diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 87a84e8..4068510 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ module github.com/operator-framework/kubectl-operator
 go 1.13
 
 require (
+	github.com/containerd/containerd v1.3.2
+	github.com/opencontainers/image-spec v1.0.2-0.20190823105129-775207bd45b6
 	github.com/operator-framework/api v0.3.7
 	github.com/operator-framework/operator-lifecycle-manager v0.0.0-20200521062108-408ca95d458f
 	github.com/operator-framework/operator-registry v1.12.5
diff --git a/internal/pkg/action/catalog_add.go b/internal/pkg/action/catalog_add.go
index 006178f..2ddd187 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/action/catalog_add.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/action/catalog_add.go
@@ -4,9 +4,16 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"path"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/archive/compression"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/images"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/namespaces"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/platforms"
+	ocispec "github.com/opencontainers/image-spec/specs-go/v1"
 	"github.com/operator-framework/api/pkg/operators/v1alpha1"
 	"github.com/operator-framework/operator-registry/pkg/image"
 	"github.com/operator-framework/operator-registry/pkg/image/containerdregistry"
@@ -23,7 +30,13 @@ import (
 	"github.com/operator-framework/kubectl-operator/internal/pkg/catalog"
 )
 
-const grpcPort = "50051"
+const (
+	grpcPort              = "50051"
+	dbPathLabel           = "operators.operatorframework.io.index.database.v1"
+	alphaDisplayNameLabel = "alpha.operators.operatorframework.io.index.display-name.v1"
+	alphaPublisherLabel   = "alpha.operators.operatorframework.io.index.publisher.v1"
+	defaultDatabasePath   = "/database/index.db"
+)
 
 type CatalogAdd struct {
 	config *Configuration
@@ -81,7 +94,7 @@ func (a *CatalogAdd) Run(ctx context.Context) (*v1alpha1.CatalogSource, error) {
 
 	labels, err := a.labelsFor(ctx, a.IndexImage)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("get image labels: %v", err)
 	}
 
 	a.setDefaults(labels)
@@ -96,20 +109,33 @@ func (a *CatalogAdd) Run(ctx context.Context) (*v1alpha1.CatalogSource, error) {
 	}
 
 	cs := catalog.Build(csKey, opts...)
-	if err := a.createCatalogSource(ctx, cs); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	if err := a.config.Client.Create(ctx, cs); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("create catalogsource: %v", err)
 	}
 
 	var registryPod *corev1.Pod
 	if len(a.InjectBundles) > 0 {
-		if registryPod, err = a.createRegistryPod(ctx, cs); err != nil {
+		dbPath, ok := labels[dbPathLabel]
+		if !ok {
+			// No database path label, so assume this is an index base image.
+			// Choose "semver" bundle add mode (if not explicitly set) and
+			// use the default database path.
+			if a.InjectBundleMode == "" {
+				a.InjectBundleMode = "semver"
+			}
+			dbPath = defaultDatabasePath
+		}
+		if a.InjectBundleMode == "" {
+			a.InjectBundleMode = "replaces"
+		}
+		if registryPod, err = a.createRegistryPod(ctx, cs, dbPath); err != nil {
 			defer a.cleanup(cs)
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
 		if err := a.updateCatalogSource(ctx, cs, registryPod); err != nil {
 			defer a.cleanup(cs)
-			return nil, err
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("update catalog source: %v", err)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -122,51 +148,61 @@ func (a *CatalogAdd) Run(ctx context.Context) (*v1alpha1.CatalogSource, error) {
 }
 
 func (a *CatalogAdd) labelsFor(ctx context.Context, indexImage string) (map[string]string, error) {
-	simpleRef := image.SimpleReference(indexImage)
-	if err := a.registry.Pull(ctx, simpleRef); err != nil {
+	ref := image.SimpleReference(indexImage)
+	if err := a.registry.Pull(ctx, ref); err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("pull image: %v", err)
 	}
-	labels, err := a.registry.Labels(ctx, simpleRef)
+
+	ctx = namespaces.WithNamespace(ctx, namespaces.Default)
+	img, err := a.registry.Images().Get(ctx, ref.String())
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("get image labels: %v", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("get image from local registry: %v", err)
 	}
-	return labels, nil
+
+	manifest, err := images.Manifest(ctx, a.registry.Content(), img.Target, platforms.All)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("resolve image manifest: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	ra, err := a.registry.Content().ReaderAt(ctx, manifest.Config)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("get image reader: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer ra.Close()
+
+	decompressed, err := compression.DecompressStream(io.NewSectionReader(ra, 0, ra.Size()))
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("decompress image data: %v", err)
+	}
+	var imageMeta ocispec.Image
+	dec := json.NewDecoder(decompressed)
+	if err := dec.Decode(&imageMeta); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("decode image metadata: %v", err)
+	}
+	return imageMeta.Config.Labels, nil
 }
 
