diff --git a/build/build.go b/build/build.go
index 3fd2e581..42ec32a1 100644
--- a/build/build.go
+++ b/build/build.go
@@ -608,7 +608,7 @@ func BuildWithResultHandler(ctx context.Context, nodes []builder.Node, opt map[s
 								}
 							}
 
-							dt, desc, err := itpull.Combine(ctx, srcs, nil)
+							dt, desc, err := itpull.Combine(ctx, srcs, nil, false)
 							if err != nil {
 								return err
 							}
diff --git a/commands/imagetools/create.go b/commands/imagetools/create.go
index f05571b0..5239bd0f 100644
--- a/commands/imagetools/create.go
+++ b/commands/imagetools/create.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ type createOptions struct {
 	dryrun       bool
 	actionAppend bool
 	progress     string
+	preferIndex  bool
 }
 
 func runCreate(ctx context.Context, dockerCli command.Cli, in createOptions, args []string) error {
@@ -153,7 +154,7 @@ func runCreate(ctx context.Context, dockerCli command.Cli, in createOptions, arg
 		}
 	}
 
-	dt, desc, err := r.Combine(ctx, srcs, in.annotations)
+	dt, desc, err := r.Combine(ctx, srcs, in.annotations, in.preferIndex)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -283,6 +284,7 @@ func createCmd(dockerCli command.Cli, opts RootOptions) *cobra.Command {
 	flags.BoolVar(&options.actionAppend, "append", false, "Append to existing manifest")
 	flags.StringVar(&options.progress, "progress", "auto", `Set type of progress output ("auto", "plain", "tty"). Use plain to show container output`)
 	flags.StringArrayVarP(&options.annotations, "annotation", "", []string{}, "Add annotation to the image")
+	flags.BoolVar(&options.preferIndex, "prefer-index", true, "When only a single source is specified, prefer outputting an image index or manifest list instead of performing a carbon copy")
 
 	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/util/imagetools/create.go b/util/imagetools/create.go
index a8c3241d..fa168b1a 100644
--- a/util/imagetools/create.go
+++ b/util/imagetools/create.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ type Source struct {
 	Ref  reference.Named
 }
 
-func (r *Resolver) Combine(ctx context.Context, srcs []*Source, ann []string) ([]byte, ocispec.Descriptor, error) {
+func (r *Resolver) Combine(ctx context.Context, srcs []*Source, ann []string, preferIndex bool) ([]byte, ocispec.Descriptor, error) {
 	eg, ctx := errgroup.WithContext(ctx)
 
 	dts := make([][]byte, len(srcs))
@@ -79,7 +79,12 @@ func (r *Resolver) Combine(ctx context.Context, srcs []*Source, ann []string) ([
 
 	// on single source, return original bytes
 	if len(srcs) == 1 && len(ann) == 0 {
-		if mt := srcs[0].Desc.MediaType; mt == images.MediaTypeDockerSchema2ManifestList || mt == images.MediaTypeDockerSchema2Manifest || mt == ocispec.MediaTypeImageIndex {
+		switch srcs[0].Desc.MediaType {
+		case images.MediaTypeDockerSchema2Manifest:
+			if !preferIndex {
+				return dts[0], srcs[0].Desc, nil
+			}
+		case images.MediaTypeDockerSchema2ManifestList, ocispec.MediaTypeImageIndex:
 			return dts[0], srcs[0].Desc, nil
 		}
 	}