diff --git a/classes/image-oci-sloci-image.inc b/classes/image-oci-sloci-image.inc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..36d3c2da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/classes/image-oci-sloci-image.inc
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+IMAGE_CMD_oci() {
+    sloci_options=""
+
+    bbdebug 1 "OCI image settings:"
+    bbdebug 1 "  author: ${OCI_IMAGE_AUTHOR}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  author email: ${OCI_IMAGE_AUTHOR_EMAIL}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  tag: ${OCI_IMAGE_TAG}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  arch: ${OCI_IMAGE_ARCH}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  subarch: ${OCI_IMAGE_SUBARCH}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  entrypoint: ${OCI_IMAGE_ENTRYPOINT}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  entrypoing args: ${OCI_IMAGE_ENTRYPOINT_ARGS}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  labels: ${OCI_IMAGE_LABELS}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  uid: ${OCI_IMAGE_RUNTIME_UID}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  working dir: ${OCI_IMAGE_WORKINGDIR}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  env vars: ${OCI_IMAGE_ENV_VARS}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  ports: ${OCI_IMAGE_PORTS}"
+
+    # Change into the image deploy dir to avoid having any output operations capture
+    # long directories or the location.
+    cd ${IMGDEPLOYDIR}
+
+    oci_image_label_options=""
+    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_LABELS}" ]; then
+	for l in ${OCI_IMAGE_LABELS}; do
+	    oci_image_label_options="${oci_image_label_options} --label ${l}"
+	done
+    fi
+    oci_image_env_options=""
+    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_ENV_VARS}" ]; then
+	for l in ${OCI_IMAGE_ENV_VARS}; do
+	    oci_image_env_options="${oci_image_env_options} --env ${l}"
+	done
+    fi
+    oci_image_port_options=""
+    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_PORTS}" ]; then
+	for l in ${OCI_IMAGE_PORTS}; do
+	    oci_image_port_options="${oci_image_port_options} --port ${l}"
+	done
+    fi
+
+    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_RUNTIME_UID}" ]; then
+	oci_image_user_options="--user ${OCI_IMAGE_RUNTIME_UID}"
+    fi
+
+    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_WORKINGDIR}" ]; then
+	oci_image_working_dir_options="--working-dir ${OCI_IMAGE_WORKINGDIR}"
+    fi
+
+    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_TAR_OUTPUT}" ]; then
+	sloci_options="$sloci_options --tar"
+    fi
+
+    # options that always appear are required for a valid oci container image
+    # others are optional based on settings.
+    sloci-image $sloci_options \
+		--arch ${OCI_IMAGE_ARCH} \
+		--arch-variant "${OCI_IMAGE_SUBARCH}" \
+		--entrypoint ${OCI_IMAGE_ENTRYPOINT} \
+		--cmd "${OCI_IMAGE_ENTRYPOINT_ARGS}" \
+		--author ${OCI_IMAGE_AUTHOR_EMAIL} \
+		${oci_image_user_options} \
+		${oci_image_label_options} \
+		${oci_image_env_options} \
+		${oci_image_working_dir_options} \
+		${oci_image_port_options} \
+		${IMAGE_ROOTFS} ${IMAGE_NAME}${IMAGE_NAME_SUFFIX}-oci:${OCI_IMAGE_TAG}
+}
diff --git a/classes/image-oci-umoci.inc b/classes/image-oci-umoci.inc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b622714e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/classes/image-oci-umoci.inc
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+IMAGE_CMD_oci() {
+    umoci_options=""
+
+    bbdebug 1 "UMOCI image settings:"
+    bbdebug 1 "  author: ${OCI_IMAGE_AUTHOR}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  author email: ${OCI_IMAGE_AUTHOR_EMAIL}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  tag: ${OCI_IMAGE_TAG}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  arch: ${OCI_IMAGE_ARCH}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  subarch: ${OCI_IMAGE_SUBARCH}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  entrypoint: ${OCI_IMAGE_ENTRYPOINT}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  entrypoint args: ${OCI_IMAGE_ENTRYPOINT_ARGS}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  labels: ${OCI_IMAGE_LABELS}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  uid: ${OCI_IMAGE_RUNTIME_UID}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  working dir: ${OCI_IMAGE_WORKINGDIR}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  env vars: ${OCI_IMAGE_ENV_VARS}"
+    bbdebug 1 "  ports: ${OCI_IMAGE_PORTS}"
+
+    OCI_REUSE_IMAGE=""
+
+    # Change into the image deploy dir to avoid having any output operations capture
+    # long directories or the location.
