diff --git a/inputs/test/test_containers.py b/inputs/test/test_containers.py
index 72dfc45c..5417e69a 100644
--- a/inputs/test/test_containers.py
+++ b/inputs/test/test_containers.py
@@ -2,9 +2,7 @@
 
 import os
 import pathlib
-import random
 import socket
-import string
 import subprocess
 import tempfile
 
@@ -29,8 +27,7 @@ class FakeStoreClient:
 @pytest.mark.skipif(not has_executable("podman"), reason="no podman executable")
 @pytest.mark.skipif(os.getuid() != 0, reason="root only")
 def test_containers_local_inputs_integration(tmp_path, inputs_module):
-    base_tag = "container-" + "".join(random.choices(string.digits, k=12))
-    with make_container(tmp_path, base_tag, {"file1": "file1 content"}):
+    with make_container(tmp_path, {"file1": "file1 content"}) as base_tag:
         image_id = subprocess.check_output(
             ["podman", "inspect", "-f", "{{ .Id }}", base_tag],
             universal_newlines=True).strip()
diff --git a/osbuild/testutil/__init__.py b/osbuild/testutil/__init__.py
index 3c947804..f6c4eb6b 100644
--- a/osbuild/testutil/__init__.py
+++ b/osbuild/testutil/__init__.py
@@ -81,8 +81,9 @@ def mock_command(cmd_name: str, script: str):
 
 
 @contextlib.contextmanager
-def make_container(tmp_path, tag, fake_content, base="scratch"):
+def make_container(tmp_path, fake_content, base="scratch"):
     fake_container_src = tmp_path / "fake-container-src"
+    fake_container_src.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
     make_fake_tree(fake_container_src, fake_content)
     fake_containerfile_path = fake_container_src / "Containerfile"
     container_file_content = f"""
@@ -90,16 +91,22 @@ def make_container(tmp_path, tag, fake_content, base="scratch"):
     COPY . .
     """
     fake_containerfile_path.write_text(container_file_content, encoding="utf8")
-    subprocess.check_call([
+    p = subprocess.Popen([
         "podman", "build",
         "--no-cache",
         "-f", os.fspath(fake_containerfile_path),
-        "-t", tag,
-    ])
+    ], universal_newlines=True, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+    while True:
+        line = p.stdout.readline()
+        if line == "":
+            break
+        print(line)
+        container_id = line.strip()
+    p.wait()
     try:
-        yield
+        yield container_id
     finally:
-        subprocess.check_call(["podman", "image", "rm", tag])
+        subprocess.check_call(["podman", "image", "rm", container_id])
 
 
 @contextlib.contextmanager
diff --git a/sources/test/test_container_storage_source.py b/sources/test/test_container_storage_source.py
index 5acc7ba8..7eeec1ce 100644
--- a/sources/test/test_container_storage_source.py
+++ b/sources/test/test_container_storage_source.py
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/python3
 
 import os
-import random
 import socket
-import string
 import subprocess
 
 import pytest
@@ -16,10 +14,9 @@ SOURCES_NAME = "org.osbuild.containers-storage"
 @pytest.mark.skipif(not has_executable("podman"), reason="no podman executable")
 @pytest.mark.skipif(os.getuid() != 0, reason="root only")
 def test_containers_storage_integration(tmp_path, sources_module):
-    base_tag = "container-" + "".join(random.choices(string.digits, k=12))
-    with make_container(tmp_path, base_tag, {
+    with make_container(tmp_path, {
         "file1": "file1 content",
-    }):
+    }) as base_tag:
         image_id = subprocess.check_output(["podman", "inspect", "-f", "{{ .Id }}", base_tag],
                                            universal_newlines=True).strip()
         checksum = f"sha256:{image_id}"
diff --git a/stages/test/test_container_deploy.py b/stages/test/test_container_deploy.py
index fb18c438..02a11795 100644
--- a/stages/test/test_container_deploy.py
+++ b/stages/test/test_container_deploy.py
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 
 import os
 import os.path
-import random
-import string
 import subprocess
 import textwrap
 from unittest.mock import call, patch
@@ -21,10 +19,8 @@ STAGE_NAME = "org.osbuild.container-deploy"
 def test_container_deploy_integration(tmp_path, stage_module):
     # build two containers and overlay files to test for
     # https://github.com/containers/storage/issues/1779
-    base_tag = "cont-base-" + "".join(random.choices(string.digits, k=12))
-    with make_container(tmp_path, base_tag, {"file1": "file1 from base"}):
-        cont_tag = "cont" + "".join(random.choices(string.digits, k=12))
-        with make_container(tmp_path, cont_tag, {"file1": "file1 from final layer"}, base_tag):
+    with make_container(tmp_path, {"file1": "file1 from base"}) as base_tag:
+        with make_container(tmp_path, {"file1": "file1 from final layer"}, base_tag) as cont_tag:
             # export for the container-deploy stage
             fake_container_dst = tmp_path / "fake-container"
             subprocess.check_call([
@@ -63,13 +59,12 @@ def test_container_deploy_integration(tmp_path, stage_module):
 @pytest.mark.skipif(os.getuid() != 0, reason="needs root")
 @pytest.mark.skipif(not has_executable("podman"), reason="no podman executable")
 def test_container_deploy_exclude(tmp_path, stage_module):
-    base_tag = "cont-base-" + "".join(random.choices(string.digits, k=12))
-    with make_container(tmp_path, base_tag, {
+    with make_container(tmp_path, {
         "file1": "file1 content",
         "file2": "file2 content",
         "dir1/file3": "dir1/file3 content",
         "dir2/file4": "dir2/file4 content",
-    }):
+    }) as base_tag:
         # export for the container-deploy stage
         fake_container_dst = tmp_path / "fake-container"
         subprocess.check_call([
diff --git a/test/mod/test_testutil_make_container.py b/test/mod/test_testutil_make_container.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2c8a7717
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/mod/test_testutil_make_container.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#
+# Tests for the 'osbuild.util.testutil.make_container'.
+#
+import subprocess
+import textwrap
+
+import pytest
+
+from osbuild.testutil import has_executable, make_container, mock_command
+
+
+def test_make_container_bad_podman_prints_podman_output(tmp_path, capsys):
+    fake_broken_podman = textwrap.dedent("""\
+    #!/bin/sh
+    echo fake-broken-podman
+    exit 1
+    """)
+    with mock_command("podman", fake_broken_podman):
+        with pytest.raises(subprocess.CalledProcessError):
+            with make_container(tmp_path, {}) as _:
+                pass
+    assert "fake-broken-podman" in capsys.readouterr().out
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(not has_executable("podman"), reason="no podman executable")
+def test_make_container_integration(tmp_path, capsys):
+    with make_container(tmp_path, {"/etc/foo": "foo-content"}) as cref:
+        assert len(cref) == 64
+    assert "COMMIT" in capsys.readouterr().out