diff --git a/pkg/cli/admin/catalog/mirror.go b/pkg/cli/admin/catalog/mirror.go
index ec351ed325..fc5aa5277f 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/admin/catalog/mirror.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/admin/catalog/mirror.go
@@ -182,6 +182,7 @@ func (o *MirrorCatalogOptions) Complete(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error
 			a.SecurityOptions = o.SecurityOptions
 			a.FilterOptions = o.FilterOptions
 			a.ParallelOptions = o.ParallelOptions
+			a.ForceManifestList = true
 			a.Mappings = []imgmirror.Mapping{{
 				Source:      fromRef[0],
 				Destination: toRef,
diff --git a/pkg/cli/image/manifest/manifest.go b/pkg/cli/image/manifest/manifest.go
index 238b1d515b..7cea303b82 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/image/manifest/manifest.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/image/manifest/manifest.go
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ func FirstManifest(ctx context.Context, from imagereference.DockerImageReference
 	}
 
 	originalSrcDigest := srcDigest
-	srcManifests, srcManifest, srcDigest, err := ProcessManifestList(ctx, srcDigest, srcManifest, manifests, from, filterFn)
+	srcManifests, srcManifest, srcDigest, err := ProcessManifestList(ctx, srcDigest, srcManifest, manifests, from, filterFn, false)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, ManifestLocation{}, err
 	}
@@ -330,7 +330,7 @@ func ManifestToImageConfig(ctx context.Context, srcManifest distribution.Manifes
 	}
 }
 
-func ProcessManifestList(ctx context.Context, srcDigest digest.Digest, srcManifest distribution.Manifest, manifests distribution.ManifestService, ref imagereference.DockerImageReference, filterFn FilterFunc) ([]distribution.Manifest, distribution.Manifest, digest.Digest, error) {
+func ProcessManifestList(ctx context.Context, srcDigest digest.Digest, srcManifest distribution.Manifest, manifests distribution.ManifestService, ref imagereference.DockerImageReference, filterFn FilterFunc, forceManifestList bool) ([]distribution.Manifest, distribution.Manifest, digest.Digest, error) {
 	var srcManifests []distribution.Manifest
 	switch t := srcManifest.(type) {
 	case *manifestlist.DeserializedManifestList:
@@ -379,7 +379,7 @@ func ProcessManifestList(ctx context.Context, srcDigest digest.Digest, srcManife
 		}
 
 		switch {
-		case len(srcManifests) == 1:
+		case len(srcManifests) == 1 && !forceManifestList:
 			manifestDigest, err := registryclient.ContentDigestForManifest(srcManifests[0], srcDigest.Algorithm())
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, nil, "", err
diff --git a/pkg/cli/image/mirror/mirror.go b/pkg/cli/image/mirror/mirror.go
index f0e996318e..50e7a41685 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/image/mirror/mirror.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/image/mirror/mirror.go
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ type MirrorImageOptions struct {
 	SkipMultipleScopes bool
 	SkipMissing        bool
 	Force              bool
+	ForceManifestList  bool
 
 	MaxRegistry     int
 	ParallelOptions imagemanifest.ParallelOptions
@@ -144,6 +145,9 @@ func NewCmdMirrorImage(name string, streams genericclioptions.IOStreams) *cobra.
 	o.FilterOptions.Bind(flag)
 	o.ParallelOptions.Bind(flag)
 
+	// Always mirror manifestlist if available
+	o.ForceManifestList = true
+
 	flag.BoolVar(&o.DryRun, "dry-run", o.DryRun, "Print the actions that would be taken and exit without writing to the destinations.")
 	flag.BoolVar(&o.SkipMissing, "skip-missing", o.SkipMissing, "If an input image is not found, skip them.")
 	flag.BoolVar(&o.SkipMount, "skip-mount", o.SkipMount, "Always push layers instead of cross-mounting them")
@@ -462,7 +466,7 @@ func (o *MirrorImageOptions) plan() (*plan, error) {
 
 						// filter or load manifest list as appropriate
 						originalSrcDigest := srcDigest
-						srcManifests, srcManifest, srcDigest, err := imagemanifest.ProcessManifestList(ctx, srcDigest, srcManifest, manifests, src.ref.Ref, o.FilterOptions.IncludeAll)
+						srcManifests, srcManifest, srcDigest, err := imagemanifest.ProcessManifestList(ctx, srcDigest, srcManifest, manifests, src.ref.Ref, o.FilterOptions.IncludeAll, o.ForceManifestList)
 						if err != nil {
 							plan.AddError(retrieverError{src: src.ref, err: err})
 							return