diff --git a/reference/reference.go b/reference/reference.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d115a946
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reference/reference.go
@@ -0,0 +1,316 @@
+// Package reference provides a general type to represent any way of referencing images within the registry.
+// Its main purpose is to abstract tags and digests (content-addressable hash).
+//
+// Grammar
+//
+// 	reference                       := repository [ ":" tag ] [ "@" digest ]
+//
+//	// repository.go
+//	repository			:= hostname ['/' component]+
+//	hostname 			:= hostcomponent [':' port-number]
+//	component			:= subcomponent [separator subcomponent]*
+//	subcomponent			:= alpha-numeric ['-'* alpha-numeric]*
+//	hostcomponent                   := [hostpart '.']* hostpart
+// 	alpha-numeric			:= /[a-z0-9]+/
+//	separator			:= /([_.]|__)/
+//	port-number			:= /[0-9]+/
+//	hostpart                        := /([a-z0-9]|[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*[a-z0-9])/
+//
+//	// tag.go
+//	tag                             := /[\w][\w.-]{0,127}/
+//
+//	// from the digest package
+//	digest                          := digest-algorithm ":" digest-hex
+//	digest-algorithm                := digest-algorithm-component [ digest-algorithm-separator digest-algorithm-component ]
+//	digest-algorithm-separator      := /[+.-_]/
+//	digest-algorithm-component      := /[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9]*/
+//	digest-hex                      := /[0-9a-fA-F]{32,}/ ; Atleast 128 bit digest value
+package reference
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/docker/distribution/digest"
+)
+
+const (
+	// NameTotalLengthMax is the maximum total number of characters in a repository name.
+	NameTotalLengthMax = 255
+)
+
+var (
+	// ErrReferenceInvalidFormat represents an error while trying to parse a string as a reference.
+	ErrReferenceInvalidFormat = errors.New("invalid reference format")
+
+	// ErrTagInvalidFormat represents an error while trying to parse a string as a tag.
+	ErrTagInvalidFormat = errors.New("invalid tag format")
+
+	// ErrDigestInvalidFormat represents an error while trying to parse a string as a tag.
+	ErrDigestInvalidFormat = errors.New("invalid digest format")
+
+	// ErrNameEmpty is returned for empty, invalid repository names.
+	ErrNameEmpty = errors.New("repository name must have at least one component")
+
+	// ErrNameTooLong is returned when a repository name is longer than
+	// RepositoryNameTotalLengthMax
+	ErrNameTooLong = fmt.Errorf("repository name must not be more than %v characters", NameTotalLengthMax)
+)
+
+// Reference is an opaque object reference identifier that may include
+// modifiers such as a hostname, name, tag, and digest.
+type Reference interface {
+	// String returns the full reference
+	String() string
+}
+
+// Field provides a wrapper type for resolving correct reference types when
+// working with encoding.
+type Field struct {
+	reference Reference
+}
+
+// AsField wraps a reference in a Field for encoding.
+func AsField(reference Reference) Field {
+	return Field{reference}
+}
+
+// Reference unwraps the reference type from the field to
+// return the Reference object. This object should be
+// of the appropriate type to further check for different
+// reference types.
+func (f Field) Reference() Reference {
+	return f.reference
+}
+
+// MarshalText serializes the field to byte text which
+// is the string of the reference.
+func (f Field) MarshalText() (p []byte, err error) {
+	return []byte(f.reference.String()), nil
+}
+
+// UnmarshalText parses text bytes by invoking the
+// reference parser to ensure the appropriately
+// typed reference object is wrapped by field.
+func (f *Field) UnmarshalText(p []byte) error {
+	r, err := Parse(string(p))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	f.reference = r
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Named is an object with a full name
+type Named interface {
+	Reference
+	Name() string
+}
+
+// Tagged is an object which has a tag
+type Tagged interface {
+	Reference
+	Tag() string
+}
+
+// Digested is an object which has a digest
+// in which it can be referenced by
+type Digested interface {
+	Reference
+	Digest() digest.Digest
+}
+
+// Canonical reference is an object with a fully unique
+// name including a name with hostname and digest
+type Canonical interface {
+	Named
+	Digest() digest.Digest
+}
+
+// SplitHostname splits a named reference into a
+// hostname and name string. If no valid hostname is
+// found, the hostname is empty and the full value
+// is returned as name
+func SplitHostname(named Named) (string, string) {
+	name := named.Name()
+	match := anchoredNameRegexp.FindStringSubmatch(name)
+	if match == nil || len(match) != 3 {
+		return "", name
+	}
+	return match[1], match[2]
+}
+
+// Parse parses s and returns a syntactically valid Reference.
+// If an error was encountered it is returned, along with a nil Reference.
+// NOTE: Parse will not handle short digests.
+func Parse(s string) (Reference, error) {
+	matches := ReferenceRegexp.FindStringSubmatch(s)
+	if matches == nil {
+		if s == "" {
+			return nil, ErrNameEmpty
+		}
+		// TODO(dmcgowan): Provide more specific and helpful error
+		return nil, ErrReferenceInvalidFormat
+	}
+
+	if len(matches[1]) > NameTotalLengthMax {
+		return nil, ErrNameTooLong
+	}
+
+	ref := reference{
+		name: matches[1],
+		tag:  matches[2],
+	}
+	if matches[3] != "" {
+		var err error
+		ref.digest, err = digest.ParseDigest(matches[3])
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+
+	r := getBestReferenceType(ref)
+	if r == nil {
+		return nil, ErrNameEmpty
+	}
+
+	return r, nil
+}
+
+// ParseNamed parses the input string and returns a named
+// object representing the given string. If the input is
+// invalid ErrReferenceInvalidFormat will be returned.
+func ParseNamed(name string) (Named, error) {
+	if !anchoredNameRegexp.MatchString(name) {
+		return nil, ErrReferenceInvalidFormat
+	}
+	return repository(name), nil
+}
+
+// WithTag combines the name from "name" and the tag from "tag" to form a
+// reference incorporating both the name and the tag.
+func WithTag(name Named, tag string) (Tagged, error) {
+	if !anchoredNameRegexp.MatchString(tag) {
+		return nil, ErrTagInvalidFormat
+	}
+	return taggedReference{
+		name: name.Name(),
+		tag:  tag,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// WithDigest combines the name from "name" and the digest from "digest" to form
+// a reference incorporating both the name and the digest.
