diff --git a/copy/compression.go b/copy/compression.go
index f243838e13..99305a0398 100644
--- a/copy/compression.go
+++ b/copy/compression.go
@@ -65,7 +65,11 @@ func (ic *imageCopier) blobPipelineCompressionStep(stream *sourceStream, canModi
 	detected bpDetectCompressionStepData) (*bpCompressionStepData, error) {
 	// WARNING: If you are adding new reasons to change the blob, update also the OptimizeDestinationImageAlreadyExists
 	// short-circuit conditions
-	if canModifyBlob {
+	layerCompressionChangeSupported := ic.src.CanChangeLayerCompression(stream.info.MediaType)
+	if !layerCompressionChangeSupported {
+		logrus.Debugf("Compression change for blob %s (%q) not supported", srcInfo.Digest, stream.info.MediaType)
+	}
+	if canModifyBlob && layerCompressionChangeSupported {
 		for _, fn := range []func(*sourceStream, bpDetectCompressionStepData) (*bpCompressionStepData, error){
 			ic.bpcPreserveEncrypted,
 			ic.bpcCompressUncompressed,
@@ -81,7 +85,7 @@ func (ic *imageCopier) blobPipelineCompressionStep(stream *sourceStream, canModi
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	return ic.bpcPreserveOriginal(stream, detected), nil
+	return ic.bpcPreserveOriginal(stream, detected, layerCompressionChangeSupported), nil
 }
 
 // bpcPreserveEncrypted checks if the input is encrypted, and returns a *bpCompressionStepData if so.
@@ -194,14 +198,19 @@ func (ic *imageCopier) bpcDecompressCompressed(stream *sourceStream, detected bp
 }
 
 // bpcPreserveOriginal returns a *bpCompressionStepData for not changing the original blob.
-func (ic *imageCopier) bpcPreserveOriginal(stream *sourceStream, detected bpDetectCompressionStepData) *bpCompressionStepData {
+func (ic *imageCopier) bpcPreserveOriginal(stream *sourceStream, detected bpDetectCompressionStepData,
+	layerCompressionChangeSupported bool) *bpCompressionStepData {
 	logrus.Debugf("Using original blob without modification")
 	// Remember if the original blob was compressed, and if so how, so that if
 	// LayerInfosForCopy() returned something that differs from what was in the
 	// source's manifest, and UpdatedImage() needs to call UpdateLayerInfos(),
 	// it will be able to correctly derive the MediaType for the copied blob.
+	//
+	// But don’t touch blobs in objects where we can’t change compression,
+	// so that src.UpdatedImage() doesn’t fail; assume that for such blobs
+	// LayerInfosForCopy() should not be making any changes in the first place.
 	var algorithm *compressiontypes.Algorithm
-	if detected.isCompressed {
+	if layerCompressionChangeSupported && detected.isCompressed {
 		algorithm = &detected.format
 	} else {
 		algorithm = nil
diff --git a/copy/copy.go b/copy/copy.go
index 81d4597e27..0df5952375 100644
--- a/copy/copy.go
+++ b/copy/copy.go
@@ -678,12 +678,14 @@ func (c *copier) copyOneImage(ctx context.Context, policyContext *signature.Poli
 		cannotModifyManifestReason: cannotModifyManifestReason,
 		ociEncryptLayers:           options.OciEncryptLayers,
 	}
-	// Ensure _this_ copy sees exactly the intended data when either processing a signed image or signing it.
-	// This may be too conservative, but for now, better safe than sorry, _especially_ on the SignBy path:
-	// The signature makes the content non-repudiable, so it very much matters that the signature is made over exactly what the user intended.
-	// We do intend the RecordDigestUncompressedPair calls to only work with reliable data, but at least there’s a risk
-	// that the compressed version coming from a third party may be designed to attack some other decompressor implementation,
-	// and we would reuse and sign it.
+	// Decide whether we can substitute blobs with semantic equivalents:
+	// - Don’t do that if we can’t modify the manifest at all
+	// - Ensure _this_ copy sees exactly the intended data when either processing a signed image or signing it.
+	//   This may be too conservative, but for now, better safe than sorry, _especially_ on the SignBy path:
+	//   The signature makes the content non-repudiable, so it very much matters that the signature is made over exactly what the user intended.
+	//   We do intend the RecordDigestUncompressedPair calls to only work with reliable data, but at least there’s a risk
+	//   that the compressed version coming from a third party may be designed to attack some other decompressor implementation,
+	//   and we would reuse and sign it.
 	ic.canSubstituteBlobs = ic.cannotModifyManifestReason == "" && options.SignBy == ""
 