+    cd ${IMGDEPLOYDIR}
+
+    new_image=t
+    image_name="${IMAGE_NAME}${IMAGE_NAME_SUFFIX}-oci"
+    image_bundle_name="${IMAGE_NAME}${IMAGE_NAME_SUFFIX}-oci-bundle"
+    if [ -n "$OCI_REUSE_IMAGE" ]; then
+	if [ -d $image_name ]; then
+	    bbdebug 1 "OCI: reusing image directory"
+	    new_image=""
+	fi
+    else
+	bbdebug 1 "OCI: removing existing container image directory"
+	rm -rf $image_name $image_bundle_name
+    fi
+
+    if [ -z "${OCI_IMAGE_TAG}" ]; then
+	OCI_IMAGE_TAG="initial-tag"
+    fi
+
+    if [ -n "$new_image" ]; then
+	bbdebug 1 "OCI: umoci init --layout $image_name"
+	umoci init --layout $image_name
+	umoci new --image $image_name:${OCI_IMAGE_TAG}
+	umoci unpack --rootless --image $image_name:${OCI_IMAGE_TAG} $image_bundle_name
+    else
+	# todo: create a different tag, after checking if the passed one exists
+	true
+    fi
+
+    bbdebug 1 "OCI: populating rootfs"
+    bbdebug 1 "OCI: cp -r ${IMAGE_ROOTFS}/* $image_bundle_name/rootfs/"
+    cp -r ${IMAGE_ROOTFS}/* $image_bundle_name/rootfs
+
+    bbdebug 1 "OCI: umoci repack --image $image_name:${OCI_IMAGE_TAG} $image_bundle_name"
+    umoci repack --image $image_name:${OCI_IMAGE_TAG} $image_bundle_name
+
+    bbdebug 1 "OCI: configuring image"
+    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_LABELS}" ]; then
+	for l in ${OCI_IMAGE_LABELS}; do
+	    bbdebug 1 "OCI: umoci config --image $image_name  --config.label $l"
+	    umoci config --image $image_name  --config.label $l
+	done
+    fi
+    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_ENV_VARS}" ]; then
+	for l in ${OCI_IMAGE_ENV_VARS}; do
+	    bbdebug 1 "umoci config --image $image_name --config.env $l"
+	    umoci config --image $image_name --config.env $l
+	done
+    fi
+    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_PORTS}" ]; then
+	for l in ${OCI_IMAGE_PORTS}; do
+	    bbdebug 1 "umoci config --image $image_name --config.exposedports $l"
+	    umoci config --image $image_name --config.exposedports $l
+	done
+    fi
+    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_RUNTIME_UID}" ]; then
+	bbdebug 1 "umoci config --image $image_name  --config.user ${OCI_IMAGE_RUNTIME_UID}"
+	umoci config --image $image_name  --config.user ${OCI_IMAGE_RUNTIME_UID}
+    fi
+    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_WORKINGDIR}" ]; then
+	bbdebug 1 "umoci config --image $image_name  --config.workingdir ${OCI_IMAGE_WORKINGDIR}"
+	umoci config --image $image_name  --config.workingdir ${OCI_IMAGE_WORKINGDIR}
+    fi
+    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_OS}" ]; then
+	bbdebug 1 "umoci config --image $image_name  --os ${OCI_IMAGE_OS}"
+	umoci config --image $image_name  --os ${OCI_IMAGE_OS}
+    fi
+
+    bbdebug 1 "umoci config --image $image_name  --architecture ${OCI_IMAGE_ARCH}"
+    umoci config --image $image_name  --architecture ${OCI_IMAGE_ARCH}
+    # NOTE: umoci doesn't currently expose setting the architecture variant,
+    #       so if you need it use sloci instead
+    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_SUBARCH}" ]; then
+	bbnote "OCI: image subarch is set to: ${OCI_IMAGE_SUBARCH}, but umoci does not"
+	bbnote "     expose variants. use sloci instead if this is important"
+    fi
+    umoci config --image $image_name  --config.entrypoint ${OCI_IMAGE_ENTRYPOINT}
+    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_ENTRYPOINT_ARGS}" ]; then
+	umoci config --image $image_name  --config.cmd "${OCI_IMAGE_ENTRYPOINT_ARGS}"
+    fi
+    umoci config --image $image_name  --author ${OCI_IMAGE_AUTHOR_EMAIL}
+
+    # make a tar version of the image direcotry
+    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_TAR_OUTPUT}" ]; then
+	tar -cf "$image_name.tar" "$image_name"
+    fi
+
+    # We could make this optional, since the bundle is directly runnable via runc
+    rm -rf $image_bundle_name
+}
diff --git a/classes/image-oci.bbclass b/classes/image-oci.bbclass
index c256b12c..464ea3b4 100644
--- a/classes/image-oci.bbclass
+++ b/classes/image-oci.bbclass
@@ -16,19 +16,32 @@
 #   And then create the bundle:
 #     % oci-image-tool create --ref name=latest container-base-<arch>-<stamp>.rootfs-oci container-base-oci-bundle
 #
+#   Alternatively, the bundle can be created with umoci (use --rootless if sudo is not available)
+#     % sudo umoci unpack --image container-base-<arch>-<stamp>.rootfs-oci:latest container-base-oci-bundle
+#
 #   Or to copy (push) the oci image to a docker registry, skopeo can be used (vary the
 #   tag based on the created oci image:
 #
 #     % skopeo copy --dest-creds <username>:<password> oci:container-base-<arch>-<stamp>:latest docker://zeddii/container-base
 #
+#   If your build host architecture matches the target, you can execute the unbundled
+#   container with runc:
+#
+#     % sudo runc run -b container-base-oci-bundle ctr-build
+# / % uname -a
+# Linux mrsdalloway 4.18.0-25-generic #26-Ubuntu SMP Mon Jun 24 09:32:08 UTC 2019 x86_64 GNU/Linux
+#
 
