diff --git a/integration/container_without_image_ref_test.go b/integration/container_without_image_ref_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ec7cd4e34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration/container_without_image_ref_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The containerd Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package integration
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	runtime "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/apis/cri/runtime/v1alpha2"
+)
+
+// Test container lifecycle can work without image references.
+func TestContainerLifecycleWithoutImageRef(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Log("Create a sandbox")
+	sbConfig := PodSandboxConfig("sandbox", "container-lifecycle-without-image-ref")
+	sb, err := runtimeService.RunPodSandbox(sbConfig, *runtimeHandler)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer func() {
+		assert.NoError(t, runtimeService.StopPodSandbox(sb))
+		assert.NoError(t, runtimeService.RemovePodSandbox(sb))
+	}()
+
+	const (
+		testImage     = "busybox"
+		containerName = "test-container"
+	)
+	t.Log("Pull test image")
+	img, err := imageService.PullImage(&runtime.ImageSpec{Image: testImage}, nil)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer func() {
+		assert.NoError(t, imageService.RemoveImage(&runtime.ImageSpec{Image: img}))
+	}()
+
+	t.Log("Create test container")
+	cnConfig := ContainerConfig(
+		containerName,
+		testImage,
+		WithCommand("sleep", "1000"),
+	)
+	cn, err := runtimeService.CreateContainer(sb, cnConfig, sbConfig)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NoError(t, runtimeService.StartContainer(cn))
+
+	t.Log("Remove test image")
+	assert.NoError(t, imageService.RemoveImage(&runtime.ImageSpec{Image: img}))
+
+	t.Log("Container status should be running")
+	status, err := runtimeService.ContainerStatus(cn)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, status.GetState(), runtime.ContainerState_CONTAINER_RUNNING)
+
+	t.Logf("Stop container")
+	err = runtimeService.StopContainer(cn, 1)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	t.Log("Container status should be exited")
+	status, err = runtimeService.ContainerStatus(cn)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, status.GetState(), runtime.ContainerState_CONTAINER_EXITED)
+}