diff --git a/oci/oci.go b/oci/oci.go
index 8425453..925d0b4 100644
--- a/oci/oci.go
+++ b/oci/oci.go
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/remote"
 	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/remote/transport"
 	"github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/v1/types"
+
+	"github.com/cocoonstack/cocoon-common/snapshot"
 )
 
 const maxRegistryConnsPerHost = 32
@@ -59,6 +61,9 @@ func (r *OCIRegistry) GetManifest(ctx context.Context, repo, tag string) ([]byte
 	}
 	desc, err := remote.Get(ref, r.callOpts(ctx)...)
 	if err != nil {
+		if isNotFound(err) {
+			return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("get manifest %s:%s: %w", repo, tag, snapshot.ErrManifestNotFound)
+		}
 		return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("get manifest %s:%s: %w", repo, tag, err)
 	}
 	return desc.Manifest, string(desc.MediaType), nil
@@ -176,13 +181,17 @@ func bulkTransport() *http.Transport {
 // ignoreNotFound maps a registry 404 to a nil error (absent, not failed) and
 // wraps anything else.
 func ignoreNotFound(err error, action string) error {
-	var terr *transport.Error
-	if errors.As(err, &terr) && terr.StatusCode == http.StatusNotFound {
+	if isNotFound(err) {
 		return nil
 	}
 	return fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", action, err)
 }
 
+func isNotFound(err error) bool {
+	var terr *transport.Error
+	return errors.As(err, &terr) && terr.StatusCode == http.StatusNotFound
+}
+
 // streamLayer is a v1.Layer over a body with a known digest and size, so PutBlob
 // streams a raw blob without buffering it (WriteLayer reads only Compressed()).
 // body is single-use: a retried upload fails the digest check, not corrupts.
diff --git a/oci/oci_test.go b/oci/oci_test.go
index 4375065..1b7dbbd 100644
--- a/oci/oci_test.go
+++ b/oci/oci_test.go
@@ -201,6 +201,17 @@ func TestStreamResolvesIndexChildByDigest(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestGetManifestNotFoundIsTyped(t *testing.T) {
+	srv := httptest.NewServer(registry.New())
+	t.Cleanup(srv.Close)
+	r := NewOCIRegistry(strings.TrimPrefix(srv.URL, "http://")+"/cocoon", authn.DefaultKeychain)
+
+	_, _, err := r.GetManifest(t.Context(), "ghost/repo", "missing")
+	if !errors.Is(err, snapshot.ErrManifestNotFound) {
+		t.Fatalf("err = %v, want errors.Is ErrManifestNotFound", err)
+	}
+}
+
 func digestOf(b []byte) string {
 	sum := sha256.Sum256(b)
 	return "sha256:" + hex.EncodeToString(sum[:])
diff --git a/snapshot/snapshot.go b/snapshot/snapshot.go
index 33936ad..4d5a54e 100644
--- a/snapshot/snapshot.go
+++ b/snapshot/snapshot.go
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ const (
 )
 
 var (
+	ErrManifestNotFound = errors.New("manifest not found")
+
 	errMissingSnapshotJSON = errors.New("snapshot.json not found in export stream")
 
 	nowFunc = time.Now // tests override