+func WithDigest(name Named, digest digest.Digest) (Digested, error) {
+	if !anchoredDigestRegexp.MatchString(digest.String()) {
+		return nil, ErrDigestInvalidFormat
+	}
+	return canonicalReference{
+		name:   name.Name(),
+		digest: digest,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+func getBestReferenceType(ref reference) Reference {
+	if ref.name == "" {
+		// Allow digest only references
+		if ref.digest != "" {
+			return digestReference(ref.digest)
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+	if ref.tag == "" {
+		if ref.digest != "" {
+			return canonicalReference{
+				name:   ref.name,
+				digest: ref.digest,
+			}
+		}
+		return repository(ref.name)
+	}
+	if ref.digest == "" {
+		return taggedReference{
+			name: ref.name,
+			tag:  ref.tag,
+		}
+	}
+
+	return ref
+}
+
+type reference struct {
+	name   string
+	tag    string
+	digest digest.Digest
+}
+
+func (r reference) String() string {
+	return r.name + ":" + r.tag + "@" + r.digest.String()
+}
+
+func (r reference) Name() string {
+	return r.name
+}
+
+func (r reference) Tag() string {
+	return r.tag
+}
+
+func (r reference) Digest() digest.Digest {
+	return r.digest
+}
+
+type repository string
+
+func (r repository) String() string {
+	return string(r)
+}
+
+func (r repository) Name() string {
+	return string(r)
+}
+
+type digestReference digest.Digest
+
+func (d digestReference) String() string {
+	return d.String()
+}
+
+func (d digestReference) Digest() digest.Digest {
+	return digest.Digest(d)
+}
+
+type taggedReference struct {
+	name string
+	tag  string
+}
+
+func (t taggedReference) String() string {
+	return t.name + ":" + t.tag
+}
+
+func (t taggedReference) Name() string {
+	return t.name
+}
+
+func (t taggedReference) Tag() string {
+	return t.tag
+}
+
+type canonicalReference struct {
+	name   string
+	digest digest.Digest
+}
+
+func (c canonicalReference) String() string {
+	return c.name + "@" + c.digest.String()
+}
+
+func (c canonicalReference) Name() string {
+	return c.name
+}
+
+func (c canonicalReference) Digest() digest.Digest {
+	return c.digest
+}
diff --git a/reference/reference_test.go b/reference/reference_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d47abbf8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reference/reference_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,481 @@
+package reference
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/docker/distribution/digest"
+)
+
+func TestReferenceParse(t *testing.T) {
+	// referenceTestcases is a unified set of testcases for
+	// testing the parsing of references
+	referenceTestcases := []struct {
+		// input is the repository name or name component testcase
+		input string
+		// err is the error expected from Parse, or nil
+		err error
+		// repository is the string representation for the reference
+		repository string
+		// hostname is the hostname expected in the reference
+		hostname string
+		// tag is the tag for the reference
+		tag string
+		// digest is the digest for the reference (enforces digest reference)
+		digest string
+	}{
+		{
+			input:      "test_com",
+			repository: "test_com",
+		},
+		{
+			input:      "test.com:tag",
+			repository: "test.com",
+			tag:        "tag",
+		},
+		{
+			input:      "test.com:5000",
+			repository: "test.com",
+			tag:        "5000",
+		},
+		{
+			input:      "test.com/repo:tag",
+			hostname:   "test.com",
+			repository: "test.com/repo",
+			tag:        "tag",
+		},
+		{
+			input:      "test:5000/repo",
+			hostname:   "test:5000",
+			repository: "test:5000/repo",
+		},
+		{
+			input:      "test:5000/repo:tag",
+			hostname:   "test:5000",
+			repository: "test:5000/repo",
+			tag:        "tag",
+		},
+		{
+			input:      "test:5000/repo@sha256:ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff",
+			hostname:   "test:5000",
+			repository: "test:5000/repo",
+			digest:     "sha256:ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff",
+		},
+		{
+			input:      "test:5000/repo:tag@sha256:ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff",
+			hostname:   "test:5000",
+			repository: "test:5000/repo",
+			tag:        "tag",
+			digest:     "sha256:ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff",
+		},
+		{
+			input:      "test:5000/repo",
+			hostname:   "test:5000",
+			repository: "test:5000/repo",
+		},
+		{
+			input: "",
+			err:   ErrNameEmpty,
+		},
+		{
+			input: ":justtag",
+			err:   ErrReferenceInvalidFormat,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "@sha256:ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff",
+			err:   ErrReferenceInvalidFormat,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "validname@invaliddigest:ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff",
+			err:   digest.ErrDigestUnsupported,
+		},
+		{
+			input: strings.Repeat("a/", 128) + "a:tag",
+			err:   ErrNameTooLong,
+		},
+		{
+			input:      strings.Repeat("a/", 127) + "a:tag-puts-this-over-max",
+			hostname:   "a",
+			repository: strings.Repeat("a/", 127) + "a",
+			tag:        "tag-puts-this-over-max",
+		},
+		{
+			input: "aa/asdf$$^/aa",
+			err:   ErrReferenceInvalidFormat,
+		},
+		{
+			input:      "sub-dom1.foo.com/bar/baz/quux",
+			hostname:   "sub-dom1.foo.com",
+			repository: "sub-dom1.foo.com/bar/baz/quux",
+		},
+		{
+			input:      "sub-dom1.foo.com/bar/baz/quux:some-long-tag",
+			hostname:   "sub-dom1.foo.com",
+			repository: "sub-dom1.foo.com/bar/baz/quux",
+			tag:        "some-long-tag",
+		},
+		{
+			input:      "b.gcr.io/test.example.com/my-app:test.example.com",
+			hostname:   "b.gcr.io",
+			repository: "b.gcr.io/test.example.com/my-app",
+			tag:        "test.example.com",
+		},
+		{
+			input:      "xn--n3h.com/myimage:xn--n3h.com", // ☃.com in punycode
+			hostname:   "xn--n3h.com",
+			repository: "xn--n3h.com/myimage",
+			tag:        "xn--n3h.com",
+		},
+		{
+			input:      "xn--7o8h.com/myimage:xn--7o8h.com@sha512:ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff", // 🐳.com in punycode
+			hostname:   "xn--7o8h.com",
+			repository: "xn--7o8h.com/myimage",
+			tag:        "xn--7o8h.com",
+			digest:     "sha512:ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff",
+		},
+		{
+			input:      "foo_bar.com:8080",
+			repository: "foo_bar.com",
+			tag:        "8080",
+		},
+		{
+			input:      "foo/foo_bar.com:8080",
+			hostname:   "foo",
+			repository: "foo/foo_bar.com",
+			tag:        "8080",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, testcase := range referenceTestcases {
+		failf := func(format string, v ...interface{}) {
+			t.Logf(strconv.Quote(testcase.input)+": "+format, v...)
