diff --git a/docs/user-guide/images.md b/docs/user-guide/images.md
index 92d04fb9f96..eddbba6d46a 100644
--- a/docs/user-guide/images.md
+++ b/docs/user-guide/images.md
@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ pull an image if it already exists. If you would like to always force a pull
 you must set a pull image policy of `Always` or specify a `:latest` tag on
 your image.
 
+If you did not specify tag of your image, it will be assumed as `:latest`, with
+pull image policy of `Always` correspondingly.
+
 ## Using a Private Registry
 
 Private registries may require keys to read images from them.
diff --git a/pkg/api/v1/defaults.go b/pkg/api/v1/defaults.go
index 68ce75bb951..88da9c442a6 100644
--- a/pkg/api/v1/defaults.go
+++ b/pkg/api/v1/defaults.go
@@ -17,11 +17,10 @@ limitations under the License.
 package v1
 
 import (
-	"strings"
-
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/intstr"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/parsers"
 )
 
 func addDefaultingFuncs() {
@@ -59,10 +58,10 @@ func addDefaultingFuncs() {
 		},
 		func(obj *Container) {
 			if obj.ImagePullPolicy == "" {
-				// TODO(dchen1107): Move ParseImageName code to pkg/util
-				parts := strings.Split(obj.Image, ":")
+				_, tag := parsers.ParseImageName(obj.Image)
 				// Check image tag
-				if parts[len(parts)-1] == "latest" {
+
+				if tag == "latest" {
 					obj.ImagePullPolicy = PullAlways
 				} else {
 					obj.ImagePullPolicy = PullIfNotPresent
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/config/file_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/config/file_test.go
index 0f2e9ea9ec5..be30c035a88 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/config/file_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/config/file_test.go
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ func TestReadPodsFromFile(t *testing.T) {
 						Name:  "image",
 						Image: "test/image",
 						TerminationMessagePath: "/dev/termination-log",
-						ImagePullPolicy:        "IfNotPresent",
+						ImagePullPolicy:        "Always",
 						SecurityContext:        securitycontext.ValidSecurityContextWithContainerDefaults()}},
 					SecurityContext: &api.PodSecurityContext{},
 				},
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/config/http_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/config/http_test.go
index f257bc3fc68..7a40140c127 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/config/http_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/config/http_test.go
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ func TestExtractPodsFromHTTP(t *testing.T) {
 						},
 						Spec: api.PodSpec{
 							NodeName:        hostname,
-							Containers:      []api.Container{{Name: "2", Image: "bar", ImagePullPolicy: ""}},
+							Containers:      []api.Container{{Name: "2", Image: "bar:bartag", ImagePullPolicy: ""}},
 							SecurityContext: &api.PodSecurityContext{},
 						},
 					},
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ func TestExtractPodsFromHTTP(t *testing.T) {
 
 						Containers: []api.Container{{
 							Name:  "2",
-							Image: "bar",
+							Image: "bar:bartag",
 							TerminationMessagePath: "/dev/termination-log",
 							ImagePullPolicy:        "IfNotPresent",
 						}},
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/dockertools/docker.go b/pkg/kubelet/dockertools/docker.go
index 640742e1842..96235ef2a3f 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/dockertools/docker.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/dockertools/docker.go
@@ -132,12 +132,8 @@ func filterHTTPError(err error, image string) error {
 }
 
 func (p dockerPuller) Pull(image string, secrets []api.Secret) error {
-	repoToPull, tag := parsers.ParseImageName(image)
-
 	// If no tag was specified, use the default "latest".
-	if len(tag) == 0 {
-		tag = "latest"
-	}
+	repoToPull, tag := parsers.ParseImageName(image)
 
 	opts := docker.PullImageOptions{
 		Repository: repoToPull,