diff --git a/daemon/containerd/image.go b/daemon/containerd/image.go
index 7ad5335813e7f..3e1bf98dede69 100644
--- a/daemon/containerd/image.go
+++ b/daemon/containerd/image.go
@@ -213,7 +213,13 @@ func (i *ImageService) resolveImage(ctx context.Context, refOrID string, platfor
 		if !cerrdefs.IsNotFound(err) {
 			return containerdimages.Image{}, err
 		}
-		return containerdimages.Image{}, errdefs.NotFound(errors.New("id not found"))
+		// Some clients (such as the docker 17.03 CLI used in CI) still
+		// perform string-matching to detect that the *image* wasn't found.
+		// This requires the error to be prefixed with "No such image:".
+		// Without this prefix, the CLI prints the error message, and exits.
+		//
+		// FIXME(thaJeztah): we need to fix this; if needed, gated by API version (API < X add the prefix)
+		return containerdimages.Image{}, errdefs.NotFound(errors.New("No such image: " + refOrID))
 	}
 	if platform != nil {
 		cs := i.client.ContentStore()