 # We'd probably get this through the container image typdep, but just
 # to be sure, we'll repeat it here.
 ROOTFS_BOOTSTRAP_INSTALL = ""
 # we want container and tar.bz2's to be created
 IMAGE_TYPEDEP_oci = "container tar.bz2"
+
 # sloci is the script/project that will create the oci image
-do_image_oci[depends] += "sloci-image-native:do_populate_sysroot"
+# OCI_IMAGE_BACKEND ?= "sloci-image"
+OCI_IMAGE_BACKEND ?= "umoci"
+do_image_oci[depends] += "${OCI_IMAGE_BACKEND}-native:do_populate_sysroot"
 
 #
 # image type configuration block
@@ -75,70 +88,7 @@ def oci_map_subarch(a, f, d):
             return ''
     return ''
 
-IMAGE_CMD_oci() {
-    sloci_options=""
+# the IMAGE_CMD_oci comes from the .inc
+OCI_IMAGE_BACKEND_INC ?= "${@"image-oci-" + "${OCI_IMAGE_BACKEND}" + ".inc"}"
+include ${OCI_IMAGE_BACKEND_INC}
 
-    bbdebug 1 "OCI image settings:"
-    bbdebug 1 "  author: ${OCI_IMAGE_AUTHOR}"
-    bbdebug 1 "  author email: ${OCI_IMAGE_AUTHOR_EMAIL}"
-    bbdebug 1 "  tag: ${OCI_IMAGE_TAG}"
-    bbdebug 1 "  arch: ${OCI_IMAGE_ARCH}"
-    bbdebug 1 "  subarch: ${OCI_IMAGE_SUBARCH}"
-    bbdebug 1 "  entrypoint: ${OCI_IMAGE_ENTRYPOINT}"
-    bbdebug 1 "  entrypoing args: ${OCI_IMAGE_ENTRYPOINT_ARGS}"
-    bbdebug 1 "  labels: ${OCI_IMAGE_LABELS}"
-    bbdebug 1 "  uid: ${OCI_IMAGE_RUNTIME_UID}"
-    bbdebug 1 "  working dir: ${OCI_IMAGE_WORKINGDIR}"
-    bbdebug 1 "  env vars: ${OCI_IMAGE_ENV_VARS}"
-    bbdebug 1 "  ports: ${OCI_IMAGE_PORTS}"
-
-    # Change into the image deploy dir to avoid having any output operations capture
-    # long directories or the location.
-    cd ${IMGDEPLOYDIR}
-
-    oci_image_label_options=""
-    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_LABELS}" ]; then
-	for l in ${OCI_IMAGE_LABELS}; do
-	    oci_image_label_options="${oci_image_label_options} --label ${l}"
-	done
-    fi
-    oci_image_env_options=""
-    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_ENV_VARS}" ]; then
-	for l in ${OCI_IMAGE_ENV_VARS}; do
-	    oci_image_env_options="${oci_image_env_options} --env ${l}"
-	done
-    fi
-    oci_image_port_options=""
-    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_PORTS}" ]; then
-	for l in ${OCI_IMAGE_PORTS}; do
-	    oci_image_port_options="${oci_image_port_options} --port ${l}"
-	done
-    fi
-
-    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_RUNTIME_UID}" ]; then
-	oci_image_user_options="--user ${OCI_IMAGE_RUNTIME_UID}"
-    fi
-
-    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_WORKINGDIR}" ]; then
-	oci_image_working_dir_options="--working-dir ${OCI_IMAGE_WORKINGDIR}"
-    fi
-
-    if [ -n "${OCI_IMAGE_TAR_OUTPUT}" ]; then
-	sloci_options="$sloci_options --tar"
-    fi
-
-    # options that always appear are required for a valid oci container image
-    # others are optional based on settings.
-    sloci-image $sloci_options \
-		--arch ${OCI_IMAGE_ARCH} \
-		--arch-variant "${OCI_IMAGE_SUBARCH}" \
-		--entrypoint ${OCI_IMAGE_ENTRYPOINT} \
-		--cmd "${OCI_IMAGE_ENTRYPOINT_ARGS}" \
-		--author ${OCI_IMAGE_AUTHOR_EMAIL} \
-		${oci_image_user_options} \
-		${oci_image_label_options} \
-		${oci_image_env_options} \
-		${oci_image_working_dir_options} \
-		${oci_image_port_options} \
-		${IMAGE_ROOTFS} ${IMAGE_NAME}${IMAGE_NAME_SUFFIX}-oci:${OCI_IMAGE_TAG}
-}