diff --git a/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose.go b/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose.go
index f31256f86..25f8aff6d 100644
--- a/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose.go
+++ b/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose.go
@@ -4,16 +4,17 @@ package v2
 import (
 	"crypto/rand"
 	"fmt"
-	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/distrofactory"
-	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/rhsm/facts"
-	"github.com/osbuild/osbuild-composer/internal/target"
 	"math"
 	"math/big"
 	"reflect"
 
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/disk"
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/distrofactory"
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/reporegistry"
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/rhsm/facts"
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/subscription"
 	"github.com/osbuild/osbuild-composer/internal/blueprint"
+	"github.com/osbuild/osbuild-composer/internal/target"
 )
 
 // Return the string representation of the partitioning mode
@@ -944,7 +945,7 @@ func (request *ComposeRequest) GetPartitioningMode() (disk.PartitioningMode, err
 
 // GetImageRequests converts a composeRequest structure from the API to an intermediate imageRequest structure
 // that's used for generating manifests and orchestrating worker jobs.
-func (request *ComposeRequest) GetImageRequests(distroFactory *distrofactory.Factory) ([]imageRequest, error) {
+func (request *ComposeRequest) GetImageRequests(distroFactory *distrofactory.Factory, repoRegistry *reporegistry.RepoRegistry) ([]imageRequest, error) {
 	distribution := distroFactory.GetDistro(request.Distribution)
 	if distribution == nil {
 		return nil, HTTPError(ErrorUnsupportedDistribution)
@@ -1002,6 +1003,15 @@ func (request *ComposeRequest) GetImageRequests(distroFactory *distrofactory.Fac
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
+		// If no repositories are included with the imageRequest use the defaults for the distro
+		if len(ir.Repositories) == 0 {
+			dr, err := repoRegistry.ReposByImageTypeName(request.Distribution, arch.Name(), imageType.Name())
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			repos = append(repos, dr...)
+		}
+
 		// Get the initial ImageOptions with image size set
 		imageOptions := ir.GetImageOptions(imageType, bp)
 
diff --git a/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose_test.go b/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose_test.go
index 7414a871c..ae7e4b1ee 100644
--- a/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose_test.go
+++ b/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose_test.go
@@ -1,14 +1,15 @@
 package v2
 
 import (
-	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/distrofactory"
-	"github.com/osbuild/osbuild-composer/internal/target"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/disk"
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/distrofactory"
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/reporegistry"
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/subscription"
 	"github.com/osbuild/osbuild-composer/internal/blueprint"
 	"github.com/osbuild/osbuild-composer/internal/common"
+	"github.com/osbuild/osbuild-composer/internal/target"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
@@ -647,6 +648,7 @@ func TestGetImageRequests_ImageTypeConversion(t *testing.T) {
 			expectedTargetName: target.TargetNameAWSS3,
 		},
 	}
+
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(string(tt.requestedImageType), func(t *testing.T) {
 			for _, d := range tt.requestedDistros {
@@ -657,16 +659,42 @@ func TestGetImageRequests_ImageTypeConversion(t *testing.T) {
 						Architecture:  "x86_64",
 						ImageType:     tt.requestedImageType,
 						UploadOptions: &uo,
+						Repositories: []Repository{
+							Repository{
+								Baseurl: common.ToPtr("http://example.org/pub/linux/repo"),
+							},
+						},
 					},
 				}
-				got, err := request.GetImageRequests(distrofactory.NewDefault())
+				// NOTE: repoRegistry can be nil as long as ImageRequest.Repositories has data
+				got, err := request.GetImageRequests(distrofactory.NewDefault(), nil)
 				assert.NoError(t, err)
-				assert.Len(t, got, 1)
+				require.Len(t, got, 1)
 				assert.Equal(t, tt.expectedImageType, got[0].imageType.Name())
 
-				assert.Len(t, got[0].targets, 1)
+				require.Len(t, got[0].targets, 1)
 				assert.Equal(t, tt.expectedTargetName, got[0].targets[0].Name)
 			}
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestGetImageRequests_NoRepositories(t *testing.T) {
+	uo := UploadOptions(struct{}{})
+	request := &ComposeRequest{
+		Distribution: "fedora-40",
+		ImageRequest: &ImageRequest{
+			Architecture:  "x86_64",
+			ImageType:     ImageTypesAws,
+			UploadOptions: &uo,
+			Repositories:  []Repository{},
+		},
+	}
+	// NOTE: current directory is the location of this file, back up so it can use ./repositories/
+	rr, err := reporegistry.New([]string{"../../../"})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	got, err := request.GetImageRequests(distrofactory.NewDefault(), rr)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, got, 1)
+	assert.Greater(t, len(got[0].repositories), 0)
+}
diff --git a/internal/cloudapi/v2/handler.go b/internal/cloudapi/v2/handler.go
index c208a9977..3b567d2b1 100644
--- a/internal/cloudapi/v2/handler.go
+++ b/internal/cloudapi/v2/handler.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ package v2
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
-	"github.com/osbuild/osbuild-composer/internal/blueprint"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"strconv"
@@ -17,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/manifest"
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/osbuild"
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/rpmmd"
+	"github.com/osbuild/osbuild-composer/internal/blueprint"
 	"github.com/osbuild/osbuild-composer/internal/common"
 	"github.com/osbuild/osbuild-composer/internal/target"
 	"github.com/osbuild/osbuild-composer/internal/worker"
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ func (h *apiHandlers) PostCompose(ctx echo.Context) error {
 		return HTTPErrorWithInternal(ErrorTenantNotFound, err)
 	}
 
-	irs, err := request.GetImageRequests(h.server.distros)
+	irs, err := request.GetImageRequests(h.server.distros, h.server.repos)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/internal/cloudapi/v2/v2_test.go b/internal/cloudapi/v2/v2_test.go
index 939287392..6e8db3c23 100644
--- a/internal/cloudapi/v2/v2_test.go
+++ b/internal/cloudapi/v2/v2_test.go
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ func newV2Server(t *testing.T, dir string, depsolveChannels []string, enableJWT
 	distros := distrofactory.NewTestDefault()
 	require.NotNil(t, distros)
 
-	// TODO pass it a real path?
 	repos, err := reporegistry.NewTestedDefault()
 	require.Nil(t, err)
 	require.NotNil(t, repos)