diff --git a/src/internal/packager/images/pull.go b/src/internal/packager/images/pull.go
index 7d5baf8464..61210d43c1 100644
--- a/src/internal/packager/images/pull.go
+++ b/src/internal/packager/images/pull.go
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ func Pull(ctx context.Context, cfg PullConfig) (map[transform.Image]v1.Image, er
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			if cacheImg {
+			if cacheImg && cfg.CacheDirectory != "" {
 				img = cache.Image(img, cache.NewFilesystemCache(cfg.CacheDirectory))
 			}
 
diff --git a/src/internal/packager/images/pull_test.go b/src/internal/packager/images/pull_test.go
index ad38bb3aac..0bc7903997 100644
--- a/src/internal/packager/images/pull_test.go
+++ b/src/internal/packager/images/pull_test.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	v1 "github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1"
@@ -84,6 +85,53 @@ func TestCheckForIndex(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestPull(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	testCases := []struct {
+		name      string
+		ref       string
+		expectErr bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "pull an image",
+			ref:  "ghcr.io/zarf-dev/zarf/agent:v0.32.6@sha256:b3fabdc7d4ecd0f396016ef78da19002c39e3ace352ea0ae4baa2ce9d5958376",
+		},
+		{
+			name:      "error when pulling an image that doesn't exist",
+			ref:       "ghcr.io/zarf-dev/zarf/imagethatdoesntexist:v1.1.1",
+			expectErr: true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			ref, err := transform.ParseImageRef(tc.ref)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			destDir := t.TempDir()
+			pullConfig := PullConfig{
+				DestinationDirectory: destDir,
+				ImageList: []transform.Image{
+					ref,
+				},
+			}
+
+			pulled, err := Pull(context.Background(), pullConfig)
+			if tc.expectErr {
+				require.Error(t, err, tc.expectErr)
+				return
+			}
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			layers, err := pulled[ref].Layers()
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			// Make sure all the layers of the image are pulled in
+			for _, layer := range layers {
+				digestHash, err := layer.Digest()
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+				digest, _ := strings.CutPrefix(digestHash.String(), "sha256:")
+				require.FileExists(t, filepath.Join(destDir, fmt.Sprintf("blobs/sha256/%s", digest)))
+			}
+		})
+	}
+
 	t.Run("pulling a cosign image is successful and doesn't add anything to the cache", func(t *testing.T) {
 		ref, err := transform.ParseImageRef("ghcr.io/stefanprodan/podinfo:sha256-57a654ace69ec02ba8973093b6a786faa15640575fbf0dbb603db55aca2ccec8.sig")
 		require.NoError(t, err)
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/00_use_cli_test.go b/src/test/e2e/00_use_cli_test.go
index e5bc25cb4d..1704ce5ea0 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/00_use_cli_test.go
+++ b/src/test/e2e/00_use_cli_test.go
@@ -116,16 +116,6 @@ func TestUseCLI(t *testing.T) {
 		require.Contains(t, stdErr, expectedOutString, "The log level should be changed to 'debug'")
 	})
 
-	t.Run("zarf package to test bad remote images", func(t *testing.T) {
-		_, stdErr, err := e2e.Zarf(t, "package", "create", "src/test/packages/00-remote-pull-fail", "--confirm")
-		// expecting zarf to have an error and output to stderr
-		require.Error(t, err)
-		// Make sure we print the get request error (only look for GET since the actual error changes based on login status)
-		require.Contains(t, stdErr, "failed to find the manifest on a remote: GET")
-		// And the docker error
-		require.Contains(t, stdErr, "response from daemon: No such image")
-	})
-
 	t.Run("zarf package to test archive path", func(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Parallel()
 		stdOut, stdErr, err := e2e.Zarf(t, "package", "create", "packages/distros/eks", "--confirm")
diff --git a/src/test/packages/00-remote-pull-fail/zarf.yaml b/src/test/packages/00-remote-pull-fail/zarf.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index b2212b15d6..0000000000
--- a/src/test/packages/00-remote-pull-fail/zarf.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-kind: ZarfPackageConfig
-metadata:
-  name: doesnotexist
-components:
-  - name: doesnotexist-docker
-    required: true
-    images:
-      - ghcr.io/zarf-dev/doesnotexist:1.3.3.7