diff --git a/integration/run_test.go b/integration/run_test.go
index 33e4c35c7ed..5409b8da40e 100644
--- a/integration/run_test.go
+++ b/integration/run_test.go
@@ -104,6 +104,17 @@ var tests = []struct {
 		dir:         "examples/bazel",
 		pods:        []string{"bazel"},
 	},
+	{
+		description: "bazel oci",
+		dir:         "testdata/bazel-rules-oci",
+		deployments: []string{"helloweb"},
+	},
+	{
+		description: "bazel oci sub-directory",
+		dir:         "testdata/bazel-rules-oci",
+		args:        []string{"-p", "target-with-package"},
+		deployments: []string{"helloweb"},
+	},
 	{
 		description: "jib",
 		dir:         "testdata/jib",
diff --git a/integration/testdata/bazel-rules-oci/BUILD b/integration/testdata/bazel-rules-oci/BUILD
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..821f8c599d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration/testdata/bazel-rules-oci/BUILD
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+load("@rules_oci//oci:defs.bzl", "oci_tarball")
+
+oci_tarball(
+    name = "hello.tar",
+    image = "@hello//:hello",
+    repo_tags = ["hello:latest"],
+)
diff --git a/integration/testdata/bazel-rules-oci/WORKSPACE b/integration/testdata/bazel-rules-oci/WORKSPACE
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..07e22a13b7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration/testdata/bazel-rules-oci/WORKSPACE
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+load("@bazel_tools//tools/build_defs/repo:http.bzl", "http_archive")
+
+http_archive(
+    name = "rules_oci",
+    sha256 = "db57efd706f01eb3ce771468366baa1614b5b25f4cce99757e2b8d942155b8ec",
+    strip_prefix = "rules_oci-1.0.0",
+    url = "https://github.com/bazel-contrib/rules_oci/releases/download/v1.0.0/rules_oci-v1.0.0.tar.gz",
+)
+
+load("@rules_oci//oci:dependencies.bzl", "rules_oci_dependencies")
+
+rules_oci_dependencies()
+
+load("@rules_oci//oci:repositories.bzl", "LATEST_CRANE_VERSION", "LATEST_ZOT_VERSION", "oci_register_toolchains")
+
+oci_register_toolchains(
+    name = "oci",
+    crane_version = LATEST_CRANE_VERSION,
+    # Uncommenting the zot toolchain will cause it to be used instead of crane for some tasks.
+    # Note that it does not support docker-format images.
+    # zot_version = LATEST_ZOT_VERSION,
+)
+
+load("@rules_oci//oci:pull.bzl", "oci_pull")
+
+oci_pull(
+    name = "hello",
+    digest = "sha256:845f77fab71033404f4cfceaa1ddb27b70c3551ceb22a5e7f4498cdda6c9daea",
+    image = "us-docker.pkg.dev/google-samples/containers/gke/hello-app",
+)
diff --git a/integration/testdata/bazel-rules-oci/deploy.yaml b/integration/testdata/bazel-rules-oci/deploy.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..528f39217a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration/testdata/bazel-rules-oci/deploy.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: helloweb
+  labels:
+    app: hello
+spec:
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app: hello
+      tier: web
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app: hello
+        tier: web
+    spec:
+      containers:
+      - name: hello-app
+        image: hello-image
+        ports:
+        - containerPort: 8080
+        resources:
+          requests:
+            cpu: 200m
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/integration/testdata/bazel-rules-oci/skaffold.yaml b/integration/testdata/bazel-rules-oci/skaffold.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6ebf5795977
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration/testdata/bazel-rules-oci/skaffold.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+apiVersion: skaffold/v4beta5
+kind: Config
+metadata:
+  name: hello
+build:
+  tagPolicy:
+    sha256: {}
+  artifacts:
+    - image: hello-image
+      bazel:
+        target: //:hello.tar
+deploy:
+  kubectl: {}
+manifests:
+  rawYaml:
+    - "deploy.yaml"
+profiles:
+  - name: target-with-package
+    build:
+      artifacts:
+        - image: hello-image
+          bazel:
+            target: //sub-dir:hello.tar
diff --git a/integration/testdata/bazel-rules-oci/sub-dir/BUILD b/integration/testdata/bazel-rules-oci/sub-dir/BUILD
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..14dd5caba2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration/testdata/bazel-rules-oci/sub-dir/BUILD
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+load("@rules_oci//oci:defs.bzl", "oci_tarball")
+
+oci_tarball(
+    name = "hello.tar",
+    image = "@hello//:hello",
+    repo_tags = ["hello-whatever:latest"],
+)
diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/build/bazel/build.go b/pkg/skaffold/build/bazel/build.go
index ae10565fc6b..ec6db37142a 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/build/bazel/build.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/build/bazel/build.go
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/tarball"
+
 	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold/v2/pkg/skaffold/docker"
 	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold/v2/pkg/skaffold/output"
 	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold/v2/pkg/skaffold/output/log"
@@ -51,7 +53,7 @@ func (b *Builder) Build(ctx context.Context, out io.Writer, artifact *latest.Art
 	if b.pushImages {
 		return docker.Push(tarPath, tag, b.cfg, nil)
 	}
-	return b.loadImage(ctx, out, tarPath, a, tag)
+	return b.loadImage(ctx, out, tarPath, tag)
 }
 
 func (b *Builder) SupportedPlatforms() platform.Matcher { return platform.All }
@@ -88,14 +90,22 @@ func (b *Builder) buildTar(ctx context.Context, out io.Writer, workspace string,
 	return tarPath, nil
 }
 
