diff --git a/core/gallery/backends.go b/core/gallery/backends.go
index 55f998a74..cbf99ac8e 100644
--- a/core/gallery/backends.go
+++ b/core/gallery/backends.go
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ func InstallBackend(ctx context.Context, systemState *system.SystemState, modelL
 
 	// Record the OCI digest for upgrade detection (non-fatal on failure)
 	if uri.LooksLikeOCI() {
-		digest, digestErr := oci.GetImageDigest(string(uri), "", nil, nil)
+		digest, digestErr := oci.GetImageDigest(uri.OCIReference(), "", nil, nil)
 		if digestErr != nil {
 			xlog.Warn("Failed to get OCI image digest for backend", "uri", string(uri), "error", digestErr)
 		} else {
diff --git a/core/gallery/backends_oci_uri_test.go b/core/gallery/backends_oci_uri_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fcb8a930a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/gallery/backends_oci_uri_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+package gallery
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/crane"
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/name"
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/empty"
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/mutate"
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/remote"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/system"
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
+)
+
+// pushBackendImage publishes a minimal backend image (just a run.sh) to the
+// in-process registry and returns the registry host and the manifest digest.
+func pushBackendImage(serverURL, repoPath, tag, runScript string) (string, string) {
+	GinkgoHelper()
+	host := strings.TrimPrefix(serverURL, "http://")
+
+	layer, err := crane.Layer(map[string][]byte{"run.sh": []byte(runScript)})
+	Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+	img, err := mutate.AppendLayers(empty.Image, layer)
+	Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+	ref, err := name.ParseReference(host + "/" + repoPath + ":" + tag)
+	Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+	Expect(remote.Write(ref, img)).To(Succeed())
+
+	digest, err := img.Digest()
+	Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+	return host, digest.String()
+}
+
+var _ = Describe("backends installed from an oci:// URI", func() {
+	var (
+		registryURL string
+		systemState *system.SystemState
+		ml          *model.ModelLoader
+		backendsDir string
+	)
+
+	BeforeEach(func() {
+		srv, _, _ := ociRegistry()
+		registryURL = srv.URL
+
+		backendsDir = GinkgoT().TempDir()
+		var err error
+		systemState, err = system.GetSystemState(system.WithBackendPath(backendsDir))
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+		ml = model.NewModelLoader(systemState)
+	})
+
+	installedDigest := func(name string) string {
+		GinkgoHelper()
+		meta, err := readBackendMetadata(filepath.Join(backendsDir, name))
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(meta).ToNot(BeNil())
+		return meta.Digest
+	}
+
+	// The digest lookup that follows an install used to hand the raw oci://
+	// URI to the registry client, which read "oci" as the registry host and
+	// queried https://oci/v2/. The install still succeeded, so the only trace
+	// was an empty digest in metadata.json and a warning in the log.
+	DescribeTable("records the image digest from the registry the URI names",
+		func(form string) {
+			host, digest := pushBackendImage(registryURL, "acme/backend", "v1", "#!/bin/sh\necho v1\n")
+			uri := "oci://" + host + "/acme/backend:v1"
+			if form == "digest" {
+				uri = "oci://" + host + "/acme/backend@" + digest
+			}
+
+			Expect(InstallBackend(context.Background(), systemState, ml, &GalleryBackend{
+				Metadata: Metadata{Name: "acme-backend"},
+				URI:      uri,
+			}, nil, false)).To(Succeed())
+
+			Expect(filepath.Join(backendsDir, "acme-backend", "run.sh")).To(BeARegularFile())
+			Expect(installedDigest("acme-backend")).To(Equal(digest))
+		},
+		Entry("tag form", "tag"),
+		Entry("digest form", "digest"),
+	)
+
+	It("records the new image digest after an upgrade", func() {
+		host, oldDigest := pushBackendImage(registryURL, "acme/backend", "v1", "#!/bin/sh\necho v1\n")
+		_, newDigest := pushBackendImage(registryURL, "acme/backend", "v2", "#!/bin/sh\necho v2\n")
+		Expect(newDigest).ToNot(Equal(oldDigest))
+
+		Expect(InstallBackend(context.Background(), systemState, ml, &GalleryBackend{
+			Metadata: Metadata{Name: "acme-backend"},
+			URI:      "oci://" + host + "/acme/backend:v1",
+		}, nil, false)).To(Succeed())
+		Expect(installedDigest("acme-backend")).To(Equal(oldDigest))
+
+		galleryFile := filepath.Join(backendsDir, "gallery.yaml")
+		data, err := yaml.Marshal([]GalleryBackend{{
+			Metadata: Metadata{Name: "acme-backend"},
+			URI:      "oci://" + host + "/acme/backend@" + newDigest,
+		}})
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(os.WriteFile(galleryFile, data, 0o644)).To(Succeed())
+		galleries := []config.Gallery{{Name: "acme", URL: "file://" + galleryFile}}
+
+		upgrades, err := CheckBackendUpgrades(context.Background(), galleries, systemState)
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(upgrades).To(HaveKey("acme-backend"))
+		Expect(upgrades["acme-backend"].AvailableDigest).To(Equal(newDigest))
+
+		Expect(UpgradeBackend(context.Background(), systemState, ml, galleries, "acme-backend", nil, false)).To(Succeed())
+		Expect(installedDigest("acme-backend")).To(Equal(newDigest))
+	})
+})
diff --git a/core/gallery/gallery_oci.go b/core/gallery/gallery_oci.go
index 27915dc6f..620ccc2cb 100644
--- a/core/gallery/gallery_oci.go
+++ b/core/gallery/gallery_oci.go
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ func fetchOCIGalleryIndex(ctx context.Context, g config.Gallery, candidate, base
 		return body, nil
 	}
 
