diff --git a/cmd/stacker/publish.go b/cmd/stacker/publish.go
index c4ae6807..30c9acaa 100644
--- a/cmd/stacker/publish.go
+++ b/cmd/stacker/publish.go
@@ -73,8 +73,8 @@ var publishCmd = cli.Command{
 			Value: cli.NewStringSlice("tar"),
 		},
 		&cli.StringSliceFlag{
-			Name:  "layer",
-			Usage: "layer to be published; can be specified multiple times",
+			Name:  "image",
+			Usage: "specific image to be published when a stacker file has many images; can be specified multiple times",
 		},
 	},
 	Before: beforePublish,
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ func doPublish(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 		Progress:       shouldShowProgress(ctx),
 		SkipTLS:        ctx.Bool("skip-tls"),
 		LayerTypes:     layerTypes,
-		Layers:         ctx.StringSlice("layer"),
+		Images:         ctx.StringSlice("image"),
 	}
 
 	var stackerFiles []string
diff --git a/pkg/stacker/publisher.go b/pkg/stacker/publisher.go
index a837c485..8d64a6e6 100644
--- a/pkg/stacker/publisher.go
+++ b/pkg/stacker/publisher.go
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ type PublishArgs struct {
 	Progress       bool
 	SkipTLS        bool
 	LayerTypes     []types.LayerType
-	Layers         []string
+	Images         []string
 }
 
 // Publisher is responsible for publishing the layers based on stackerfiles
@@ -377,9 +377,9 @@ func (p *Publisher) Publish(file string) error {
 			log.Infof("will not publish: %s build_only %s", file, name)
 			continue
 		}
-		if len(p.opts.Layers) > 0 {
+		if len(p.opts.Images) > 0 {
 			found := false
-			for _, lname := range p.opts.Layers {
+			for _, lname := range p.opts.Images {
 				if lname == name {
 					found = true
 					break
diff --git a/test/convert.bats b/test/convert.bats
index 860a0aff..5207a7ad 100644
--- a/test/convert.bats
+++ b/test/convert.bats
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ EOF
   if [ -z "${REGISTRY_URL}" ]; then
     skip "test because no registry found in REGISTRY_URL env variable"
   fi
-  stacker publish -f stacker.yaml --substitute-file stacker-subs.yaml --substitute IMAGE=app --skip-tls --url docker://${REGISTRY_URL} --layer app --tag latest
+  stacker publish -f stacker.yaml --substitute-file stacker-subs.yaml --substitute IMAGE=app --skip-tls --url docker://${REGISTRY_URL} --image app --tag latest
   rm -f stacker.yaml stacker-subs.yaml
   stacker clean
 }
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ EOF
   stacker convert --docker-file Dockerfile --output-file stacker.yaml --substitute-file stacker-subs.yaml
   stacker build -f stacker.yaml --substitute-file stacker-subs.yaml --substitute IMAGE=alpine --substitute STACKER_VOL1="$TEMPDIR"
   if [ -nz "${REGISTRY_URL}" ]; then
-    stacker publish -f stacker.yaml --substitute-file stacker-subs.yaml --substitute IMAGE=alpine --substitute STACKER_VOL1="$TEMPDIR" --skip-tls --url docker://${REGISTRY_URL} --layer alpine --tag latest
+    stacker publish -f stacker.yaml --substitute-file stacker-subs.yaml --substitute IMAGE=alpine --substitute STACKER_VOL1="$TEMPDIR" --skip-tls --url docker://${REGISTRY_URL} --image alpine --tag latest
   fi
   rm -f stacker.yaml stacker-subs.yaml
   stacker clean
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ EOF
   stacker convert --docker-file Dockerfile --output-file stacker.yaml --substitute-file stacker-subs.yaml
   stacker build -f stacker.yaml --substitute-file stacker-subs.yaml --substitute IMAGE=elasticsearch
   if [ -nz "${REGISTRY_URL}" ]; then
-    stacker publish -f stacker.yaml --substitute-file stacker-subs.yaml --substitute IMAGE=elasticsearch --skip-tls --url docker://${REGISTRY_URL} --layer elasticsearch --tag latest
+    stacker publish -f stacker.yaml --substitute-file stacker-subs.yaml --substitute IMAGE=elasticsearch --skip-tls --url docker://${REGISTRY_URL} --image elasticsearch --tag latest
   fi
   rm -f stacker.yaml stacker-subs.yaml
   stacker clean
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ EOF
   stacker convert --docker-file Dockerfile --output-file stacker.yaml --substitute-file stacker-subs.yaml
   stacker build -f stacker.yaml --substitute-file stacker-subs.yaml --substitute IMAGE=python
   if [ -nz "${REGISTRY_URL}" ]; then
-    stacker publish -f stacker.yaml --substitute-file stacker-subs.yaml --substitute IMAGE=python --skip-tls --url docker://${REGISTRY_URL} --layer python --tag latest
+    stacker publish -f stacker.yaml --substitute-file stacker-subs.yaml --substitute IMAGE=python --skip-tls --url docker://${REGISTRY_URL} --image python --tag latest
   fi
   rm -f stacker.yaml stacker-subs.yaml
   stacker clean
diff --git a/test/publish.bats b/test/publish.bats
index e4e684c4..159bcb9d 100644
--- a/test/publish.bats
+++ b/test/publish.bats
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ function teardown() {
 
 @test "publish selected multiple layers" {
     stacker recursive-build -d ocibuilds
-    stacker publish -d ocibuilds --url oci:oci_publish --tag test1 --layer layer1 --layer layer6
+    stacker publish -d ocibuilds --url oci:oci_publish --tag test1 --image layer1 --image layer6
 
      # Unpack published image and check content
     umoci unpack --image oci_publish:layer1_test1 dest/layer1_test1