 	if err := ic.updateEmbeddedDockerReference(); err != nil {
@@ -1143,6 +1145,10 @@ func (ic *imageCopier) copyLayer(ctx context.Context, srcInfo types.BlobInfo, to
 
 	// Don’t read the layer from the source if we already have the blob, and optimizations are acceptable.
 	if canAvoidProcessingCompleteLayer {
+		canChangeLayerCompression := ic.src.CanChangeLayerCompression(srcInfo.MediaType)
+		logrus.Debugf("Checking if we can reuse blob %s: general substitution = %v, compression for MIME type %q = %v",
+			srcInfo.Digest, ic.canSubstituteBlobs, srcInfo.MediaType, canChangeLayerCompression)
+		canSubstitute := ic.canSubstituteBlobs && ic.src.CanChangeLayerCompression(srcInfo.MediaType)
 		// TODO: at this point we don't know whether or not a blob we end up reusing is compressed using an algorithm
 		// that is acceptable for use on layers in the manifest that we'll be writing later, so if we end up reusing
 		// a blob that's compressed with e.g. zstd, but we're only allowed to write a v2s2 manifest, this will cause
@@ -1151,7 +1157,7 @@ func (ic *imageCopier) copyLayer(ctx context.Context, srcInfo types.BlobInfo, to
 		// the ImageDestination interface lets us pass in.
 		reused, blobInfo, err := ic.c.dest.TryReusingBlobWithOptions(ctx, srcInfo, private.TryReusingBlobOptions{
 			Cache:         ic.c.blobInfoCache,
-			CanSubstitute: ic.canSubstituteBlobs,
+			CanSubstitute: canSubstitute,
 			EmptyLayer:    emptyLayer,
 			LayerIndex:    &layerIndex,
 			SrcRef:        srcRef,
diff --git a/internal/image/docker_schema1.go b/internal/image/docker_schema1.go
index 5f24970c37..94f776224e 100644
--- a/internal/image/docker_schema1.go
+++ b/internal/image/docker_schema1.go
@@ -246,3 +246,12 @@ func (m *manifestSchema1) convertToManifestOCI1(ctx context.Context, options *ty
 func (m *manifestSchema1) SupportsEncryption(context.Context) bool {
 	return false
 }
+
+// CanChangeLayerCompression returns true if we can compress/decompress layers with mimeType in the current image
+// (and the code can handle that).
+// NOTE: Even if this returns true, the relevant format might not accept all compression algorithms; the set of accepted
+// algorithms depends not on the current format, but possibly on the target of a conversion (if UpdatedImage converts
+// to a different manifest format).
+func (m *manifestSchema1) CanChangeLayerCompression(mimeType string) bool {
+	return true // There are no MIME types in the manifest, so we must assume a valid image.
+}
diff --git a/internal/image/docker_schema1_test.go b/internal/image/docker_schema1_test.go
index 6aa7405e08..58f222b3c7 100644
--- a/internal/image/docker_schema1_test.go
+++ b/internal/image/docker_schema1_test.go
@@ -667,3 +667,12 @@ func TestConvertSchema1ToManifestOCIWithAnnotations(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	assert.NotEqual(t, res.LayerInfos(), layerInfoOverwrites)
 }
+
+func TestManifestSchema1CanChangeLayerCompression(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, m := range []genericManifest{
+		manifestSchema1FromFixture(t, "schema1.json"),
+		manifestSchema1FromComponentsLikeFixture(t),
+	} {
+		assert.True(t, m.CanChangeLayerCompression(""))
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/image/docker_schema2.go b/internal/image/docker_schema2.go
index ca55d96c2c..7dfd3c5d8c 100644
--- a/internal/image/docker_schema2.go
+++ b/internal/image/docker_schema2.go
@@ -402,3 +402,12 @@ func v1ConfigFromConfigJSON(configJSON []byte, v1ID, parentV1ID string, throwawa
 func (m *manifestSchema2) SupportsEncryption(context.Context) bool {
 	return false
 }
+
+// CanChangeLayerCompression returns true if we can compress/decompress layers with mimeType in the current image
+// (and the code can handle that).
+// NOTE: Even if this returns true, the relevant format might not accept all compression algorithms; the set of accepted
+// algorithms depends not on the current format, but possibly on the target of a conversion (if UpdatedImage converts
+// to a different manifest format).
+func (m *manifestSchema2) CanChangeLayerCompression(mimeType string) bool {
+	return m.m.CanChangeLayerCompression(mimeType)
+}
diff --git a/internal/image/docker_schema2_test.go b/internal/image/docker_schema2_test.go
index b20c99d4b2..a6dc014406 100644
--- a/internal/image/docker_schema2_test.go
+++ b/internal/image/docker_schema2_test.go
@@ -653,3 +653,14 @@ func TestConvertSchema2ToManifestOCIWithAnnotations(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	assert.NotEqual(t, res.LayerInfos(), layerInfoOverwrites)
 }
+
+func TestManifestSchema2CanChangeLayerCompression(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, m := range []genericManifest{
+		manifestSchema2FromFixture(t, mocks.ForbiddenImageSource{}, "schema2.json", false),
+		manifestSchema2FromComponentsLikeFixture(nil),
+	} {
+		assert.True(t, m.CanChangeLayerCompression(manifest.DockerV2Schema2LayerMediaType))
+		// Some projects like to use squashfs and other unspecified formats for layers; don’t touch those.
+		assert.False(t, m.CanChangeLayerCompression("a completely unknown and quite possibly invalid MIME type"))
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/image/manifest.go b/internal/image/manifest.go
index 36d70b5c23..6b5f345388 100644
--- a/internal/image/manifest.go
+++ b/internal/image/manifest.go
@@ -12,9 +12,8 @@ import (
 )
 
