diff --git a/Sources/ContainerCommands/Image/ImageLoad.swift b/Sources/ContainerCommands/Image/ImageLoad.swift
index e5b4f497..265e89ff 100644
--- a/Sources/ContainerCommands/Image/ImageLoad.swift
+++ b/Sources/ContainerCommands/Image/ImageLoad.swift
@@ -34,14 +34,35 @@ extension Application {
             transform: { str in
                 URL(fileURLWithPath: str, relativeTo: .currentDirectory()).absoluteURL.path(percentEncoded: false)
             })
-        var input: String
+        var input: String?
 
         @OptionGroup
         var global: Flags.Global
 
         public func run() async throws {
-            guard FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: input) else {
-                print("File does not exist \(input)")
+            let tempFile = FileManager.default.temporaryDirectory.appendingPathComponent("temp-file.tar")
+            if input == nil {
+                guard FileManager.default.createFile(atPath: tempFile.path(), contents: nil) else {
+                    throw ContainerizationError(.internalError, message: "unable to create temporary file")
+                }
+
+                guard let outputHandle = try? FileHandle(forWritingTo: tempFile) else {
+                    throw ContainerizationError(.internalError, message: "unable to open temporary file for writing")
+                }
+
+                let bufferSize = 4096
+                while true {
+                    let chunk = FileHandle.standardInput.readData(ofLength: bufferSize)
+                    if chunk.isEmpty { break }
+                    outputHandle.write(chunk)
+                }
+            }
+            defer {
+                try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: tempFile)
+            }
+
+            guard FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: input ?? tempFile.path()) else {
+                print("File does not exist \(input ?? tempFile.path())")
                 Application.exit(withError: ArgumentParser.ExitCode(1))
             }
 
@@ -57,7 +78,7 @@ extension Application {
             progress.start()
 
             progress.set(description: "Loading tar archive")
-            let loaded = try await ClientImage.load(from: input)
+            let loaded = try await ClientImage.load(from: input ?? tempFile.path())
 
             let taskManager = ProgressTaskCoordinator()
             let unpackTask = await taskManager.startTask()
diff --git a/Sources/ContainerCommands/Image/ImageSave.swift b/Sources/ContainerCommands/Image/ImageSave.swift
index 3ef7c41e..515a9354 100644
--- a/Sources/ContainerCommands/Image/ImageSave.swift
+++ b/Sources/ContainerCommands/Image/ImageSave.swift
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ extension Application {
             transform: { str in
                 URL(fileURLWithPath: str, relativeTo: .currentDirectory()).absoluteURL.path(percentEncoded: false)
             })
-        var output: String
+        var output: String?
 
         @Option(
             help: "Platform for the saved image (format: os/arch[/variant], takes precedence over --os and --arch)"
@@ -90,7 +90,30 @@ extension Application {
                 throw ContainerizationError(.invalidArgument, message: "failed to save image(s)")
 
             }
-            try await ClientImage.save(references: references, out: output, platform: p)
+
+            let tempFile = FileManager.default.temporaryDirectory.appendingPathComponent("temp-file.tar")
+            guard FileManager.default.createFile(atPath: tempFile.path(), contents: nil) else {
+                throw ContainerizationError(.internalError, message: "unable to create temporary file")
+            }
+            
+            defer {
+                try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: tempFile)
+            }
+            
+            try await ClientImage.save(references: references, out: output ?? tempFile.path(), platform: p)
+            
+            if output == nil {
+                guard let outputHandle = try? FileHandle(forReadingFrom: tempFile) else {
+                    throw ContainerizationError(.internalError, message: "unable to open temporary file for reading")
+                }
+                
+                let bufferSize = 4096
+                while true {
+                    let chunk = outputHandle.readData(ofLength: bufferSize)
+                    if chunk.isEmpty { break }
+                    FileHandle.standardOutput.write(chunk)
+                }
+            }
 
             progress.finish()
             for reference in references {