2 files changed, 19 insertions, 16 deletions
diff --git a/cmd/podman/registry/config.go b/cmd/podman/registry/config.go
index a67568d73..85a63402b 100644
--- a/cmd/podman/registry/config.go
+++ b/cmd/podman/registry/config.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
-	"strings"
 	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/containers/common/pkg/config"
@@ -45,7 +44,7 @@ func newPodmanConfig() {
 	case "linux":
 		// Some linux clients might only be compiled without ABI
 		// support (e.g., podman-remote).
-		if abiSupport {
+		if abiSupport && !remoteOverride {
 			mode = entities.ABIMode
 		} else {
 			mode = entities.TunnelMode
@@ -55,19 +54,6 @@ func newPodmanConfig() {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
-	// Check if need to fallback to the tunnel mode if --remote is used.
-	if abiSupport && mode == entities.ABIMode {
-		// cobra.Execute() may not be called yet, so we peek at os.Args.
-		for _, v := range os.Args {
-			// Prefix checking works because of how default EngineMode's
-			// have been defined.
-			if strings.HasPrefix(v, "--remote") {
-				mode = entities.TunnelMode
-				break
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
 	cfg, err := config.NewConfig("")
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprint(os.Stderr, "Failed to obtain podman configuration: "+err.Error())
diff --git a/cmd/podman/registry/remote.go b/cmd/podman/registry/remote.go
index 95870750e..ed1a874d6 100644
--- a/cmd/podman/registry/remote.go
+++ b/cmd/podman/registry/remote.go
@@ -1,9 +1,26 @@
 package registry
 
 import (
+	"os"
+	"sync"
+
 	"github.com/containers/libpod/pkg/domain/entities"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
+
+var (
+	// Was --remote given on command line
+	remoteOverride bool
+	remoteSync     sync.Once
 )
 
+// IsRemote returns true if podman was built to run remote
+// Use in init() functions as a initialization check
 func IsRemote() bool {
-	return podmanOptions.EngineMode == entities.TunnelMode
+	remoteSync.Do(func() {
+		remote := &cobra.Command{}
+		remote.Flags().BoolVarP(&remoteOverride, "remote", "r", false, "")
+		_ = remote.ParseFlags(os.Args)
+	})
+	return podmanOptions.EngineMode == entities.TunnelMode || remoteOverride
 }