diff --git a/sources/org.osbuild.skopeo b/sources/org.osbuild.skopeo
index 52a75f0fb9..8f2988f055 100755
--- a/sources/org.osbuild.skopeo
+++ b/sources/org.osbuild.skopeo
@@ -86,6 +86,8 @@ class SkopeoSource(sources.SourceService):
             # direct serialisation of the registry data.
             dir_name = "container-dir"
             destination = f"dir:{archive_dir}/{dir_name}"
+            dest_path = os.path.join(archive_dir, dir_name)
+            destination = f"dir:{dest_path}"
 
             extra_args = []
             if not tls_verify:
@@ -104,6 +106,9 @@ class SkopeoSource(sources.SourceService):
                 raise RuntimeError(
                     f"Downloaded image {imagename}@{digest} has a id of {downloaded_id}, but expected {image_id}")
 
+            # fetch the manifest and merge it into the archive
+            self.merge_manifest(source, dest_path, extra_args)
+
             # Atomically move download archive into place on successful download
             with ctx.suppress_oserror(errno.ENOTEMPTY, errno.EEXIST):
                 os.makedirs(f"{self.cache}/{image_id}", exist_ok=True)
@@ -112,6 +117,25 @@ class SkopeoSource(sources.SourceService):
     def exists(self, checksum, _desc):
         return os.path.exists(f"{self.cache}/{checksum}/container-dir")
 
+    def merge_manifest(self, source, destination, extra_args):
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(prefix="tmp-download-", dir=self.cache) as indexdir:
+            # download the manifest(s) to a temporary directory
+            subprocess.run(["skopeo", "copy", "--multi-arch=index-only", *extra_args, source, f"dir:{indexdir}"],
+                           encoding="utf-8", check=True)
+
+            # calculate the checksum of the manifest of the container image in the destination
+            manifest_path = os.path.join(destination, "manifest.json")
+            manifest_checksum = subprocess.check_output(["skopeo", "manifest-digest", manifest_path]).decode().strip()
+            parts = manifest_checksum.split(":")
+            assert len(parts) == 2, f"unexpected output for skopeo manifest-digest: {manifest_checksum}"
+            manifest_checksum = parts[1]
+
+            # rename the manifest to its checksum
+            os.rename(manifest_path, os.path.join(destination, manifest_checksum + ".manifest.json"))
+
+            # move the index manifest into the destination
+            os.rename(os.path.join(indexdir, "manifest.json"), manifest_path)
+
 
 def main():
     service = SkopeoSource.from_args(sys.argv[1:])