diff --git a/Sources/tart/Commands/Pull.swift b/Sources/tart/Commands/Pull.swift
index d14bc9b..02c5e29 100644
--- a/Sources/tart/Commands/Pull.swift
+++ b/Sources/tart/Commands/Pull.swift
@@ -47,8 +47,5 @@ struct Pull: AsyncParsableCommand {
     defaultLogger.appendNewLine("pulling \(remoteName)...")
 
     try await VMStorageOCI().pull(remoteName, registry: registry, concurrency: concurrency, deduplicate: deduplicate)
-
-    // to explicitly set the image as being accessed so it won't get pruned immediately
-    _ = try VMStorageOCI().open(remoteName)
   }
 }
diff --git a/Sources/tart/VMStorageOCI.swift b/Sources/tart/VMStorageOCI.swift
index 71009fa..86896d4 100644
--- a/Sources/tart/VMStorageOCI.swift
+++ b/Sources/tart/VMStorageOCI.swift
@@ -239,6 +239,9 @@ class VMStorageOCI: PrunableStorage {
       // are excluded from garbage collection
       VMDirectory(baseURL: vmURL(name)).markExplicitlyPulled()
     }
+
+    // to explicitly set the image as being accessed so it won't get pruned immediately
+    _ = try VMStorageOCI().open(name)
   }
 
   func linked(from: RemoteName, to: RemoteName) -> Bool {