diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/deploy_k8s.py b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/deploy_k8s.py
index ac4acf7e..4a21d385 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/deploy_k8s.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/deploy_k8s.py
@@ -833,16 +833,11 @@ class K8sDeployer(Deployer):
             actual_cluster = create_cluster(self.kind_cluster_name, kind_config)
             if actual_cluster != self.kind_cluster_name:
                 self.kind_cluster_name = actual_cluster
-            # Only load locally-built images into kind
-            local_containers = self.deployment_context.stack.obj.get("containers", [])
-            if local_containers:
-                local_images = {
-                    img
-                    for img in self.cluster_info.image_set
-                    if any(c in img for c in local_containers)
-                }
-                if local_images:
-                    load_images_into_kind(self.kind_cluster_name, local_images)
+            # Pre-load images into kind so pods can use them with
+            # imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent before the registry is consulted.
+            images_to_preload = set((self.image_overrides or {}).values())
+            if images_to_preload:
+                load_images_into_kind(self.kind_cluster_name, images_to_preload)
         elif self.is_kind():
             # --skip-cluster-management (default): cluster must already exist.
             # Without this check, connect_api() below raises a cryptic