+			t.Fail()
+		}
+
+		repo, err := Parse(testcase.input)
+		if testcase.err != nil {
+			if err == nil {
+				failf("missing expected error: %v", testcase.err)
+			} else if testcase.err != err {
+				failf("mismatched error: got %v, expected %v", err, testcase.err)
+			}
+			continue
+		} else if err != nil {
+			failf("unexpected parse error: %v", err)
+			continue
+		}
+		if repo.String() != testcase.input {
+			failf("mismatched repo: got %q, expected %q", repo.String(), testcase.input)
+		}
+
+		if named, ok := repo.(Named); ok {
+			if named.Name() != testcase.repository {
+				failf("unexpected repository: got %q, expected %q", named.Name(), testcase.repository)
+			}
+			hostname, _ := SplitHostname(named)
+			if hostname != testcase.hostname {
+				failf("unexpected hostname: got %q, expected %q", hostname, testcase.hostname)
+			}
+		} else if testcase.repository != "" || testcase.hostname != "" {
+			failf("expected named type, got %T", repo)
+		}
+
+		tagged, ok := repo.(Tagged)
+		if testcase.tag != "" {
+			if ok {
+				if tagged.Tag() != testcase.tag {
+					failf("unexpected tag: got %q, expected %q", tagged.Tag(), testcase.tag)
+				}
+			} else {
+				failf("expected tagged type, got %T", repo)
+			}
+		} else if ok {
+			failf("unexpected tagged type")
+		}
+
+		digested, ok := repo.(Digested)
+		if testcase.digest != "" {
+			if ok {
+				if digested.Digest().String() != testcase.digest {
+					failf("unexpected digest: got %q, expected %q", digested.Digest().String(), testcase.digest)
+				}
+			} else {
+				failf("expected digested type, got %T", repo)
+			}
+		} else if ok {
+			failf("unexpected digested type")
+		}
+
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSplitHostname(t *testing.T) {
+	testcases := []struct {
+		input    string
+		hostname string
+		name     string
+	}{
+		{
+			input:    "test.com/foo",
+			hostname: "test.com",
+			name:     "foo",
+		},
+		{
+			input:    "test_com/foo",
+			hostname: "",
+			name:     "test_com/foo",
+		},
+		{
+			input:    "test:8080/foo",
+			hostname: "test:8080",
+			name:     "foo",
+		},
+		{
+			input:    "test.com:8080/foo",
+			hostname: "test.com:8080",
+			name:     "foo",
+		},
+		{
+			input:    "test-com:8080/foo",
+			hostname: "test-com:8080",
+			name:     "foo",
+		},
+		{
+			input:    "xn--n3h.com:18080/foo",
+			hostname: "xn--n3h.com:18080",
+			name:     "foo",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, testcase := range testcases {
+		failf := func(format string, v ...interface{}) {
+			t.Logf(strconv.Quote(testcase.input)+": "+format, v...)
+			t.Fail()
+		}
+
+		named, err := ParseNamed(testcase.input)
+		if err != nil {
+			failf("error parsing name: %s", err)
+		}
+		hostname, name := SplitHostname(named)
+		if hostname != testcase.hostname {
+			failf("unexpected hostname: got %q, expected %q", hostname, testcase.hostname)
+		}
+		if name != testcase.name {
+			failf("unexpected name: got %q, expected %q", name, testcase.name)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+type serializationType struct {
+	Description string
+	Field       Field
+}
+
+func TestSerialization(t *testing.T) {
+	testcases := []struct {
+		description string
+		input       string
+		name        string
+		tag         string
+		digest      string
+		err         error
+	}{
+		{
+			description: "empty value",
+			err:         ErrNameEmpty,
+		},
+		{
+			description: "just a name",
+			input:       "example.com:8000/named",
+			name:        "example.com:8000/named",
+		},
+		{
+			description: "name with a tag",
+			input:       "example.com:8000/named:tagged",
+			name:        "example.com:8000/named",
+			tag:         "tagged",
+		},
+		{
+			description: "name with digest",
+			input:       "other.com/named@sha256:1234567890098765432112345667890098765",
+			name:        "other.com/named",
+			digest:      "sha256:1234567890098765432112345667890098765",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, testcase := range testcases {
+		failf := func(format string, v ...interface{}) {
+			t.Logf(strconv.Quote(testcase.input)+": "+format, v...)
+			t.Fail()
+		}
+
+		m := map[string]string{
+			"Description": testcase.description,
+			"Field":       testcase.input,
+		}
+		b, err := json.Marshal(m)
+		if err != nil {
+			failf("error marshalling: %v", err)
+		}
+		t := serializationType{}
+
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(b, &t); err != nil {
+			if testcase.err == nil {
+				failf("error unmarshalling: %v", err)
+			}
+			if err != testcase.err {
+				failf("wrong error, expected %v, got %v", testcase.err, err)
+			}
+
+			continue
+		} else if testcase.err != nil {
+			failf("expected error unmarshalling: %v", testcase.err)
+		}
+
+		if t.Description != testcase.description {
+			failf("wrong description, expected %q, got %q", testcase.description, t.Description)
+		}
+
+		ref := t.Field.Reference()
+
+		if named, ok := ref.(Named); ok {
+			if named.Name() != testcase.name {
+				failf("unexpected repository: got %q, expected %q", named.Name(), testcase.name)
+			}
+		} else if testcase.name != "" {
+			failf("expected named type, got %T", ref)
+		}
+
+		tagged, ok := ref.(Tagged)
+		if testcase.tag != "" {
+			if ok {
+				if tagged.Tag() != testcase.tag {
+					failf("unexpected tag: got %q, expected %q", tagged.Tag(), testcase.tag)
+				}
+			} else {
+				failf("expected tagged type, got %T", ref)
+			}
+		} else if ok {
+			failf("unexpected tagged type")
+		}
+
+		digested, ok := ref.(Digested)
+		if testcase.digest != "" {
+			if ok {
+				if digested.Digest().String() != testcase.digest {
+					failf("unexpected digest: got %q, expected %q", digested.Digest().String(), testcase.digest)
+				}
+			} else {
+				failf("expected digested type, got %T", ref)
+			}
+		} else if ok {
+			failf("unexpected digested type")
+		}
+
+		t = serializationType{
+			Description: testcase.description,
+			Field:       AsField(ref),
+		}
+
+		b2, err := json.Marshal(t)
+		if err != nil {
+			failf("error marshing serialization type: %v", err)
+		}
+
+		if string(b) != string(b2) {
+			failf("unexpected serialized value: expected %q, got %q", string(b), string(b2))
+		}
+
+		// Ensure t.Field is not implementing "Reference" directly, getting
+		// around the Reference type system
+		var fieldInterface interface{} = t.Field
+		if _, ok := fieldInterface.(Reference); ok {
+			failf("field should not implement Reference interface")
+		}
+
+	}
+}
+
+func TestWithTag(t *testing.T) {
+	testcases := []struct {
+		name     string
+		tag      string
+		combined string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "test.com/foo",
+			tag:      "tag",
+			combined: "test.com/foo:tag",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "foo",
+			tag:      "tag2",
+			combined: "foo:tag2",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "test.com:8000/foo",
+			tag:      "tag4",
+			combined: "test.com:8000/foo:tag4",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, testcase := range testcases {
+		failf := func(format string, v ...interface{}) {
+			t.Logf(strconv.Quote(testcase.name)+": "+format, v...)
