diff --git a/playbooks/filesystem/common/etc/systemd/user/pod-service-auto-update.service b/playbooks/filesystem/common/etc/systemd/user/pod-service-auto-update.service
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a846a84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playbooks/filesystem/common/etc/systemd/user/pod-service-auto-update.service
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Pod service auto-update service
+Documentation=man:podman(1)
+Wants=network.target
+After=network-online.target
+
+[Service]
+Type=oneshot
+ExecStart=/usr/local/sbin/pod-service-auto-update
diff --git a/playbooks/filesystem/common/etc/systemd/user/pod-service-auto-update.timer b/playbooks/filesystem/common/etc/systemd/user/pod-service-auto-update.timer
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ef03b4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playbooks/filesystem/common/etc/systemd/user/pod-service-auto-update.timer
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Pod service auto-update timer
+
+[Timer]
+OnCalendar=daily
+Persistent=true
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=timers.target
diff --git a/playbooks/filesystem/common/etc/systemd/user/podman-image-prune.service b/playbooks/filesystem/common/etc/systemd/user/podman-image-prune.service
index d2408fc..064f040 100644
--- a/playbooks/filesystem/common/etc/systemd/user/podman-image-prune.service
+++ b/playbooks/filesystem/common/etc/systemd/user/podman-image-prune.service
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [Unit]
 Description=Prune dangling podman images
 Documentation=man:podman-image-prune(1)
-Before=podman-auto-update.service
+Before=pod-service-auto-update.service
 
 [Service]
 Type=oneshot
@@ -9,4 +9,4 @@ ExecStart=/usr/bin/podman container prune -f
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/podman image prune -f
 
 [Install]
-WantedBy=podman-auto-update.service
+WantedBy=pod-service-auto-update.service
diff --git a/playbooks/filesystem/common/usr/local/sbin/pod-service-auto-update b/playbooks/filesystem/common/usr/local/sbin/pod-service-auto-update
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc277b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playbooks/filesystem/common/usr/local/sbin/pod-service-auto-update
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+"""This script replaces `podman auto-update`. If a digest in a registry has been updated, `podman
+pull` may not necessarily pull the image for quite some time. However, `auto-update` will still try
+every day, but since it doesn't check if the new digest has actually been pulled it will restart the
+service again and again. This script attempts to solve the problem by explicitly checking the digest
+after the pull. However, it assumes that there is only service that needs restarting on updates and
+that its called <username>.service so it is not (yet) a drop-in replacement for `podman
+auto-update`.
+
+"""
+
+import getpass
+import json
+import subprocess
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    out = subprocess.run(["podman", "images", "--format", "json"], capture_output=True, check=True)
+    images = json.loads(out.stdout)
+
+    updated = []
+    for image in images:
+        if not image["Names"]:
+            continue
+        if len(image["Names"]) > 1:
+            raise ValueError(f"Multiple names available for image: {image['Names']}")
+        name = image["Names"][0]
+
+        subprocess.run(["podman", "pull", name], capture_output=True, check=True)
+
+        out = subprocess.run(["podman", "inspect", "--format", "json", name],
+                             capture_output=True, check=True)
+        inspect = json.loads(out.stdout)
+        assert inspect
+        if len(inspect) > 1:
+            raise ValueError("Podman inspect returned multiple entries")
+
+        if inspect[0]["Digest"] != image["Digest"]:
+            updated.append(name)
+
+    if updated:
+        print(f"The following images have been updated: {updated}")
+        subprocess.run(["systemctl", "--user", "restart", f"{getpass.getuser()}.service"],
+                       check=True)
diff --git a/playbooks/tasks/services/a-common/04-systemd-user.yml b/playbooks/tasks/services/a-common/04-systemd-user.yml
index 7f02c10..ae637dc 100644
--- a/playbooks/tasks/services/a-common/04-systemd-user.yml
+++ b/playbooks/tasks/services/a-common/04-systemd-user.yml
@@ -1,16 +1,23 @@
-- name: Copy systemd auto-update service for user
+- name: Copy the pod-service update script
   copy:
-    src: "/usr/lib/systemd/system/podman-auto-update.service"
-    dest: "/etc/systemd/user/podman-auto-update.service"
-    remote_src: yes
+    src: "./filesystem/common/usr/local/sbin/pod-service-auto-update"
+    dest: "/usr/local/sbin/pod-service-auto-update"
+    mode: 0755
 
-- name: Copy systemd auto-update timer for user
+- name: Copy the pod-service update service
   copy:
-    src: "/usr/lib/systemd/system/podman-auto-update.timer"
-    dest: "/etc/systemd/user/podman-auto-update.timer"
-    remote_src: yes
+    src: "./filesystem/common/etc/systemd/user/pod-service-auto-update.service"
+    dest: "/etc/systemd/user/pod-service-auto-update.service"
+    mode: 0644
+
+- name: Copy the pod-service update timer
+  copy:
+    src: "./filesystem/common/etc/systemd/user/pod-service-auto-update.timer"
+    dest: "/etc/systemd/user/pod-service-auto-update.timer"
+    mode: 0644
 
 - name: Copy systemd image prune service for user
   copy:
     src: "./filesystem/common/etc/systemd/user/podman-image-prune.service"
     dest: "/etc/systemd/user/podman-image-prune.service"
+    mode: 0644
diff --git a/playbooks/tasks/services/b-user/service-user/01-user.yml b/playbooks/tasks/services/b-user/service-user/01-user.yml
index 7f8d91d..c7ddc18 100644
--- a/playbooks/tasks/services/b-user/service-user/01-user.yml
+++ b/playbooks/tasks/services/b-user/service-user/01-user.yml
@@ -105,9 +105,9 @@
         daemon_reload: true
         scope: user
 
-    - name: Enable podman auto-update
+    - name: Enable pod-service auto-update
       systemd:
-        name: podman-auto-update.timer
+        name: pod-service-auto-update.timer
         enabled: yes
         state: started
         scope: user