diff --git a/pkg/compiler/compiler.go b/pkg/compiler/compiler.go
index e95d438b..93082ab8 100644
--- a/pkg/compiler/compiler.go
+++ b/pkg/compiler/compiler.go
@@ -987,6 +987,14 @@ func (cs *LuetCompiler) compile(concurrency int, keepPermissions bool, generateA
 				Assert:      assertion,
 			})
 
+			if err := cs.resolveJoinImages(concurrency, keepPermissions, compileSpec); err != nil {
+				return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "while resolving join images")
+			}
+
+			if err := cs.resolveMultiStageImages(concurrency, keepPermissions, compileSpec); err != nil {
+				return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "while resolving multi-stage images")
+			}
+
 			buildHash, err := packageHashTree.DependencyBuildImage(assertion.Package)
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "failed looking for dependency in hashtree")
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/join_complex/c/c1/build.yaml b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/c/c1/build.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..32bd4e99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/c/c1/build.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+join:
+  - name: "a"
+    category: "test"
+    version: ">=0"
+  - name: "b"
+    category: "test"
+    version: ">=0"
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/join_complex/c/c1/definition.yaml b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/c/c1/definition.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7c0f2ed8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/c/c1/definition.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+category: "test"
+name: "c"
+version: "1.2"
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/join_complex/c/f/build.yaml b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/c/f/build.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9c2b8473
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/c/f/build.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+join:
+  - name: "a"
+    category: "test"
+    version: ">=0"
+  - name: "b"
+    category: "test"
+    version: ">=0"
+unpack: true
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/join_complex/c/f/definition.yaml b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/c/f/definition.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..03fba145
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/c/f/definition.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+category: "test"
+name: "f"
+version: "1.2"
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/join_complex/cat/a/a/build.yaml b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/cat/a/a/build.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..266699b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/cat/a/a/build.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+image: "alpine"
+unpack: true
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/join_complex/cat/a/a/definition.yaml b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/cat/a/a/definition.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..006dd943
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/cat/a/a/definition.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+category: "test"
+name: "a"
+version: "1.2"
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/join_complex/cat/b-1.1/build.yaml b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/cat/b-1.1/build.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..62d26ddc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/cat/b-1.1/build.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+requires:
+- category: "test"
+  name: "a"
+  version: ">=0"
+
+prelude:
+  - echo foo > /test
+  - echo bar > /test2
+steps:
+  - echo artifact5 > /newc
+  - echo artifact6 > /newnewc
+  - chmod +x generate.sh
+  - ./generate.sh
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/join_complex/cat/b-1.1/definition.yaml b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/cat/b-1.1/definition.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e695c6c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/cat/b-1.1/definition.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+category: "test"
+name: "b"
+version: "1.1"
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/join_complex/cat/b-1.1/generate.sh b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/cat/b-1.1/generate.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3b2dc1b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/cat/b-1.1/generate.sh
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+echo generated > /sonewc
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/join_complex/x/build.yaml b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/x/build.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5c32411e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/x/build.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+join:
+- category: "test"
+  name: "f"
+  version: ">=0"
+# this is actually a virtual, no files shipped in c
+- category: "test"
+  name: "c"
+  version: ">=0"
+steps:
+- mv /newnewc /x
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/join_complex/x/definition.yaml b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/x/definition.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8950a1c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/x/definition.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+name: "x"
+category: "test"
+version: "0.1"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/join_complex/z/build.yaml b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/z/build.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..263a0da6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/z/build.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+requires:
+- category: "test"
+  name: "c"
+  version: ">=0"
+steps:
+- mv /newnewc /z
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/join_complex/z/definition.yaml b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/z/definition.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..387e0b51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/join_complex/z/definition.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+name: "z"
+category: "test"
+version: "0.1"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/integration/31_join_complex.sh b/tests/integration/31_join_complex.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..a629ecf8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/31_join_complex.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+export LUET_NOLOCK=true
+
+oneTimeSetUp() {
+    export tmpdir="$(mktemp -d)"
+    docker images --filter='reference=luet/cache' --format='{{.Repository}}:{{.Tag}}' | xargs -r docker rmi
+}
+
+oneTimeTearDown() {
+    rm -rf "$tmpdir"
+    docker images --filter='reference=luet/cache' --format='{{.Repository}}:{{.Tag}}' | xargs -r docker rmi
+}
+
+testBuild() {
+    [ "$LUET_BACKEND" == "img" ] && startSkipping
+    mkdir $tmpdir/testbuild
+    luet build --tree "$ROOT_DIR/tests/fixtures/join_complex" \
+               --destination $tmpdir/testbuild --concurrency 1 \
+               --compression gzip \
+               test/z test/x
+    buildst=$?
+    assertEquals 'builds successfully' "$buildst" "0"
+    assertTrue 'create package z' "[ -e '$tmpdir/testbuild/z-test-0.1.package.tar.gz' ]"
+    assertTrue 'create package z' "[ -e '$tmpdir/testbuild/x-test-0.1.package.tar.gz' ]"
+
+    mkdir $tmpdir/extract
+    tar -xvf $tmpdir/testbuild/x-test-0.1.package.tar.gz -C $tmpdir/extract
+    tar -xvf $tmpdir/testbuild/z-test-0.1.package.tar.gz -C $tmpdir/extract
+    assertTrue 'create result from a package that requires a join' "[ -e '$tmpdir/extract/z' ]"
+    assertTrue 'create result from join of a join' "[ -e '$tmpdir/extract/x' ]"
+}
+
+
+# Load shUnit2.
+. "$ROOT_DIR/tests/integration/shunit2"/shunit2
+