not support certifying against a local image, that is not pushed to
+a registry. In some cases, like a CI system, it is desirable to run preflight against
+an image BEFORE pushing to a public registry. In order to support that, one should
+start a local registry, push to it, and point preflight at the local registry.
+
+```bash
+podman run -p 5000:5000 docker.io/library/registry
+podman push --tls-verify=false localhost/myrepo/mycontainer:v1.0 localhost:5000/myrepo/mycontainer:v1.0
+preflight check container --insecure localhost:5000/myrepo/mycontainer:v1.0
+```
+
+Note: --submit and --insecure are mutually exclusive. A container cannot be fully
+certified and submitted unless it is on a secure registry.