+			t.Fail()
+		}
+
+		named, err := ParseNamed(testcase.name)
+		if err != nil {
+			failf("error parsing name: %s", err)
+		}
+		tagged, err := WithTag(named, testcase.tag)
+		if err != nil {
+			failf("WithTag failed: %s", err)
+		}
+		if tagged.String() != testcase.combined {
+			failf("unexpected: got %q, expected %q", tagged.String(), testcase.combined)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestWithDigest(t *testing.T) {
+	testcases := []struct {
+		name     string
+		digest   digest.Digest
+		combined string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "test.com/foo",
+			digest:   "sha256:1234567890098765432112345667890098765",
+			combined: "test.com/foo@sha256:1234567890098765432112345667890098765",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "foo",
+			digest:   "sha256:1234567890098765432112345667890098765",
+			combined: "foo@sha256:1234567890098765432112345667890098765",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "test.com:8000/foo",
+			digest:   "sha256:1234567890098765432112345667890098765",
+			combined: "test.com:8000/foo@sha256:1234567890098765432112345667890098765",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, testcase := range testcases {
+		failf := func(format string, v ...interface{}) {
+			t.Logf(strconv.Quote(testcase.name)+": "+format, v...)
+			t.Fail()
+		}
+
+		named, err := ParseNamed(testcase.name)
+		if err != nil {
+			failf("error parsing name: %s", err)
+		}
+		digested, err := WithDigest(named, testcase.digest)
+		if err != nil {
+			failf("WithDigest failed: %s", err)
+		}
+		if digested.String() != testcase.combined {
+			failf("unexpected: got %q, expected %q", digested.String(), testcase.combined)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/reference/regexp.go b/reference/regexp.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..06ca8db3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reference/regexp.go
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+package reference
+
+import "regexp"
+
+var (
+	// nameSubComponentRegexp defines the part of the name which must be
+	// begin and end with an alphanumeric character. These characters can
+	// be separated by any number of dashes.
+	nameSubComponentRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`[a-z0-9]+(?:[-]+[a-z0-9]+)*`)
+
+	// nameComponentRegexp restricts registry path component names to
+	// start with at least one letter or number, with following parts able to
+	// be separated by one period, underscore or double underscore.
+	nameComponentRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(nameSubComponentRegexp.String() + `(?:(?:[._]|__)` + nameSubComponentRegexp.String() + `)*`)
+
+	nameRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`(?:` + nameComponentRegexp.String() + `/)*` + nameComponentRegexp.String())
+
+	hostnameComponentRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`(?:[a-z0-9]|[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*[a-z0-9])`)
+
+	// hostnameComponentRegexp restricts the registry hostname component of a repository name to
+	// start with a component as defined by hostnameRegexp and followed by an optional port.
+	hostnameRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`(?:` + hostnameComponentRegexp.String() + `\.)*` + hostnameComponentRegexp.String() + `(?::[0-9]+)?`)
+
+	// TagRegexp matches valid tag names. From docker/docker:graph/tags.go.
+	TagRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`[\w][\w.-]{0,127}`)
+
+	// anchoredTagRegexp matches valid tag names, anchored at the start and
+	// end of the matched string.
+	anchoredTagRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^` + TagRegexp.String() + `$`)
+
+	// DigestRegexp matches valid digests.
+	DigestRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9]*(?:[-_+.][A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9]*)*[:][[:xdigit:]]{32,}`)
+
+	// anchoredDigestRegexp matches valid digests, anchored at the start and
+	// end of the matched string.
+	anchoredDigestRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^` + DigestRegexp.String() + `$`)
+
+	// NameRegexp is the format for the name component of references. The
+	// regexp has capturing groups for the hostname and name part omitting
+	// the seperating forward slash from either.
+	NameRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`(?:` + hostnameRegexp.String() + `/)?` + nameRegexp.String())
+
+	// ReferenceRegexp is the full supported format of a reference. The
+	// regexp has capturing groups for name, tag, and digest components.