 func (a *CatalogAdd) setDefaults(labels map[string]string) {
 	if a.DisplayName == "" {
-		if v, ok := labels["operators.operatorframework.io.index.display-name"]; ok {
+		if v, ok := labels[alphaDisplayNameLabel]; ok {
 			a.DisplayName = v
 		}
 	}
 	if a.Publisher == "" {
-		if v, ok := labels["operators.operatorframework.io.index.publisher"]; ok {
+		if v, ok := labels[alphaPublisherLabel]; ok {
 			a.Publisher = v
 		}
 	}
-	if a.InjectBundleMode == "" {
-		if strings.HasPrefix(a.IndexImage, "quay.io/operator-framework/upstream-opm-builder") {
-			a.InjectBundleMode = "semver"
-		} else {
-			a.InjectBundleMode = "replaces"
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-func (a *CatalogAdd) createCatalogSource(ctx context.Context, cs *v1alpha1.CatalogSource) error {
-	if err := a.config.Client.Create(ctx, cs); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("create catalogsource: %v", err)
-	}
-	return nil
 }
 
-func (a *CatalogAdd) createRegistryPod(ctx context.Context, cs *v1alpha1.CatalogSource) (*corev1.Pod, error) {
+func (a *CatalogAdd) createRegistryPod(ctx context.Context, cs *v1alpha1.CatalogSource, dbPath string) (*corev1.Pod, error) {
+	dbDir := path.Dir(dbPath)
 	command := []string{
 		"/bin/sh",
 		"-c",
-		fmt.Sprintf(`mkdir -p /database && \
-/bin/opm registry add   -d /database/index.db --mode=%s -b %s && \
-/bin/opm registry serve -d /database/index.db -p %s`, a.InjectBundleMode, strings.Join(a.InjectBundles, ","), grpcPort),
+		fmt.Sprintf(`mkdir -p %s && \
+/bin/opm registry add   -d %s --mode=%s -b %s && \
+/bin/opm registry serve -d %s -p %s`, dbDir, dbPath, a.InjectBundleMode, strings.Join(a.InjectBundles, ","), dbPath, grpcPort),
 	}
 
 	pod := &corev1.Pod{
@@ -184,26 +220,15 @@ func (a *CatalogAdd) createRegistryPod(ctx context.Context, cs *v1alpha1.Catalog
 			},
 		},
 	}
+
+	if err := controllerutil.SetOwnerReference(cs, pod, a.config.Scheme); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("set registry pod owner reference: %v", err)
+	}
 	if err := a.config.Client.Create(ctx, pod); err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("create registry pod: %v", err)
 	}
 
 	podKey := objectKeyForObject(pod)
-	if err := retry.RetryOnConflict(retry.DefaultBackoff, func() error {
-		if err := a.config.Client.Get(ctx, podKey, pod); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("get registry pod: %v", err)
-		}
-		if err := controllerutil.SetOwnerReference(cs, pod, a.config.Scheme); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("set registry pod owner reference: %v", err)
-		}
-		if err := a.config.Client.Update(ctx, pod); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("update registry pod owner reference: %v", err)
-		}
-		return nil
-	}); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
 	if err := wait.PollImmediateUntil(time.Millisecond*250, func() (bool, error) {
 		if err := a.config.Client.Get(ctx, podKey, pod); err != nil {
 			return false, err
@@ -219,26 +244,25 @@ func (a *CatalogAdd) createRegistryPod(ctx context.Context, cs *v1alpha1.Catalog
 }
 
 func (a *CatalogAdd) updateCatalogSource(ctx context.Context, cs *v1alpha1.CatalogSource, pod *corev1.Pod) error {
-	cs.Spec.Address = fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", pod.Status.PodIP, grpcPort)
-
 	injectedBundlesJSON, err := json.Marshal(a.InjectBundles)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("json marshal injected bundles: %v", err)
 	}
-	cs.ObjectMeta.Annotations = map[string]string{
-		"operators.operatorframework.io/index-image":        a.IndexImage,
-		"operators.operatorframework.io/inject-bundle-mode": a.InjectBundleMode,
-		"operators.operatorframework.io/injected-bundles":   string(injectedBundlesJSON),
-	}
+
 	csKey := objectKeyForObject(cs)
 	if err := retry.RetryOnConflict(retry.DefaultBackoff, func() error {
 		if err := a.config.Client.Get(ctx, csKey, cs); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("get catalog source: %v", err)
 		}
-		if err := a.config.Client.Update(ctx, cs); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("update catalog source: %v", err)
+
+		cs.Spec.Address = fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", pod.Status.PodIP, grpcPort)
+		cs.ObjectMeta.Annotations = map[string]string{
+			"operators.operatorframework.io/index-image":        a.IndexImage,
+			"operators.operatorframework.io/inject-bundle-mode": a.InjectBundleMode,
+			"operators.operatorframework.io/injected-bundles":   string(injectedBundlesJSON),
 		}
-		return nil
+
+		return a.config.Client.Update(ctx, cs)
 	}); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}