diff --git a/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose.go b/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose.go
index f170fac8c..5444901d5 100644
--- a/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose.go
+++ b/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose.go
@@ -967,11 +967,6 @@ 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, repoRegistry *reporegistry.RepoRegistry) ([]imageRequest, error) {
-	distribution := distroFactory.GetDistro(request.Distribution)
-	if distribution == nil {
-		return nil, HTTPError(ErrorUnsupportedDistribution)
-	}
-
 	// OpenAPI enforces blueprint or customization, not both
 	// but check anyway
 	if request.Customizations != nil && request.Blueprint != nil {
@@ -984,6 +979,19 @@ func (request *ComposeRequest) GetImageRequests(distroFactory *distrofactory.Fac
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	// Used when no repositories are included. Must be the original name because it may
+	// be an alias and you cannot map back from the distrofactory to the original string.
+	originalDistroName := request.Distribution
+
+	// If there is a distribution in the blueprint it overrides the request's distro
+	if len(bp.Distro) > 0 {
+		originalDistroName = bp.Distro
+	}
+	distribution := distroFactory.GetDistro(originalDistroName)
+	if distribution == nil {
+		return nil, HTTPError(ErrorUnsupportedDistribution)
+	}
+
 	// add the user-defined repositories only to the depsolve job for the
 	// payload (the packages for the final image)
 	payloadRepositories := request.GetPayloadRepositories()
@@ -1024,9 +1032,10 @@ 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 no repositories are included with the imageRequest use the defaults for
+		// the distro selected by the blueprint, or the compose request.
 		if len(ir.Repositories) == 0 {
-			dr, err := repoRegistry.ReposByImageTypeName(request.Distribution, arch.Name(), imageType.Name())
+			dr, err := repoRegistry.ReposByImageTypeName(originalDistroName, arch.Name(), imageType.Name())
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
diff --git a/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose_test.go b/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose_test.go
index 9f5a81470..d50f9d3ac 100644
--- a/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose_test.go
+++ b/internal/cloudapi/v2/compose_test.go
@@ -708,5 +708,33 @@ func TestGetImageRequests_NoRepositories(t *testing.T) {
 	got, err := request.GetImageRequests(distrofactory.NewDefault(), rr)
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 	require.Len(t, got, 1)
-	assert.Greater(t, len(got[0].repositories), 0)
+	require.Greater(t, len(got[0].repositories), 0)
+	assert.Contains(t, got[0].repositories[0].Metalink, "40")
+}
+
+// TestGetImageRequests_BlueprintDistro test to make sure blueprint distro overrides request distro
+func TestGetImageRequests_BlueprintDistro(t *testing.T) {
+	uo := UploadOptions(struct{}{})
+	request := &ComposeRequest{
+		Distribution: "fedora-40",
+		ImageRequest: &ImageRequest{
+			Architecture:  "x86_64",
+			ImageType:     ImageTypesAws,
+			UploadOptions: &uo,
+			Repositories:  []Repository{},
+		},
+		Blueprint: &Blueprint{
+			Name:   "distro-test",
+			Distro: common.ToPtr("fedora-38"),
+		},
+	}
+	// 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)
+	require.Greater(t, len(got[0].repositories), 0)
+	assert.Contains(t, got[0].repositories[0].Metalink, "38")
+	assert.Equal(t, got[0].blueprint.Distro, "fedora-38")
 }