+	ReferenceRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^((?:` + hostnameRegexp.String() + `/)?` + nameRegexp.String() + `)(?:[:](` + TagRegexp.String() + `))?(?:[@](` + DigestRegexp.String() + `))?$`)
+
+	// anchoredNameRegexp is used to parse a name value, capturing hostname
+	anchoredNameRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^(?:(` + hostnameRegexp.String() + `)/)?(` + nameRegexp.String() + `)$`)
+)
diff --git a/reference/regexp_test.go b/reference/regexp_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..530a6eb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reference/regexp_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,467 @@
+package reference
+
+import (
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+type regexpMatch struct {
+	input string
+	match bool
+	subs  []string
+}
+
+func checkRegexp(t *testing.T, r *regexp.Regexp, m regexpMatch) {
+	matches := r.FindStringSubmatch(m.input)
+	if m.match && matches != nil {
+		if len(matches) != (r.NumSubexp()+1) || matches[0] != m.input {
+			t.Fatalf("Bad match result %#v for %q", matches, m.input)
+		}
+		if len(matches) < (len(m.subs) + 1) {
+			t.Errorf("Expected %d sub matches, only have %d for %q", len(m.subs), len(matches)-1, m.input)
+		}
+		for i := range m.subs {
+			if m.subs[i] != matches[i+1] {
+				t.Errorf("Unexpected submatch %d: %q, expected %q for %q", i+1, matches[i+1], m.subs[i], m.input)
+			}
+		}
+	} else if m.match {
+		t.Errorf("Expected match for %q", m.input)
+	} else if matches != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Unexpected match for %q", m.input)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestHostRegexp(t *testing.T) {
+	hostcases := []regexpMatch{
+		{
+			input: "test.com",
+			match: true,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "test.com:10304",
+			match: true,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "test.com:http",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "localhost",
+			match: true,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "localhost:8080",
+			match: true,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "a",
+			match: true,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "a.b",
+			match: true,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "ab.cd.com",
+			match: true,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "a-b.com",
+			match: true,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "-ab.com",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "ab-.com",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "ab.c-om",
+			match: true,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "ab.-com",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "ab.com-",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "0101.com",
+			match: true, // TODO(dmcgowan): valid if this should be allowed
+		},
+		{
+			input: "001a.com",
+			match: true,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "b.gbc.io:443",
+			match: true,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "b.gbc.io",
+			match: true,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "xn--n3h.com", // ☃.com in punycode
+			match: true,
+		},
+	}
+	r := regexp.MustCompile(`^` + hostnameRegexp.String() + `$`)
+	for i := range hostcases {
+		checkRegexp(t, r, hostcases[i])
+	}
+}
+
+func TestFullNameRegexp(t *testing.T) {
+	testcases := []regexpMatch{
+		{
+			input: "",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "short",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"", "short"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "simple/name",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"simple", "name"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "library/ubuntu",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"library", "ubuntu"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "docker/stevvooe/app",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"docker", "stevvooe/app"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "aa/aa/aa/aa/aa/aa/aa/aa/aa/bb/bb/bb/bb/bb/bb",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"aa", "aa/aa/aa/aa/aa/aa/aa/aa/bb/bb/bb/bb/bb/bb"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "aa/aa/bb/bb/bb",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"aa", "aa/bb/bb/bb"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "a/a/a/a",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"a", "a/a/a"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "a/a/a/a/",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "a//a/a",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "a",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"", "a"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "a/aa",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"a", "aa"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "a/aa/a",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"a", "aa/a"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "foo.com",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"", "foo.com"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "foo.com/",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "foo.com:8080/bar",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"foo.com:8080", "bar"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "foo.com:http/bar",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "foo.com/bar",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"foo.com", "bar"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "foo.com/bar/baz",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"foo.com", "bar/baz"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "localhost:8080/bar",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"localhost:8080", "bar"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "sub-dom1.foo.com/bar/baz/quux",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"sub-dom1.foo.com", "bar/baz/quux"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "blog.foo.com/bar/baz",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"blog.foo.com", "bar/baz"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "a^a",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "aa/asdf$$^/aa",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "asdf$$^/aa",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "aa-a/a",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"aa-a", "a"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: strings.Repeat("a/", 128) + "a",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"a", strings.Repeat("a/", 127) + "a"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "a-/a/a/a",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "foo.com/a-/a/a",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "-foo/bar",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "foo/bar-",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "foo-/bar",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "foo/-bar",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "_foo/bar",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "foo_bar",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"", "foo_bar"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "foo_bar.com",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"", "foo_bar.com"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "foo_bar.com:8080",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "foo_bar.com:8080/app",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "foo.com/foo_bar",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"foo.com", "foo_bar"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "____/____",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "_docker/_docker",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "docker_/docker_",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "b.gcr.io/test.example.com/my-app",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"b.gcr.io", "test.example.com/my-app"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "xn--n3h.com/myimage", // ☃.com in punycode
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"xn--n3h.com", "myimage"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "xn--7o8h.com/myimage", // 🐳.com in punycode
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"xn--7o8h.com", "myimage"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "example.com/xn--7o8h.com/myimage", // 🐳.com in punycode
