diff --git a/cmd/skopeo/list_tags.go b/cmd/skopeo/list_tags.go
index 5fc2a06c..58346e9c 100644
--- a/cmd/skopeo/list_tags.go
+++ b/cmd/skopeo/list_tags.go
@@ -84,12 +84,12 @@ func parseDockerRepositoryReference(refString string) (types.ImageReference, err
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("docker: image reference %s does not start with %s://", refString, docker.Transport.Name())
 	}
 
-	parts := strings.SplitN(refString, ":", 2)
-	if len(parts) != 2 {
+	_, dockerImageName, hasColon := strings.Cut(refString, ":")
+	if !hasColon {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf(`Invalid image name "%s", expected colon-separated transport:reference`, refString)
 	}
 
-	ref, err := reference.ParseNormalizedNamed(strings.TrimPrefix(parts[1], "//"))
+	ref, err := reference.ParseNormalizedNamed(strings.TrimPrefix(dockerImageName, "//"))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/skopeo/utils.go b/cmd/skopeo/utils.go
index d25385c2..7a2d59b4 100644
--- a/cmd/skopeo/utils.go
+++ b/cmd/skopeo/utils.go
@@ -315,14 +315,11 @@ func parseCreds(creds string) (string, string, error) {
 	if creds == "" {
 		return "", "", errors.New("credentials can't be empty")
 	}
-	up := strings.SplitN(creds, ":", 2)
-	if len(up) == 1 {
-		return up[0], "", nil
-	}
-	if up[0] == "" {
+	username, password, _ := strings.Cut(creds, ":") // Sets password to "" if there is no ":"
+	if username == "" {
 		return "", "", errors.New("username can't be empty")
 	}
-	return up[0], up[1], nil
+	return username, password, nil
 }
 
 func getDockerAuth(creds string) (*types.DockerAuthConfig, error) {