diff --git a/cmd/mapt/cmd/azure/hosts/rhelai.go b/cmd/mapt/cmd/azure/hosts/rhelai.go
index 16c176a38..f3b424c1e 100644
--- a/cmd/mapt/cmd/azure/hosts/rhelai.go
+++ b/cmd/mapt/cmd/azure/hosts/rhelai.go
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func getRHELAICreate() *cobra.Command {
 					Prefix:         "main",
 					Version:        viper.GetString(params.RhelAIVersion),
 					Accelerator:    viper.GetString(params.RhelAIAccelerator),
-					CustomAMI:      viper.GetString(params.RhelAIAMICustom),
+					CustomImage:    viper.GetString(params.RhelAIImageCustom),
 					ComputeRequest: params.ComputeRequestArgs(),
 					Spot:           params.SpotArgs(),
 					Timeout:        viper.GetString(params.Timeout),
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ func getRHELAICreate() *cobra.Command {
 	flagSet.StringToStringP(params.Tags, "", nil, params.TagsDesc)
 	flagSet.StringP(params.RhelAIVersion, "", params.RhelAIVersionDefault, params.RhelAIVersionDesc)
 	flagSet.StringP(params.RhelAIAccelerator, "", params.RhelAIAccelearatorDefault, params.RhelAIAccelearatorDesc)
-	flagSet.StringP(params.RhelAIAMICustom, "", "", params.RhelAIAMICustomDesc)
+	flagSet.StringP(params.RhelAIImageCustom, "", "", params.RhelAIImageCustomDesc)
 	flagSet.StringP(params.Timeout, "", "", params.TimeoutDesc)
 	params.AddComputeRequestFlags(flagSet)
 	params.AddSpotFlags(flagSet)
diff --git a/cmd/mapt/cmd/params/params.go b/cmd/mapt/cmd/params/params.go
index a5a8c598e..d69080a30 100644
--- a/cmd/mapt/cmd/params/params.go
+++ b/cmd/mapt/cmd/params/params.go
@@ -108,6 +108,8 @@ const (
 	RhelAIAccelearatorDefault string = "cuda"
 	RhelAIAMICustom           string = "custom-ami"
 	RhelAIAMICustomDesc       string = "custom AMI to spin RHEL AI OS"
+	RhelAIImageCustom         string = "custom-image"
+	RhelAIImageCustomDesc     string = "custom image ID to spin RHEL AI OS"
 
 	// Serverless
 	Timeout        string = "timeout"
diff --git a/pkg/provider/azure/action/rhel-ai/rhelai.go b/pkg/provider/azure/action/rhel-ai/rhelai.go
index 13ae7060e..99becd420 100644
--- a/pkg/provider/azure/action/rhel-ai/rhelai.go
+++ b/pkg/provider/azure/action/rhel-ai/rhelai.go
@@ -22,17 +22,24 @@ const (
 	username = "azureuser"
 )
 
-func imageId(accelerator, version string) string {
-	iName := fmt.Sprintf(imageNameRegex, accelerator, version)
-	gName := strings.ReplaceAll(iName, "-", "_")
+func imageIdFromName(imageName string) string {
+	gName := strings.ReplaceAll(imageName, "-", "_")
 	return fmt.Sprintf(imageIdRegex,
 		imageOwnerSubscriptionId,
 		gName,
-		iName)
+		imageName)
+}
+
+func imageId(accelerator, version string) string {
+	return imageIdFromName(fmt.Sprintf(imageNameRegex, accelerator, version))
 }
 
 func Create(mCtxArgs *maptContext.ContextArgs, args *apiRHELAI.RHELAIArgs) (err error) {
 	logging.Debug("Creating RHEL Server")
+	sharedImageID := imageId(args.Accelerator, args.Version)
+	if args.CustomImage != "" {
+		sharedImageID = imageIdFromName(args.CustomImage)
+	}
 	azureLinuxRequest :=
 		&azureLinux.LinuxArgs{
 			Prefix: args.Prefix,
@@ -40,7 +47,7 @@ func Create(mCtxArgs *maptContext.ContextArgs, args *apiRHELAI.RHELAIArgs) (err
 			ComputeRequest: args.ComputeRequest,
 			Spot:           args.Spot,
 			ImageRef: &data.ImageReference{
-				SharedImageID: imageId(args.Accelerator, args.Version),
+				SharedImageID: sharedImageID,
 			},
 			Username:         username,
 			ReadinessCommand: command.CommandPing}
diff --git a/pkg/target/host/rhelai/api.go b/pkg/target/host/rhelai/api.go
index 90e04bc96..8e6e9f493 100644
--- a/pkg/target/host/rhelai/api.go
+++ b/pkg/target/host/rhelai/api.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ type RHELAIArgs struct {
 	Accelerator    string
 	Version        string
 	CustomAMI      string
+	CustomImage    string
 	Arch           string
 	ComputeRequest *cr.ComputeRequestArgs
 	Spot           *spotTypes.SpotArgs