diff --git a/certification/internal/policy/container/base_on_ubi.go b/certification/internal/policy/container/base_on_ubi.go
index a6fdf6c9..55cebaf2 100644
--- a/certification/internal/policy/container/base_on_ubi.go
+++ b/certification/internal/policy/container/base_on_ubi.go
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ func (p *BasedOnUBICheck) checkRedHatLayers(ctx context.Context, layerHashes []c
 	if certImages != nil && len(certImages) >= 1 {
 		return true, nil
 	}
+	log.Error("No matching layer ids found in pyxis db. Please verify if the image is based on a recent UBI image")
 	return false, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/certification/pyxis/layers.go b/certification/pyxis/layers.go
index 9d30a9a0..94e528fe 100644
--- a/certification/pyxis/layers.go
+++ b/certification/pyxis/layers.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
+	"net/url"
 	"strings"
 
 	cranev1 "github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1"
@@ -18,13 +19,14 @@ func (p *pyxisEngine) CheckRedHatLayers(ctx context.Context, layerHashes []crane
 	for _, layer := range layerHashes {
 		layerIds = append(layerIds, layer.String())
 	}
-
 	log.Tracef("the layerIds passed to pyxis are %s", layerIds)
 
+	pyxisQuery := url.QueryEscape(fmt.Sprintf("repositories.registry=in=(registry.access.redhat.com) and uncompressed_top_layer_id=in=(%s)", strings.Join(layerIds, ",")))
+
 	req, err := p.newRequestWithApiToken(
 		ctx,
 		http.MethodGet,
-		getPyxisUrl(fmt.Sprintf("filter=repositories.registry=eq=(registry.access.redhat.com) and uncompressed_top_layer_id=in=(%s)", strings.Join(layerIds, ","))),
+		fmt.Sprintf("%s?filter=%s", getPyxisUrl("images"), pyxisQuery),
 		nil,
 	)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -43,15 +45,15 @@ func (p *pyxisEngine) CheckRedHatLayers(ctx context.Context, layerHashes []crane
 		log.Error("Unexpected Status Code", err)
 		return nil, errors.New(err)
 	}
-
 	defer resp.Body.Close()
-
 	body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Error(err)
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	log.Tracef("query response from pyxis %s", string(body))
+
 	type imageList struct {
 		Images []CertImage `json:"data"`
 	}