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"example.com", "xn--7o8h.com/myimage"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "example.com/some_separator__underscore/myimage",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"example.com", "some_separator__underscore/myimage"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "example.com/__underscore/myimage",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "example.com/..dots/myimage",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "example.com/.dots/myimage",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "example.com/nodouble..dots/myimage",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "example.com/nodouble..dots/myimage",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "docker./docker",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: ".docker/docker",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "docker-/docker",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "-docker/docker",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "do..cker/docker",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "do__cker:8080/docker",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "do__cker/docker",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"", "do__cker/docker"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "b.gcr.io/test.example.com/my-app",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"b.gcr.io", "test.example.com/my-app"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "registry.io/foo/project--id.module--name.ver---sion--name",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"registry.io", "foo/project--id.module--name.ver---sion--name"},
+		},
+	}
+	for i := range testcases {
+		checkRegexp(t, anchoredNameRegexp, testcases[i])
+	}
+}
+
+func TestReferenceRegexp(t *testing.T) {
+	testcases := []regexpMatch{
+		{
+			input: "registry.com:8080/myapp:tag",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"registry.com:8080/myapp", "tag", ""},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "registry.com:8080/myapp@sha256:be178c0543eb17f5f3043021c9e5fcf30285e557a4fc309cce97ff9ca6182912",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"registry.com:8080/myapp", "", "sha256:be178c0543eb17f5f3043021c9e5fcf30285e557a4fc309cce97ff9ca6182912"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "registry.com:8080/myapp:tag2@sha256:be178c0543eb17f5f3043021c9e5fcf30285e557a4fc309cce97ff9ca6182912",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"registry.com:8080/myapp", "tag2", "sha256:be178c0543eb17f5f3043021c9e5fcf30285e557a4fc309cce97ff9ca6182912"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "registry.com:8080/myapp@sha256:badbadbadbad",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "registry.com:8080/myapp:invalid~tag",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "bad_hostname.com:8080/myapp:tag",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input:// localhost treated as name, missing tag with 8080 as tag
+			"localhost:8080@sha256:be178c0543eb17f5f3043021c9e5fcf30285e557a4fc309cce97ff9ca6182912",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"localhost", "8080", "sha256:be178c0543eb17f5f3043021c9e5fcf30285e557a4fc309cce97ff9ca6182912"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "localhost:8080/name@sha256:be178c0543eb17f5f3043021c9e5fcf30285e557a4fc309cce97ff9ca6182912",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"localhost:8080/name", "", "sha256:be178c0543eb17f5f3043021c9e5fcf30285e557a4fc309cce97ff9ca6182912"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "localhost:http/name@sha256:be178c0543eb17f5f3043021c9e5fcf30285e557a4fc309cce97ff9ca6182912",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			// localhost will be treated as an image name without a host
+			input: "localhost@sha256:be178c0543eb17f5f3043021c9e5fcf30285e557a4fc309cce97ff9ca6182912",
+			match: true,
+			subs:  []string{"localhost", "", "sha256:be178c0543eb17f5f3043021c9e5fcf30285e557a4fc309cce97ff9ca6182912"},
+		},
+		{
+			input: "registry.com:8080/myapp@bad",
+			match: false,
+		},
+		{
+			input: "registry.com:8080/myapp@2bad",
+			match: false, // TODO(dmcgowan): Support this as valid
+		},
+	}
+
+	for i := range testcases {
+		checkRegexp(t, ReferenceRegexp, testcases[i])
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/registry/api/v2/descriptors.go b/registry/api/v2/descriptors.go
index c5630fed..9cfb2fb5 100644
--- a/registry/api/v2/descriptors.go
+++ b/registry/api/v2/descriptors.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"regexp"
 
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/digest"
+	"github.com/docker/distribution/reference"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/registry/api/errcode"
 )
 
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ var (
 	nameParameterDescriptor = ParameterDescriptor{
 		Name:        "name",
 		Type:        "string",
-		Format:      RepositoryNameRegexp.String(),
+		Format:      reference.NameRegexp.String(),
 		Required:    true,
 		Description: `Name of the target repository.`,
 	}
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@ var (
 	referenceParameterDescriptor = ParameterDescriptor{
 		Name:        "reference",
 		Type:        "string",
-		Format:      TagNameRegexp.String(),
+		Format:      reference.TagRegexp.String(),
 		Required:    true,
 		Description: `Tag or digest of the target manifest.`,
 	}
@@ -389,7 +390,7 @@ var routeDescriptors = []RouteDescriptor{
 	},
 	{
 		Name:        RouteNameTags,
-		Path:        "/v2/{name:" + RepositoryNameRegexp.String() + "}/tags/list",
+		Path:        "/v2/{name:" + reference.NameRegexp.String() + "}/tags/list",
 		Entity:      "Tags",
 		Description: "Retrieve information about tags.",
 		Methods: []MethodDescriptor{
@@ -517,7 +518,7 @@ var routeDescriptors = []RouteDescriptor{
 	},
 	{
 		Name:        RouteNameManifest,
-		Path:        "/v2/{name:" + RepositoryNameRegexp.String() + "}/manifests/{reference:" + TagNameRegexp.String() + "|" + digest.DigestRegexp.String() + "}",
+		Path:        "/v2/{name:" + reference.NameRegexp.String() + "}/manifests/{reference:" + reference.TagRegexp.String() + "|" + digest.DigestRegexp.String() + "}",
 		Entity:      "Manifest",
 		Description: "Create, update, delete and retrieve manifests.",
 		Methods: []MethodDescriptor{
@@ -782,7 +783,7 @@ var routeDescriptors = []RouteDescriptor{
 
 	{
 		Name:        RouteNameBlob,
-		Path:        "/v2/{name:" + RepositoryNameRegexp.String() + "}/blobs/{digest:" + digest.DigestRegexp.String() + "}",
+		Path:        "/v2/{name:" + reference.NameRegexp.String() + "}/blobs/{digest:" + digest.DigestRegexp.String() + "}",
 		Entity:      "Blob",
 		Description: "Operations on blobs identified by `name` and `digest`. Used to fetch or delete layers by digest.",
 		Methods: []MethodDescriptor{
@@ -1006,7 +1007,7 @@ var routeDescriptors = []RouteDescriptor{
 
 	{
 		Name:        RouteNameBlobUpload,
-		Path:        "/v2/{name:" + RepositoryNameRegexp.String() + "}/blobs/uploads/",
+		Path:        "/v2/{name:" + reference.NameRegexp.String() + "}/blobs/uploads/",
 		Entity:      "Initiate Blob Upload",
 		Description: "Initiate a blob upload. This endpoint can be used to create resumable uploads or monolithic uploads.",
 		Methods: []MethodDescriptor{
@@ -1128,7 +1129,7 @@ var routeDescriptors = []RouteDescriptor{
 
 	{
 		Name:        RouteNameBlobUploadChunk,
-		Path:        "/v2/{name:" + RepositoryNameRegexp.String() + "}/blobs/uploads/{uuid:[a-zA-Z0-9-_.=]+}",
+		Path:        "/v2/{name:" + reference.NameRegexp.String() + "}/blobs/uploads/{uuid:[a-zA-Z0-9-_.=]+}",
 		Entity:      "Blob Upload",
 		Description: "Interact with blob uploads. Clients should never assemble URLs for this endpoint and should only take it through the `Location` header on related API requests. The `Location` header and its parameters should be preserved by clients, using the latest value returned via upload related API calls.",
 		Methods: []MethodDescriptor{
diff --git a/registry/api/v2/names.go b/registry/api/v2/names.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 5f340793..00000000
--- a/registry/api/v2/names.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,96 +0,0 @@
-package v2
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-	"regexp"
-	"strings"
-)
-
-// TODO(stevvooe): Move these definitions to the future "reference" package.
-// While they are used with v2 definitions, their relevance expands beyond.
-
-const (
-	// RepositoryNameTotalLengthMax is the maximum total number of characters in
-	// a repository name
-	RepositoryNameTotalLengthMax = 255
-)
-
-// domainLabelRegexp represents the following RFC-2396 BNF construct:
-//   domainlabel   = alphanum | alphanum *( alphanum | "-" ) alphanum
-var domainLabelRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`[a-z0-9](?:-*[a-z0-9])*`)
-
-// RepositoryNameComponentRegexp restricts registry path component names to
-// the allow valid hostnames according to: https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2396.txt
-// with the following differences:
-//  1) It DOES NOT allow for fully-qualified domain names, which include a
-//    trailing '.', e.g. "google.com."
-//  2) It DOES NOT restrict 'top-level' domain labels to start with just alpha
-//    characters.
-//  3) It DOES allow for underscores to appear in the same situations as dots.
