diff --git a/cmd/composectl/cmd/uninstall.go b/cmd/composectl/cmd/uninstall.go
index b6125ef..7f965d9 100644
--- a/cmd/composectl/cmd/uninstall.go
+++ b/cmd/composectl/cmd/uninstall.go
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package composectl
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/docker/docker/api/types/filters"
+	"github.com/foundriesio/composeapp/pkg/compose"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -17,6 +19,7 @@ var uninstallCmd = &cobra.Command{
 type (
 	uninstallOptions struct {
 		ignoreNonInstalled bool
+		prune              bool
 	}
 )
 
@@ -24,6 +27,7 @@ func init() {
 	opts := uninstallOptions{}
 	uninstallCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&opts.ignoreNonInstalled, "ignore-non-installed", false,
 		"Do not yield error if app installation is not found")
+	uninstallCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&opts.prune, "prune", false, "prune unused images in the docker store")
 	uninstallCmd.Run = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		uninstallApps(cmd, args, &opts)
 	}
@@ -44,4 +48,10 @@ func uninstallApps(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, opts *uninstallOptions) {
 		}
 		DieNotNil(os.RemoveAll(appComposeDir))
 	}
+	if opts.prune {
+		cli, err := compose.GetDockerClient(dockerHost)
+		DieNotNil(err)
+		_, err = cli.ImagesPrune(cmd.Context(), filters.NewArgs(filters.Arg("dangling", "false")))
+		DieNotNil(err)
+	}
 }
diff --git a/test/fixtures/composectl_cmds.go b/test/fixtures/composectl_cmds.go
index 558d791..278a0b5 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/composectl_cmds.go
+++ b/test/fixtures/composectl_cmds.go
@@ -6,10 +6,12 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	composectl "github.com/foundriesio/composeapp/cmd/composectl/cmd"
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
 	rand2 "math/rand"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -27,7 +29,7 @@ type (
 
 	PublishOpts struct {
 		PublishLayersManifest bool
-		LayersMetaFile        string
+		PublishLayersMetaFile bool
 		Registry              string
 	}
 )
@@ -54,9 +56,9 @@ func WithLayersManifest(addLayerManifest bool) func(opts *PublishOpts) {
 		opts.PublishLayersManifest = addLayerManifest
 	}
 }
-func WithLayersMeta(layersMetaFile string) func(opts *PublishOpts) {
+func WithLayersMeta(layersMetaFile bool) func(opts *PublishOpts) {
 	return func(opts *PublishOpts) {
-		opts.LayersMetaFile = layersMetaFile
+		opts.PublishLayersMetaFile = layersMetaFile
 	}
 }
 
@@ -73,8 +75,44 @@ func NewApp(t *testing.T, composeDef string, name ...string) *App {
 	return app
 }
 