-func (b *Builder) loadImage(ctx context.Context, out io.Writer, tarPath string, a *latest.BazelArtifact, tag string) (string, error) {
+func (b *Builder) loadImage(ctx context.Context, out io.Writer, tarPath string, tag string) (string, error) {
+	manifest, err := tarball.LoadManifest(func() (io.ReadCloser, error) {
+		return os.Open(tarPath)
+	})
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("loading manifest from tarball failed: %w", err)
+	}
+
 	imageTar, err := os.Open(tarPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("opening image tarball: %w", err)
 	}
 	defer imageTar.Close()
 
-	bazelTag := buildImageTag(a.BuildTarget)
+	bazelTag := manifest[0].RepoTags[0]
 	imageID, err := b.localDocker.Load(ctx, out, imageTar, bazelTag)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("loading image into docker daemon: %w", err)
@@ -143,26 +153,3 @@ func bazelTarPath(ctx context.Context, workspace string, a *latest.BazelArtifact
 
 	return filepath.Join(execRoot, targetPath), nil
 }
-
-func trimTarget(buildTarget string) string {
-	// TODO(r2d4): strip off leading //:, bad
-	trimmedTarget := strings.TrimPrefix(buildTarget, "//")
-	// Useful if root target "//:target"
-	trimmedTarget = strings.TrimPrefix(trimmedTarget, ":")
-
-	return trimmedTarget
-}
-
-func buildImageTag(buildTarget string) string {
-	imageTag := trimTarget(buildTarget)
-	imageTag = strings.TrimPrefix(imageTag, ":")
-
-	// TODO(r2d4): strip off trailing .tar, even worse
-	imageTag = strings.TrimSuffix(imageTag, ".tar")
-
-	if strings.Contains(imageTag, ":") {
-		return fmt.Sprintf("bazel/%s", imageTag)
-	}
-
-	return fmt.Sprintf("bazel:%s", imageTag)
-}
diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/build/bazel/build_test.go b/pkg/skaffold/build/bazel/build_test.go
index 6c746290137..ea2e2cca22e 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/build/bazel/build_test.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/build/bazel/build_test.go
@@ -128,14 +128,6 @@ func TestBazelTarPath(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
-func TestBuildImageTag(t *testing.T) {
-	buildTarget := "//:skaffold_example.tar"
-
-	imageTag := buildImageTag(buildTarget)
-
-	testutil.CheckDeepEqual(t, "bazel:skaffold_example", imageTag)
-}
-
 func fakeLocalDaemon() docker.LocalDaemon {
 	return docker.NewLocalDaemon(&testutil.FakeAPIClient{}, nil, false, nil)
 }
diff --git a/testutil/fake_image_api.go b/testutil/fake_image_api.go
index a63916aaf99..d01887f9ba8 100644
--- a/testutil/fake_image_api.go
+++ b/testutil/fake_image_api.go
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"math"
-	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
@@ -32,6 +31,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/docker/docker/api/types/registry"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/client"
 	reg "github.com/docker/docker/registry"
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/name"
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/random"
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/tarball"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/go-digest"
 	v1 "github.com/opencontainers/image-spec/specs-go/v1"
 )
@@ -307,16 +309,25 @@ func (f *FakeAPIClient) DiskUsage(ctx context.Context) (types.DiskUsage, error)
 
 func (f *FakeAPIClient) Close() error { return nil }
 
-// TODO(dgageot): create something that looks more like an actual tar file.
 func CreateFakeImageTar(ref string, path string) error {
-	return os.WriteFile(path, []byte(ref), os.ModePerm)
+	image, err := random.Image(1024, 1)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create fake image %w", err)
+	}
+	reference, err := name.ParseReference(ref)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to parse reference %w", err)
+	}
+	return tarball.WriteToFile(path, reference, image)
 }
 
 func ReadRefFromFakeTar(input io.Reader) (string, error) {
-	buf, err := io.ReadAll(input)
+	manifest, err := tarball.LoadManifest(func() (io.ReadCloser, error) {
+		return io.NopCloser(input), nil
+	})
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("reading tar")
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("loading manifest %w", err)
 	}
 
-	return string(buf), nil
+	return manifest[0].RepoTags[0], nil
 }