diff --git a/commit.go b/commit.go
index 139355517..9f12e5d14 100644
--- a/commit.go
+++ b/commit.go
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containers/image/v5/signature"
 	is "github.com/containers/image/v5/storage"
 	"github.com/containers/image/v5/transports"
-	"github.com/containers/image/v5/transports/alltransports"
 	"github.com/containers/image/v5/types"
 	encconfig "github.com/containers/ocicrypt/config"
 	"github.com/containers/storage"
@@ -190,13 +189,11 @@ func (b *Builder) addManifest(ctx context.Context, manifestName string, imageSpe
 		return "", errors.Wrapf(err, "error encountered while expanding image name %q", manifestName)
 	}
 
-	ref, err := alltransports.ParseImageName(imageSpec)
+	ref, err := util.VerifyTagName(imageSpec)
 	if err != nil {
-		if ref, err = alltransports.ParseImageName(util.DefaultTransport + imageSpec); err != nil {
-			// check if the local image exists
-			if ref, _, err = util.FindImage(b.store, "", systemContext, imageSpec); err != nil {
-				return "", err
-			}
+		// check if the local image exists
+		if ref, _, err = util.FindImage(b.store, "", systemContext, imageSpec); err != nil {
+			return "", err
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/imagebuildah/build.go b/imagebuildah/build.go
index 62e656271..d2282e268 100644
--- a/imagebuildah/build.go
+++ b/imagebuildah/build.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/containers/buildah/define"
+	"github.com/containers/buildah/util"
 	"github.com/containers/common/pkg/config"
 	"github.com/containers/image/v5/docker/reference"
 	"github.com/containers/storage"
@@ -56,6 +57,14 @@ func BuildDockerfiles(ctx context.Context, store storage.Store, options define.B
 		}
 	}(dockerfiles...)
 
+	for _, tag := range append([]string{options.Output}, options.AdditionalTags...) {
+		if tag == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		if _, err := util.VerifyTagName(tag); err != nil {
+			return "", nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "tag %s", tag)
+		}
+	}
 	for _, dfile := range paths {
 		var data io.ReadCloser
 
diff --git a/tests/bud.bats b/tests/bud.bats
index 01c630a9e..18a99bae7 100644
--- a/tests/bud.bats
+++ b/tests/bud.bats
@@ -406,6 +406,15 @@ symlink(subdir)"
   expect_output --substring "Successfully tagged localhost/test2:latest"
 }
 
+@test "bud with bad --tag " {
+  target=scratch-image
+  run_buildah 125 bud --quiet=false --tag TEST1 --signature-policy ${TESTSDIR}/policy.json -t ${target} ${TESTSDIR}/bud/from-scratch
+  expect_output --substring "tag TEST1: invalid reference format: repository name must be lowercase"
+
+  run_buildah 125 bud --quiet=false --tag test1 --tag TEST2 --signature-policy ${TESTSDIR}/policy.json -t ${target} ${TESTSDIR}/bud/from-scratch
+  expect_output --substring "tag TEST2: invalid reference format: repository name must be lowercase"
+}
+
 @test "bud-from-scratch-iid" {
   target=scratch-image
   run_buildah bud --iidfile ${TESTDIR}/output.iid --signature-policy ${TESTSDIR}/policy.json -t ${target} ${TESTSDIR}/bud/from-scratch
diff --git a/util/util.go b/util/util.go
index 3b22a3943..5e52a4f65 100644
--- a/util/util.go
+++ b/util/util.go
@@ -482,3 +482,13 @@ func SortMounts(m []specs.Mount) []specs.Mount {
 	sort.Sort(byDestination(m))
 	return m
 }
+
+func VerifyTagName(imageSpec string) (types.ImageReference, error) {
+	ref, err := alltransports.ParseImageName(imageSpec)
+	if err != nil {
+		if ref, err = alltransports.ParseImageName(DefaultTransport + imageSpec); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+	return ref, nil
+}