+func (a *App) pullImages(t *testing.T) error {
+	b, err := os.ReadFile(path.Join(a.Dir, "docker-compose.yml"))
+	check(t, err)
+	var composeProj map[string]interface{}
+	check(t, yaml.Unmarshal(b, &composeProj))
+	services := composeProj["services"]
+	for _, v := range services.(map[string]interface{}) {
+		image := v.(map[string]interface{})["image"]
+		c := exec.Command("docker", "pull", image.(string))
+		output, cmdErr := c.CombinedOutput()
+		checkf(t, cmdErr, "failed to pull app images: %s\n", output)
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
+func (a *App) removeImages(t *testing.T) error {
+	b, err := os.ReadFile(path.Join(a.Dir, "docker-compose.yml"))
+	check(t, err)
+	var composeProj map[string]interface{}
+	check(t, yaml.Unmarshal(b, &composeProj))
+	services := composeProj["services"]
+	removedImages := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, v := range services.(map[string]interface{}) {
+		image := v.(map[string]interface{})["image"]
+		if _, ok := removedImages[image.(string)]; ok {
+			continue
+		}
+		c := exec.Command("docker", "image", "rm", image.(string))
+		output, cmdErr := c.CombinedOutput()
+		checkf(t, cmdErr, "failed to pull app images: %s\n", output)
+		removedImages[image.(string)] = true
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
 func (a *App) Publish(t *testing.T, publishOpts ...func(*PublishOpts)) {
-	opts := PublishOpts{PublishLayersManifest: true}
+	check(t, a.pullImages(t))
+	opts := PublishOpts{PublishLayersManifest: true, PublishLayersMetaFile: true}
 	for _, o := range publishOpts {
 		o(&opts)
 	}
@@ -93,8 +131,10 @@ func (a *App) Publish(t *testing.T, publishOpts ...func(*PublishOpts)) {
 		if !opts.PublishLayersManifest {
 			args = append(args, "--layers-manifest=false")
 		}
-		if len(opts.LayersMetaFile) > 0 {
-			args = append(args, "--layers-meta", opts.LayersMetaFile)
+		if opts.PublishLayersMetaFile {
+			layersMetaFile := GenerateLayersMetaFile(t, filepath.Dir(a.Dir))
+			defer os.RemoveAll(layersMetaFile)
+			args = append(args, "--layers-meta", layersMetaFile)
 		}
 		runCmd(t, a.Dir, args...)
 		b, err := os.ReadFile(digestFile)
@@ -102,6 +142,7 @@ func (a *App) Publish(t *testing.T, publishOpts ...func(*PublishOpts)) {
 		a.PublishedUri = baseUri + "@" + string(b)
 		fmt.Printf("published app uri: %s\n", a.PublishedUri)
 	})
+	check(t, a.removeImages(t))
 }
 
 func (a *App) Pull(t *testing.T) {
@@ -117,7 +158,7 @@ func (a *App) Install(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func (a *App) Uninstall(t *testing.T) {
-	a.runCmd(t, "uninstall app", "uninstall", a.Name)
+	a.runCmd(t, "uninstall app", "uninstall", "--prune=true", a.Name)
 }
 
 func (a *App) Run(t *testing.T) {
@@ -166,7 +207,6 @@ func (a *App) CheckInstalled(t *testing.T) {
 		output := runCmd(t, a.Dir, "check", "--local", "--install", a.PublishedUri, "--format", "json")
 		checkResult := composectl.CheckAndInstallResult{}
 		check(t, json.Unmarshal(output, &checkResult))
-
 		if len(checkResult.FetchCheck.MissingBlobs) > 0 {
 			t.Errorf("there are missing app blobs: %+v\n", checkResult.FetchCheck.MissingBlobs)
 		}
diff --git a/test/fixtures/preload-images.sh b/test/fixtures/preload-images.sh
index 2c28d3f..5180768 100755
--- a/test/fixtures/preload-images.sh
+++ b/test/fixtures/preload-images.sh
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ if ! check_image; then
     docker pull ${SRC_IMAGE}
     docker tag ${SRC_IMAGE} ${IMAGE_URI}
     docker push ${IMAGE_URI}
+    docker image rm ${SRC_IMAGE}
+    docker image rm ${IMAGE_URI}
 else
     echo "Image ${IMAGE_URI} exists in the registry."
 fi
diff --git a/test/integration/smoke_test.go b/test/integration/smoke_test.go
index 6d99548..8564d1c 100644
--- a/test/integration/smoke_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/smoke_test.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package e2e_tests
 
 import (
 	f "github.com/foundriesio/composeapp/test/fixtures"
-	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 )
 
@@ -14,10 +13,9 @@ services:
     command: sh -c "while true; do sleep 60; done"
 `
 	app := f.NewApp(t, appComposeDef)
-	layersMetaFile := f.GenerateLayersMetaFile(t, filepath.Dir(app.Dir))
 
 	smokeTest := func(registry string, layersManifest bool) {
-		app.Publish(t, f.WithRegistry(registry), f.WithLayersManifest(layersManifest), f.WithLayersMeta(layersMetaFile))
+		app.Publish(t, f.WithRegistry(registry), f.WithLayersManifest(layersManifest))
 
 		app.Pull(t)
 		defer app.Remove(t)