diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5264ecc8e5..dc577f2542 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@
 .project
 bazel*
 .idea
-*.iml
\ No newline at end of file
+*.iml
diff --git a/cmd/crane/cmd/rebase.go b/cmd/crane/cmd/rebase.go
index 4226223f7b..894d472f4b 100644
--- a/cmd/crane/cmd/rebase.go
+++ b/cmd/crane/cmd/rebase.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ import (
 	"log"
 
 	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/crane"
-	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/mutate"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
@@ -30,33 +29,29 @@ func NewCmdRebase(options *[]crane.Option) *cobra.Command {
 	rebaseCmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "rebase",
 		Short: "Rebase an image onto a new base image",
-		Args:  cobra.NoArgs,
-		Run: func(*cobra.Command, []string) {
-			origImg, err := crane.Pull(orig, *options...)
-			if err != nil {
-				log.Fatalf("pulling %s: %v", orig, err)
+		Args:  cobra.MaximumNArgs(1),
+		Run: func(_ *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+			if orig == "" {
+				orig = args[0]
 			}
-
-			oldBaseImg, err := crane.Pull(oldBase, *options...)
-			if err != nil {
-				log.Fatalf("pulling %s: %v", oldBase, err)
+			if orig == "" {
+				log.Fatal("--old_base or positional arg is required")
 			}
 
-			newBaseImg, err := crane.Pull(newBase, *options...)
+			rebasedImg, err := crane.Rebase(orig, oldBase, newBase)
 			if err != nil {
-				log.Fatalf("pulling %s: %v", newBase, err)
+				log.Fatalf("rebasing image: %v", err)
 			}
 
-			img, err := mutate.Rebase(origImg, oldBaseImg, newBaseImg)
-			if err != nil {
-				log.Fatalf("rebasing: %v", err)
+			if rebased == "" {
+				log.Println("pushing rebased image as", orig)
+				rebased = orig
 			}
-
-			if err := crane.Push(img, rebased, *options...); err != nil {
+			if err := crane.Push(rebasedImg, rebased, *options...); err != nil {
 				log.Fatalf("pushing %s: %v", rebased, err)
 			}
 
-			digest, err := img.Digest()
+			digest, err := rebasedImg.Digest()
 			if err != nil {
 				log.Fatalf("digesting rebased: %v", err)
 			}
@@ -67,10 +62,5 @@ func NewCmdRebase(options *[]crane.Option) *cobra.Command {
 	rebaseCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&oldBase, "old_base", "", "", "Old base image to remove")
 	rebaseCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&newBase, "new_base", "", "", "New base image to insert")
 	rebaseCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&rebased, "rebased", "", "", "Tag to apply to rebased image")
-
-	rebaseCmd.MarkFlagRequired("original")
-	rebaseCmd.MarkFlagRequired("old_base")
-	rebaseCmd.MarkFlagRequired("new_base")
-	rebaseCmd.MarkFlagRequired("rebased")
 	return rebaseCmd
 }
diff --git a/pkg/crane/rebase.go b/pkg/crane/rebase.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b324235e7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/crane/rebase.go
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+package crane
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/name"
+	v1 "github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1"
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/mutate"
+	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/remote"
+)
+
+const (
+	// TODO: better annotations
+	baseDigestAnnotation = "base-digest"
+	baseTagAnnotation    = "base-tag"
+)
+
+func Rebase(orig, oldBase, newBase string, opt ...Option) (v1.Image, error) {
+	o := makeOptions(opt...)
+	origRef, err := name.ParseReference(orig, o.name...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("parsing tag %q: %v", origRef, err)
+	}
+	origImg, err := remote.Image(origRef, o.remote...)
+
+	m, err := origImg.Manifest()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if oldBase == "" && m.Annotations != nil {
+		oldBase = m.Annotations[baseDigestAnnotation]
+		if oldBase != "" {
+			log.Printf("Detected old base from %q annotation: %s", baseDigestAnnotation, oldBase)
+		}
+	}
+	if oldBase == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("either oldBase or %q annotation is required", baseDigestAnnotation)
+	}
+	if newBase == "" && m.Annotations != nil {
+		newBase = m.Annotations[baseTagAnnotation]
+		if newBase != "" {
+			log.Printf("Detected new base from %q annotation: %s", baseTagAnnotation, newBase)
+		}
+	}
+	if newBase == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("either newBase or %q annotation is required", baseTagAnnotation)
+	}
+
+	oldBaseRef, err := name.ParseReference(oldBase, o.name...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	oldBaseImg, err := remote.Image(oldBaseRef, o.remote...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	newBaseRef, err := name.ParseReference(newBase, o.name...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	newBaseImg, err := remote.Image(newBaseRef, o.remote...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	rebased, err := mutate.Rebase(origImg, oldBaseImg, newBaseImg)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	m, err = rebased.Manifest()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// Update annotations for the new image manifest.
+	// - the current ("old") base image is the new base image by digest.
+	// - the future ("new") base image is the new base image by tag.
+	d, err := newBaseImg.Digest()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if m.Annotations == nil {
+		m.Annotations = map[string]string{}
+	}
+	m.Annotations[baseDigestAnnotation] = newBaseRef.Context().Digest(d.String()).String()
+	m.Annotations[baseTagAnnotation] = newBaseRef.String()
+	log.Printf("Set annotation %q: %s", baseDigestAnnotation, m.Annotations[baseDigestAnnotation])
+	log.Printf("Set annotation %q: %s", baseTagAnnotation, m.Annotations[baseTagAnnotation])
+	return mutate.Manifest(rebased, m)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/v1/mutate/mutate_test.go b/pkg/v1/mutate/mutate_test.go
index a19e94232c..50a02de6f5 100644
--- a/pkg/v1/mutate/mutate_test.go
+++ b/pkg/v1/mutate/mutate_test.go
@@ -644,3 +644,37 @@ func (m mockLayer) Compressed() (io.ReadCloser, error) {
 func (m mockLayer) Uncompressed() (io.ReadCloser, error) {
 	return ioutil.NopCloser(strings.NewReader("uncompressed")), nil
 }
+
+func TestManifest(t *testing.T) {
+	img, err := random.Image(10, 10)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	old, err := img.Manifest()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	newmf := old.DeepCopy()
+	newmf.Annotations = map[string]string{
+		"foo":   "bar",
+		"hello": "world",
+	}
+	newimg, err := mutate.Manifest(img, newmf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	newmf, err = newimg.Manifest()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if d := cmp.Diff(old, newmf); d == "" {
+		t.Fatal("no changes")
+	}
+	if err := validate.Image(newimg); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/v1/mutate/rebase.go b/pkg/v1/mutate/rebase.go
index a86a65243b..9076b6b9dc 100644
--- a/pkg/v1/mutate/rebase.go
+++ b/pkg/v1/mutate/rebase.go
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ func Rebase(orig, oldBase, newBase v1.Image) (v1.Image, error) {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get digest of layer %d of %q: %v", i, orig, err)
 		}
 		if oldLayerDigest != origLayerDigest {
+			// TODO: this is a bad error message...
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("image %q is not based on %q (layer %d mismatch)", orig, oldBase, i)
 		}
 	}
@@ -142,3 +143,16 @@ func createAddendums(startHistory, startLayer int, history []v1.History, layers
 
 	return adds
 }
+
+func Manifest(base v1.Image, m *v1.Manifest) (v1.Image, error) {
+	cfg, err := base.ConfigFile()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &image{
+		base:       base,
+		manifest:   m.DeepCopy(),
+		configFile: cfg.DeepCopy(),
+		computed:   true,
+	}, nil
+}