diff --git a/cmd/nerdctl/container/container_commit_test.go b/cmd/nerdctl/container/container_commit_test.go
index 9382a782d7a..144180f79c2 100644
--- a/cmd/nerdctl/container/container_commit_test.go
+++ b/cmd/nerdctl/container/container_commit_test.go
@@ -36,6 +36,12 @@ func TestCommit(t *testing.T) {
 				helpers.Anyhow("rmi", "-f", data.Identifier())
 			},
 			Setup: func(data test.Data, helpers test.Helpers) {
+				// FIXME: short of pulling first, docker will fail to start the container.
+				// Debugging shows container exited immediately. Nothing in the container logs. Not much in journalctl.
+				// It is not clear what is happening.
+				if nerdtest.IsDocker() {
+					helpers.Ensure("pull", testutil.CommonImage)
+				}
 				helpers.Ensure("run", "-d", "--name", data.Identifier(), testutil.CommonImage, "sleep", "infinity")
 				nerdtest.EnsureContainerStarted(helpers, data.Identifier())
 				helpers.Ensure("exec", data.Identifier(), "sh", "-euxc", `echo hello-test-commit > /foo`)
@@ -59,6 +65,10 @@ func TestCommit(t *testing.T) {
 				helpers.Anyhow("rmi", "-f", data.Identifier())
 			},
 			Setup: func(data test.Data, helpers test.Helpers) {
+				// See note above about docker failing.
+				if nerdtest.IsDocker() {
+					helpers.Ensure("pull", testutil.CommonImage)
+				}
 				helpers.Ensure("run", "-d", "--name", data.Identifier(), testutil.CommonImage, "sleep", "infinity")
 				nerdtest.EnsureContainerStarted(helpers, data.Identifier())
 				helpers.Ensure("exec", data.Identifier(), "sh", "-euxc", `echo hello-test-commit > /foo`)