-	pullRef := strings.TrimPrefix(candidate, downloader.OCIPrefix)
+	pullRef := downloader.URI(candidate).OCIReference()
 
 	if g.Verification != nil {
 		// Resolve first, verify the digest, then pull that same digest.
diff --git a/core/gallery/importers/llama-cpp.go b/core/gallery/importers/llama-cpp.go
index a1cbb6d1b..c803f8ae2 100644
--- a/core/gallery/importers/llama-cpp.go
+++ b/core/gallery/importers/llama-cpp.go
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ func (i *LlamaCPPImporter) Import(details Details) (gallery.ModelConfig, error)
 
 	switch {
 	case uri.LooksLikeOCI():
-		ociName := strings.TrimPrefix(string(uri), downloader.OCIPrefix)
+		ociName := uri.OCIReference()
 		ociName = strings.TrimPrefix(ociName, downloader.OllamaPrefix)
 		ociName = strings.ReplaceAll(ociName, "/", "__")
 		ociName = strings.ReplaceAll(ociName, ":", "__")
diff --git a/core/gallery/upgrade.go b/core/gallery/upgrade.go
index 4af56e256..fb6bc52c8 100644
--- a/core/gallery/upgrade.go
+++ b/core/gallery/upgrade.go
@@ -169,13 +169,8 @@ func CheckUpgradesAgainst(ctx context.Context, galleries []config.Gallery, syste
 		}
 
 		// Fall back to OCI digest comparison when versions are unavailable.
-		if downloader.URI(galleryEntry.URI).LooksLikeOCI() {
-			// Strip the oci:// scheme — name.ParseReference (called by
-			// GetImageDigest) cannot parse it. Self-hosted registries must
-			// set the scheme to be recognised at all, so without stripping
-			// they silently lose upgrade detection.
-			remoteDigest, err := oci.GetImageDigest(
-				strings.TrimPrefix(galleryEntry.URI, downloader.OCIPrefix), "", nil, nil)
+		if galleryURI := downloader.URI(galleryEntry.URI); galleryURI.LooksLikeOCI() {
+			remoteDigest, err := oci.GetImageDigest(galleryURI.OCIReference(), "", nil, nil)
 			if err != nil {
 				xlog.Warn("Failed to get remote OCI digest for upgrade check", "backend", installed.Metadata.Name, "error", err)
 				continue
@@ -359,7 +354,7 @@ func UpgradeBackend(ctx context.Context, systemState *system.SystemState, modelL
 
 	// Record OCI digest if applicable (non-fatal on failure)
 	if uri.LooksLikeOCI() {
-		digest, digestErr := oci.GetImageDigest(galleryEntry.URI, "", nil, nil)
+		digest, digestErr := oci.GetImageDigest(uri.OCIReference(), "", nil, nil)
 		if digestErr != nil {
 			xlog.Warn("Failed to get OCI image digest after upgrade", "uri", galleryEntry.URI, "error", digestErr)
 		} else {
diff --git a/pkg/downloader/uri.go b/pkg/downloader/uri.go
index 8da23931d..8db9d6dc7 100644
--- a/pkg/downloader/uri.go
+++ b/pkg/downloader/uri.go
@@ -315,6 +315,14 @@ func (s URI) LooksLikeOCI() bool {
 		strings.HasPrefix(string(s), "docker.io")
 }
 
+// OCIReference returns the registry reference an OCI URI names, without the
+// oci:// scheme. The scheme is LocalAI's own marker for "this is an image":
+// registry clients do not know it and read "oci" as the registry host, so
+// every consumer that hands a URI to a registry client goes through here.
+func (s URI) OCIReference() string {
+	return strings.TrimPrefix(string(s), OCIPrefix)
+}
+
 func (s URI) LooksLikeOCIFile() bool {
 	return strings.HasPrefix(string(s), OCIFilePrefix)
 }
@@ -606,7 +614,7 @@ func (uri URI) DownloadFileWithContext(ctx context.Context, filePath, sha string
 			return oci.ExtractOCIImage(ctx, img, url, filePath, downloadStatus)
 		}
 
-		url = strings.TrimPrefix(url, OCIPrefix)
+		url = URI(url).OCIReference()
 		img, err := oci.GetImage(url, "", nil, nil)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to get image %q: %v", url, err)
diff --git a/pkg/downloader/uri_test.go b/pkg/downloader/uri_test.go
index 9cb667b57..bbc202c9a 100644
--- a/pkg/downloader/uri_test.go
+++ b/pkg/downloader/uri_test.go
@@ -87,6 +87,17 @@ var _ = Describe("Gallery API tests", func() {
 	})
 })
 
+var _ = Describe("OCIReference", func() {
+	DescribeTable("returns the registry reference without the oci:// scheme",
+		func(uri, want string) {
+			Expect(URI(uri).OCIReference()).To(Equal(want))
+		},
+		Entry("tag form", "oci://registry.example.com/acme/backend:v1", "registry.example.com/acme/backend:v1"),
+		Entry("digest form", "oci://registry.example.com:5000/acme/backend@sha256:0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef", "registry.example.com:5000/acme/backend@sha256:0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"),
+		Entry("reference without a scheme", "quay.io/acme/backend:latest", "quay.io/acme/backend:latest"),
+	)
+})
+
 var _ = Describe("ContentLength", func() {
 	Context("local file", func() {
 		It("returns file size for existing file", func() {