diff --git a/libimage/filters.go b/libimage/filters.go
index 0cc5cc311..447ea5701 100644
--- a/libimage/filters.go
+++ b/libimage/filters.go
@@ -50,6 +50,18 @@ func filterImages(images []*Image, filters []filterFunc) ([]*Image, error) {
 func (r *Runtime) compileImageFilters(ctx context.Context, filters []string) ([]filterFunc, error) {
 	logrus.Tracef("Parsing image filters %s", filters)
 
+	var tree *layerTree
+	getTree := func() (*layerTree, error) {
+		if tree == nil {
+			t, err := r.layerTree()
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			tree = t
+		}
+		return tree, nil
+	}
+
 	filterFuncs := []filterFunc{}
 	for _, filter := range filters {
 		var key, value string
@@ -88,7 +100,11 @@ func (r *Runtime) compileImageFilters(ctx context.Context, filters []string) ([]
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "non-boolean value %q for dangling filter", value)
 			}
-			filterFuncs = append(filterFuncs, filterDangling(ctx, dangling))
+			t, err := getTree()
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			filterFuncs = append(filterFuncs, filterDangling(ctx, dangling, t))
 
 		case "id":
 			filterFuncs = append(filterFuncs, filterID(value))
@@ -98,7 +114,11 @@ func (r *Runtime) compileImageFilters(ctx context.Context, filters []string) ([]
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "non-boolean value %q for intermediate filter", value)
 			}
-			filterFuncs = append(filterFuncs, filterIntermediate(ctx, intermediate))
+			t, err := getTree()
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			filterFuncs = append(filterFuncs, filterIntermediate(ctx, intermediate, t))
 
 		case "label":
 			filterFuncs = append(filterFuncs, filterLabel(ctx, value))
@@ -201,9 +221,9 @@ func filterContainers(value bool) filterFunc {
 }
 
 // filterDangling creates a dangling filter for matching the specified value.
-func filterDangling(ctx context.Context, value bool) filterFunc {
+func filterDangling(ctx context.Context, value bool, tree *layerTree) filterFunc {
 	return func(img *Image) (bool, error) {
-		isDangling, err := img.IsDangling(ctx)
+		isDangling, err := img.isDangling(ctx, tree)
 		if err != nil {
 			return false, err
 		}
@@ -221,9 +241,9 @@ func filterID(value string) filterFunc {
 // filterIntermediate creates an intermediate filter for images.  An image is
 // considered to be an intermediate image if it is dangling (i.e., no tags) and
 // has no children (i.e., no other image depends on it).
-func filterIntermediate(ctx context.Context, value bool) filterFunc {
+func filterIntermediate(ctx context.Context, value bool, tree *layerTree) filterFunc {
 	return func(img *Image) (bool, error) {
-		isIntermediate, err := img.IsIntermediate(ctx)
+		isIntermediate, err := img.isIntermediate(ctx, tree)
 		if err != nil {
 			return false, err
 		}
diff --git a/libimage/image.go b/libimage/image.go
index 8456d5280..d592b9661 100644
--- a/libimage/image.go
+++ b/libimage/image.go
@@ -127,10 +127,16 @@ func (i *Image) IsReadOnly() bool {
 // IsDangling returns true if the image is dangling, that is an untagged image
 // without children.
 func (i *Image) IsDangling(ctx context.Context) (bool, error) {
+	return i.isDangling(ctx, nil)
+}
+
+// isDangling returns true if the image is dangling, that is an untagged image
+// without children.  If tree is nil, it will created for this invocation only.
+func (i *Image) isDangling(ctx context.Context, tree *layerTree) (bool, error) {
 	if len(i.Names()) > 0 {
 		return false, nil
 	}
-	children, err := i.getChildren(ctx, false)
+	children, err := i.getChildren(ctx, false, tree)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, err
 	}
@@ -140,10 +146,17 @@ func (i *Image) IsDangling(ctx context.Context) (bool, error) {
 // IsIntermediate returns true if the image is an intermediate image, that is
 // an untagged image with children.
 func (i *Image) IsIntermediate(ctx context.Context) (bool, error) {
+	return i.isIntermediate(ctx, nil)
+}
+
+// isIntermediate returns true if the image is an intermediate image, that is
+// an untagged image with children.  If tree is nil, it will created for this
+// invocation only.
+func (i *Image) isIntermediate(ctx context.Context, tree *layerTree) (bool, error) {
 	if len(i.Names()) > 0 {
 		return false, nil
 	}
-	children, err := i.getChildren(ctx, false)
+	children, err := i.getChildren(ctx, false, tree)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, err
 	}
@@ -188,7 +201,7 @@ func (i *Image) Parent(ctx context.Context) (*Image, error) {
 
 // HasChildren returns indicates if the image has children.
 func (i *Image) HasChildren(ctx context.Context) (bool, error) {
-	children, err := i.getChildren(ctx, false)
+	children, err := i.getChildren(ctx, false, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, err
 	}
@@ -197,7 +210,7 @@ func (i *Image) HasChildren(ctx context.Context) (bool, error) {
 
 // Children returns the image's children.
 func (i *Image) Children(ctx context.Context) ([]*Image, error) {
-	children, err := i.getChildren(ctx, true)
+	children, err := i.getChildren(ctx, true, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -205,13 +218,16 @@ func (i *Image) Children(ctx context.Context) ([]*Image, error) {
 }
 
 // getChildren returns a list of imageIDs that depend on the image. If all is
-// false, only the first child image is returned.
-func (i *Image) getChildren(ctx context.Context, all bool) ([]*Image, error) {
-	tree, err := i.runtime.layerTree()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+// false, only the first child image is returned.  If tree is nil, it will be
+// created for this invocation only.
+func (i *Image) getChildren(ctx context.Context, all bool, tree *layerTree) ([]*Image, error) {
+	if tree == nil {
+		t, err := i.runtime.layerTree()
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		tree = t
 	}
-
 	return tree.children(ctx, i, all)
 }