diff --git a/api/pkg/imagebuilder/imagebuilder.go b/api/pkg/imagebuilder/imagebuilder.go
index 2fea4e767..3e0afade4 100644
--- a/api/pkg/imagebuilder/imagebuilder.go
+++ b/api/pkg/imagebuilder/imagebuilder.go
@@ -365,7 +365,8 @@ func (c *imageBuilder) imageExists(imageName, imageTag string) bool {
 // https://github.com/google/go-containerregistry/blob/master/cmd/crane/README.md
 // https://github.com/google/go-containerregistry/blob/master/pkg/v1/google/README.md
 func (c *imageBuilder) imageRefExists(imageName, imageTag string) (bool, error) {
-	keychain := authn.DefaultKeychain
+	var keychain authn.Keychain
+	keychain = authn.DefaultKeychain
 	if strings.Contains(c.config.DockerRegistry, "gcr.io") {
 		keychain = google.Keychain
 	}