diff --git a/sycl/cmake/modules/UnifiedRuntimeTag.cmake b/sycl/cmake/modules/UnifiedRuntimeTag.cmake
index 5ba8a6aa938f1..7b46bd5b034c9 100644
--- a/sycl/cmake/modules/UnifiedRuntimeTag.cmake
+++ b/sycl/cmake/modules/UnifiedRuntimeTag.cmake
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-# commit b841691699393dd2375e987c3d38d5f59c3e35cf
-# Merge: c6859445 9de10cd9
+# commit 0bb6789f0113ea937d861fd67fd677b91ecdeb8b
+# Merge: e370a2b9 eeff9f4a
 # Author: Kenneth Benzie (Benie) <k.benzie@codeplay.com>
-# Date:   Thu Jan 23 16:07:06 2025 +0000
-#     Merge pull request #2559 from Bensuo/fix_kernel_arg_indices
-#     [CUDA][HIP] Fix kernel arguments being overwritten when added out of order
-set(UNIFIED_RUNTIME_TAG b841691699393dd2375e987c3d38d5f59c3e35cf)
+# Date:   Mon Jan 27 10:40:02 2025 +0000
+#     Merge pull request #2551 from przemektmalon/przemek/bindless-images-host-usm
+#     Enable creation of bindless images backed by host USM
+set(UNIFIED_RUNTIME_TAG 0bb6789f0113ea937d861fd67fd677b91ecdeb8b)
diff --git a/sycl/test-e2e/bindless_images/sampling_2D_USM_host.cpp b/sycl/test-e2e/bindless_images/sampling_2D_USM_host.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..bca3d2c1c0ddd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sycl/test-e2e/bindless_images/sampling_2D_USM_host.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+// REQUIRES: cuda
+// REQUIRES: aspect-ext_oneapi_bindless_images_2d_usm
+
+// RUN: %{build} -o %t.out
+// RUN: %{run-unfiltered-devices} %t.out
+
+#include <cmath>
+#include <iostream>
+#include <sycl/detail/core.hpp>
+
+#include <sycl/ext/oneapi/bindless_images.hpp>
+#include <sycl/usm.hpp>
+
+// Uncomment to print additional test information
+// #define VERBOSE_PRINT
+
+class image_addition;
+
+int main() {
+
+  sycl::device dev;
+  sycl::queue q(dev);
+  auto ctxt = q.get_context();
+
+  // declare image data
+  size_t width = 5;
+  size_t height = 6;
+  size_t N = width * height;
+  size_t widthInBytes = width * sizeof(float);
+  std::vector<float> out(N);
+  std::vector<float> expected(N);
+  std::vector<float> dataIn(N);
+
+  for (int i = 0; i < width; i++) {
+    for (int j = 0; j < height; j++) {
+      expected[i + (width * j)] = i + (width * j);
+      dataIn[i + (width * j)] = i + (width * j);
+    }
+  }
+
+  try {
+    sycl::ext::oneapi::experimental::bindless_image_sampler samp(
+        sycl::addressing_mode::clamp,
+        sycl::coordinate_normalization_mode::normalized,
+        sycl::filtering_mode::linear);
+
+    // Extension: image descriptor
+    sycl::ext::oneapi::experimental::image_descriptor desc(
+        {width, height}, 1, sycl::image_channel_type::fp32);
+
+    auto devicePitchAlign = dev.get_info<
+        sycl::ext::oneapi::experimental::info::device::image_row_pitch_align>();
+    auto deviceMaxPitch =
+        dev.get_info<sycl::ext::oneapi::experimental::info::device::
+                         max_image_linear_row_pitch>();
+
+    // Pitch requirements:
+    //  - pitch % devicePitchAlign == 0
+    //  - pitch >= widthInBytes
+    //  - pitch <= deviceMaxPitch
+    size_t pitch = devicePitchAlign *
+                   std::ceil(float(widthInBytes) / float(devicePitchAlign));
+    assert(pitch <= deviceMaxPitch);
+
+    // Host USM allocation
+    auto imgMem =
+        sycl::aligned_alloc_host(devicePitchAlign, (pitch * height), ctxt);
+
+    if (imgMem == nullptr) {
+      std::cerr << "Error allocating images!" << std::endl;
+      return 1;
+    }
+
+    // Copy to host USM and incorporate pitch
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < height; i++) {
+      memcpy(static_cast<float *>(imgMem) + (i * pitch / sizeof(float)),
+             dataIn.data() + (i * width), widthInBytes);
+    }
+
+    // Extension: create the image and return the handle
+    sycl::ext::oneapi::experimental::sampled_image_handle imgHandle =
+        sycl::ext::oneapi::experimental::create_image(imgMem, pitch, samp, desc,
+                                                      dev, ctxt);
+
+    sycl::buffer<float, 2> buf((float *)out.data(),
+                               sycl::range<2>{height, width});
+    q.submit([&](sycl::handler &cgh) {
+      auto outAcc = buf.get_access<sycl::access_mode::write>(
+          cgh, sycl::range<2>{height, width});
+
+      cgh.parallel_for<image_addition>(
+          sycl::nd_range<2>{{width, height}, {width, height}},
+          [=](sycl::nd_item<2> it) {
+            size_t dim0 = it.get_local_id(0);
+            size_t dim1 = it.get_local_id(1);
+
+            // Normalize coordinates -- +0.5 to look towards centre of pixel
+            float fdim0 = float(dim0 + 0.5f) / (float)width;
+            float fdim1 = float(dim1 + 0.5f) / (float)height;
+
+            // Extension: sample image data from handle
+            float px = sycl::ext::oneapi::experimental::sample_image<float>(
+                imgHandle, sycl::float2(fdim0, fdim1));
+
+            outAcc[sycl::id<2>{dim1, dim0}] = px;
+          });
+    });
+
+    q.wait_and_throw();
+
+    // Extension: cleanup
+    sycl::ext::oneapi::experimental::destroy_image_handle(imgHandle, dev, ctxt);
+    sycl::free(imgMem, ctxt);
+  } catch (sycl::exception e) {
+    std::cerr << "SYCL exception caught! : " << e.what() << "\n";
+    return 1;
+  } catch (...) {
+    std::cerr << "Unknown exception caught!\n";
+    return 2;
+  }
+
+  // collect and validate output
+  bool validated = true;
+  for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
+    bool mismatch = false;
+    if (out[i] != expected[i]) {
+      mismatch = true;
+      validated = false;
+    }
+
+    if (mismatch) {
+#ifdef VERBOSE_PRINT
+      std::cout << "Result mismatch! Expected: " << expected[i]
+                << ", Actual: " << out[i] << std::endl;
+#else
+      break;
+#endif
+    }
+  }
+  if (validated) {
+    std::cout << "Test passed!" << std::endl;
+    return 0;
+  }
+
+  std::cout << "Test failed!" << std::endl;
+  return 3;
+}