diff --git a/packages/testcontainers/src/generic-container/generic-container-builder.ts b/packages/testcontainers/src/generic-container/generic-container-builder.ts
index 06a23d56b..74d254b2f 100644
--- a/packages/testcontainers/src/generic-container/generic-container-builder.ts
+++ b/packages/testcontainers/src/generic-container/generic-container-builder.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { AuthConfig, BuildArgs, RegistryConfig } from "../types";
+import type { ImageBuildOptions } from "dockerode";
 import path from "path";
 import { GenericContainer } from "./generic-container";
 import { ImagePullPolicy, PullPolicy } from "../utils/pull-policy";
@@ -62,16 +63,22 @@ export class GenericContainerBuilder {
     }
 
     log.info(`Building Dockerfile "${dockerfile}" as image "${imageName.string}"...`);
-    await client.image.build(this.context, {
+
+    const buildOptions: ImageBuildOptions = {
       t: imageName.string,
       dockerfile: this.dockerfileName,
       buildargs: this.buildArgs,
-      pull: this.pullPolicy ? "true" : undefined,
       nocache: !this.cache,
       registryconfig: registryConfig,
       labels,
       target: this.target,
-    });
+    };
+
+    if (this.pullPolicy.shouldPull()) {
+      buildOptions.pull = "true";
+    }
+
+    await client.image.build(this.context, buildOptions);
 
     const container = new GenericContainer(imageName.string);
     if (!(await client.image.exists(imageName))) {
diff --git a/packages/testcontainers/src/generic-container/generic-container-dockerfile.test.ts b/packages/testcontainers/src/generic-container/generic-container-dockerfile.test.ts
index 7f24163ea..dcdc2e294 100644
--- a/packages/testcontainers/src/generic-container/generic-container-dockerfile.test.ts
+++ b/packages/testcontainers/src/generic-container/generic-container-dockerfile.test.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { GenericContainer } from "./generic-container";
 import { Wait } from "../wait-strategies/wait";
 import { PullPolicy } from "../utils/pull-policy";
 import { RandomUuid } from "../common";
-import { getContainerRuntimeClient } from "../container-runtime";
+import { ImageName, getContainerRuntimeClient } from "../container-runtime";
 import { getReaper } from "../reaper/reaper";
 import { LABEL_TESTCONTAINERS_SESSION_ID } from "../utils/labels";
 import {
@@ -70,6 +70,25 @@ describe("GenericContainer Dockerfile", () => {
 
       dockerEventStream.destroy();
     });
+
+    it("should not pull existing image without pull policy", async () => {
+      const client = await getContainerRuntimeClient();
+      await client.image.pull(new ImageName("docker.io", "node", "10-alpine"));
+
+      const dockerfile = path.resolve(fixtures, "docker");
+      const containerSpec = GenericContainer.fromDockerfile(dockerfile);
+
+      await containerSpec.build();
+      const dockerEventStream = await getDockerEventStream();
+      const dockerPullEventPromise = waitForDockerEvent(dockerEventStream, "pull");
+      let hasResolved = false;
+      dockerPullEventPromise.then(() => (hasResolved = true));
+      await containerSpec.build();
+
+      expect(hasResolved).toBeFalsy();
+
+      dockerEventStream.destroy();
+    });
   }
 
   it("should build and start with custom file name", async () => {