-//
-// RFC-2396 uses the BNF construct:
-//   hostname      = *( domainlabel "." ) toplabel [ "." ]
-var RepositoryNameComponentRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(
-	domainLabelRegexp.String() + `(?:[._]` + domainLabelRegexp.String() + `)*`)
-
-// RepositoryNameComponentAnchoredRegexp is the version of
-// RepositoryNameComponentRegexp which must completely match the content
-var RepositoryNameComponentAnchoredRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^` + RepositoryNameComponentRegexp.String() + `$`)
-
-// RepositoryNameRegexp builds on RepositoryNameComponentRegexp to allow
-// multiple path components, separated by a forward slash.
-var RepositoryNameRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`(?:` + RepositoryNameComponentRegexp.String() + `/)*` + RepositoryNameComponentRegexp.String())
-
-// TagNameRegexp matches valid tag names. From docker/docker:graph/tags.go.
-var TagNameRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`[\w][\w.-]{0,127}`)
-
-// TagNameAnchoredRegexp matches valid tag names, anchored at the start and
-// end of the matched string.
-var TagNameAnchoredRegexp = regexp.MustCompile("^" + TagNameRegexp.String() + "$")
-
-var (
-	// ErrRepositoryNameEmpty is returned for empty, invalid repository names.
-	ErrRepositoryNameEmpty = fmt.Errorf("repository name must have at least one component")
-
-	// ErrRepositoryNameLong is returned when a repository name is longer than
-	// RepositoryNameTotalLengthMax
-	ErrRepositoryNameLong = fmt.Errorf("repository name must not be more than %v characters", RepositoryNameTotalLengthMax)
-
-	// ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid is returned when a repository name does
-	// not match RepositoryNameComponentRegexp
-	ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid = fmt.Errorf("repository name component must match %q", RepositoryNameComponentRegexp.String())
-)
-
-// ValidateRepositoryName ensures the repository name is valid for use in the
-// registry. This function accepts a superset of what might be accepted by
-// docker core or docker hub. If the name does not pass validation, an error,
-// describing the conditions, is returned.
-//
-// Effectively, the name should comply with the following grammar:
-//
-// 	alpha-numeric := /[a-z0-9]+/
-//	separator := /[._-]/
-//	component := alpha-numeric [separator alpha-numeric]*
-//	namespace := component ['/' component]*
-//
-// The result of the production, known as the "namespace", should be limited
-// to 255 characters.
-func ValidateRepositoryName(name string) error {
-	if name == "" {
-		return ErrRepositoryNameEmpty
-	}
-
-	if len(name) > RepositoryNameTotalLengthMax {
-		return ErrRepositoryNameLong
-	}
-
-	components := strings.Split(name, "/")
-
-	for _, component := range components {
-		if !RepositoryNameComponentAnchoredRegexp.MatchString(component) {
-			return ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid
-		}
-	}
-
-	return nil
-}
diff --git a/registry/api/v2/names_test.go b/registry/api/v2/names_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index f4daf2e7..00000000
--- a/registry/api/v2/names_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,256 +0,0 @@
-package v2
-
-import (
-	"strconv"
-	"strings"
-	"testing"
-)
-
-var (
-	// regexpTestcases is a unified set of testcases for
-	// TestValidateRepositoryName and TestRepositoryNameRegexp.
-	// Some of them are valid inputs for one and not the other.
-	regexpTestcases = []struct {
-		// input is the repository name or name component testcase
-		input string
-		// err is the error expected from ValidateRepositoryName, or nil
-		err error
-		// invalid should be true if the testcase is *not* expected to
-		// match RepositoryNameRegexp
-		invalid bool
-	}{
-		{
-			input: "",
-			err:   ErrRepositoryNameEmpty,
-		},
-		{
-			input: "short",
-		},
-		{
-			input: "simple/name",
-		},
-		{
-			input: "library/ubuntu",
-		},
-		{
-			input: "docker/stevvooe/app",
-		},
-		{
-			input: "aa/aa/aa/aa/aa/aa/aa/aa/aa/bb/bb/bb/bb/bb/bb",
-		},
-		{
-			input: "aa/aa/bb/bb/bb",
-		},
-		{
-			input: "a/a/a/b/b",
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "a/a/a/a/",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "a//a/a",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input: "a",
-		},
-		{
-			input: "a/aa",
-		},
-		{
-			input: "aa/a",
-		},
-		{
-			input: "a/aa/a",
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "foo.com/",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			// TODO: this testcase should be valid once we switch to
-			// the reference package.
-			input:   "foo.com:8080/bar",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input: "foo.com/bar",
-		},
-		{
-			input: "foo.com/bar/baz",
-		},
-		{
-			input: "foo.com/bar/baz/quux",
-		},
-		{
-			input: "blog.foo.com/bar/baz",
-		},
-		{
-			input: "asdf",
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "asdf$$^/aa",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input: "aa-a/aa",
-		},
-		{
-			input: "aa/aa",
-		},
-		{
-			input: "a-a/a-a",
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "a-/a/a/a",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input: strings.Repeat("a", 255),
-		},
-		{
-			input: strings.Repeat("a", 256),
-			err:   ErrRepositoryNameLong,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "-foo/bar",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "foo/bar-",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "foo-/bar",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "foo/-bar",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "_foo/bar",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "foo/bar_",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "____/____",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "_docker/_docker",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "docker_/docker_",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "do__cker/docker",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "docker./docker",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   ".docker/docker",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "do..cker/docker",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "docker-/docker",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input:   "-docker/docker",
-			err:     ErrRepositoryNameComponentInvalid,
-			invalid: true,
-		},
-		{
-			input: "b.gcr.io/test.example.com/my-app", // embedded domain component
-		},
-		{
-			input: "xn--n3h.com/myimage", // http://☃.com in punycode
-		},
-		{
-			input: "xn--7o8h.com/myimage", // http://🐳.com in punycode
-		},
-		{
-			input: "registry.io/foo/project--id.module--name.ver---sion--name", // image with hostname
-		},
-	}
-)
-
-// TestValidateRepositoryName tests the ValidateRepositoryName function,
-// which uses RepositoryNameComponentAnchoredRegexp for validation
-func TestValidateRepositoryName(t *testing.T) {
-	for _, testcase := range regexpTestcases {
-		failf := func(format string, v ...interface{}) {
-			t.Logf(strconv.Quote(testcase.input)+": "+format, v...)
