diff --git a/tools/osbuilder/rootfs-builder/rootfs.sh b/tools/osbuilder/rootfs-builder/rootfs.sh
index 2a620ac87e..b5d90ecf6c 100755
--- a/tools/osbuilder/rootfs-builder/rootfs.sh
+++ b/tools/osbuilder/rootfs-builder/rootfs.sh
@@ -388,10 +388,13 @@ build_rootfs_distro()
 			engine_build_args+=" --build-arg IMAGE_REGISTRY=${IMAGE_REGISTRY}"
 		fi
 
+		skopeo_version="$(get_package_version_from_kata_yaml externals.skopeo.version)"
+
 		# setup to install rust here
 		generate_dockerfile "${distro_config_dir}"
 		"$container_engine" build  \
 			${engine_build_args} \
+			--build-arg SKOPEO_VERSION="${skopeo_version}" \
 			--build-arg http_proxy="${http_proxy}" \
 			--build-arg https_proxy="${https_proxy}" \
 			-t "${image_name}" "${distro_config_dir}"
diff --git a/tools/osbuilder/rootfs-builder/ubuntu/Dockerfile.in b/tools/osbuilder/rootfs-builder/ubuntu/Dockerfile.in
index d1cf0b9da2..0fc545807b 100644
--- a/tools/osbuilder/rootfs-builder/ubuntu/Dockerfile.in
+++ b/tools/osbuilder/rootfs-builder/ubuntu/Dockerfile.in
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ ARG IMAGE_REGISTRY=docker.io
 FROM ${IMAGE_REGISTRY}/golang:1.18 AS skopeo
 @SET_PROXY@
 WORKDIR /skopeo
-ARG SKOPEO_VERSION="1.9.1"
+ARG SKOPEO_VERSION
 RUN curl -fsSL "https://github.com/containers/skopeo/archive/v${SKOPEO_VERSION}.tar.gz" \
   | tar -xzf - --strip-components=1
 RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 DISABLE_DOCS=1 make BUILDTAGS=containers_image_openpgp GO_DYN_FLAGS=