diff --git a/scripts/pre-pull-images.sh b/scripts/pre-pull-images.sh
index 2f24850..c50e22e 100755
--- a/scripts/pre-pull-images.sh
+++ b/scripts/pre-pull-images.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 #
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: CC0-1.0
 
+set -o pipefail
+
 KV_VERSION=v1.7.0
 IMAGES=(
 	"quay.io/kubevirt/virt-launcher:${KV_VERSION}"
@@ -12,17 +14,31 @@ IMAGES=(
 	"quay.io/kubevirt/virt-controller:${KV_VERSION}"
 	"quay.io/kubevirt/virt-operator:${KV_VERSION}"
 	"$TRUSTEE_IMAGE"
-	"quay.io/trusted-execution-clusters/fedora-coreos-kubevirt:2026-14-01"
+	"$APPROVED_IMAGE"
 )
 
+echo "=========================================="
+echo "Pre-pulling images to Docker daemon"
+echo "=========================================="
+echo "Note: Failures are non-fatal - K8s will pull on-demand"
+echo ""
+
 for IMAGE in "${IMAGES[@]}"; do
-    echo "Pulling: $IMAGE"
-    docker pull "$IMAGE"
-    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
-        echo "Successfully pulled $IMAGE"
-    else
-        echo "Error: Failed to pull $IMAGE"
-    fi
-	 kind load docker-image $IMAGE
-    echo "-------------------------------"
+	# Skip empty image names
+	if [ -z "$IMAGE" ]; then
+		echo "[WARN] Skipping empty image reference"
+		continue
+	fi
+
+	echo "Pulling: $IMAGE"
+
+	if docker pull "$IMAGE" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+		echo "[SUCCESS] Pulled: $IMAGE"
+	else
+		echo "[WARN] Failed to pull: $IMAGE (will retry during pod creation)"
+	fi
+
+	echo "-------------------------------"
 done
+
+exit 0