-			t.Fail()
-		}
-
-		if err := ValidateRepositoryName(testcase.input); err != testcase.err {
-			if testcase.err != nil {
-				if err != nil {
-					failf("unexpected error for invalid repository: got %v, expected %v", err, testcase.err)
-				} else {
-					failf("expected invalid repository: %v", testcase.err)
-				}
-			} else {
-				if err != nil {
-					// Wrong error returned.
-					failf("unexpected error validating repository name: %v, expected %v", err, testcase.err)
-				} else {
-					failf("unexpected error validating repository name: %v", err)
-				}
-			}
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-func TestRepositoryNameRegexp(t *testing.T) {
-	for _, testcase := range regexpTestcases {
-		failf := func(format string, v ...interface{}) {
-			t.Logf(strconv.Quote(testcase.input)+": "+format, v...)
-			t.Fail()
-		}
-
-		matches := RepositoryNameRegexp.FindString(testcase.input) == testcase.input
-		if matches == testcase.invalid {
-			if testcase.invalid {
-				failf("expected invalid repository name %s", testcase.input)
-			} else {
-				failf("expected valid repository name %s", testcase.input)
-			}
-		}
-	}
-}
diff --git a/registry/api/v2/routes_test.go b/registry/api/v2/routes_test.go
index b8d724df..f6379977 100644
--- a/registry/api/v2/routes_test.go
+++ b/registry/api/v2/routes_test.go
@@ -170,6 +170,14 @@ func TestRouter(t *testing.T) {
 				"name": "foo/bar/manifests",
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			RouteName:  RouteNameManifest,
+			RequestURI: "/v2/locahost:8080/foo/bar/baz/manifests/tag",
+			Vars: map[string]string{
+				"name":      "locahost:8080/foo/bar/baz",
+				"reference": "tag",
+			},
+		},
 	}
 
 	checkTestRouter(t, testCases, "", true)
diff --git a/registry/client/repository.go b/registry/client/repository.go
index 1e189438..fc709ded 100644
--- a/registry/client/repository.go
+++ b/registry/client/repository.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/context"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/digest"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/manifest/schema1"
+	"github.com/docker/distribution/reference"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/registry/api/v2"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/registry/client/transport"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/registry/storage/cache"
@@ -96,9 +97,9 @@ func (r *registry) Repositories(ctx context.Context, entries []string, last stri
 	return numFilled, returnErr
 }
 
-// NewRepository creates a new Repository for the given repository name and base URL
+// NewRepository creates a new Repository for the given repository name and base URL.
 func NewRepository(ctx context.Context, name, baseURL string, transport http.RoundTripper) (distribution.Repository, error) {
-	if err := v2.ValidateRepositoryName(name); err != nil {
+	if _, err := reference.ParseNamed(name); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
diff --git a/registry/storage/cache/memory/memory.go b/registry/storage/cache/memory/memory.go
index 120a6572..68a68f08 100644
--- a/registry/storage/cache/memory/memory.go
+++ b/registry/storage/cache/memory/memory.go
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/docker/distribution"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/context"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/digest"
-	"github.com/docker/distribution/registry/api/v2"
+	"github.com/docker/distribution/reference"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/registry/storage/cache"
 )
 
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ func NewInMemoryBlobDescriptorCacheProvider() cache.BlobDescriptorCacheProvider
 }
 
 func (imbdcp *inMemoryBlobDescriptorCacheProvider) RepositoryScoped(repo string) (distribution.BlobDescriptorService, error) {
-	if err := v2.ValidateRepositoryName(repo); err != nil {
+	if _, err := reference.ParseNamed(repo); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
diff --git a/registry/storage/cache/redis/redis.go b/registry/storage/cache/redis/redis.go
index 36370bdd..1736756e 100644
--- a/registry/storage/cache/redis/redis.go
+++ b/registry/storage/cache/redis/redis.go
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/docker/distribution"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/context"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/digest"
-	"github.com/docker/distribution/registry/api/v2"
+	"github.com/docker/distribution/reference"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/registry/storage/cache"
 	"github.com/garyburd/redigo/redis"
 )
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ func NewRedisBlobDescriptorCacheProvider(pool *redis.Pool) cache.BlobDescriptorC
 
 // RepositoryScoped returns the scoped cache.
 func (rbds *redisBlobDescriptorService) RepositoryScoped(repo string) (distribution.BlobDescriptorService, error) {
-	if err := v2.ValidateRepositoryName(repo); err != nil {
+	if _, err := reference.ParseNamed(repo); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
diff --git a/registry/storage/registry.go b/registry/storage/registry.go
index 0b38ea9b..1050920a 100644
--- a/registry/storage/registry.go
+++ b/registry/storage/registry.go
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ package storage
 import (
 	"github.com/docker/distribution"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/context"
-	"github.com/docker/distribution/registry/api/v2"
+	"github.com/docker/distribution/reference"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/registry/storage/cache"
 	storagedriver "github.com/docker/distribution/registry/storage/driver"
 )
@@ -107,10 +107,10 @@ func (reg *registry) Scope() distribution.Scope {
 // Repository returns an instance of the repository tied to the registry.
 // Instances should not be shared between goroutines but are cheap to
 // allocate. In general, they should be request scoped.
-func (reg *registry) Repository(ctx context.Context, name string) (distribution.Repository, error) {
-	if err := v2.ValidateRepositoryName(name); err != nil {
+func (reg *registry) Repository(ctx context.Context, canonicalName string) (distribution.Repository, error) {
+	if _, err := reference.ParseNamed(canonicalName); err != nil {
 		return nil, distribution.ErrRepositoryNameInvalid{
-			Name:   name,
+			Name:   canonicalName,
 			Reason: err,
 		}
 	}
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ func (reg *registry) Repository(ctx context.Context, name string) (distribution.
 	var descriptorCache distribution.BlobDescriptorService
 	if reg.blobDescriptorCacheProvider != nil {
 		var err error
-		descriptorCache, err = reg.blobDescriptorCacheProvider.RepositoryScoped(name)
+		descriptorCache, err = reg.blobDescriptorCacheProvider.RepositoryScoped(canonicalName)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ func (reg *registry) Repository(ctx context.Context, name string) (distribution.
 	return &repository{
 		ctx:             ctx,
 		registry:        reg,
-		name:            name,
+		name:            canonicalName,
 		descriptorCache: descriptorCache,
 	}, nil
 }