 // genericManifest is an interface for parsing, modifying image manifests and related data.
-// Note that the public methods are intended to be a subset of types.Image
-// so that embedding a genericManifest into structs works.
-// will support v1 one day...
+// The public methods are related to types.Image so that embedding a genericManifest implements most of it,
+// but there are also public methods that are only visible by packages that can import c/image/internal/image.
 type genericManifest interface {
 	serialize() ([]byte, error)
 	manifestMIMEType() string
@@ -51,6 +50,16 @@ type genericManifest interface {
 	// the process of updating a manifest between different manifest types was to update then convert.
 	// This resulted in some fields in the update being lost. This has been fixed by: https://github.com/containers/image/pull/836
 	SupportsEncryption(ctx context.Context) bool
+
+	// The following methods are not a part of types.Image:
+	// ===
+
+	// CanChangeLayerCompression returns true if we can compress/decompress layers with mimeType in the current image
+	// (and the code can handle that).
+	// NOTE: Even if this returns true, the relevant format might not accept all compression algorithms; the set of accepted
+	// algorithms depends not on the current format, but possibly on the target of a conversion (if UpdatedImage converts
+	// to a different manifest format).
+	CanChangeLayerCompression(mimeType string) bool
 }
 
 // manifestInstanceFromBlob returns a genericManifest implementation for (manblob, mt) in src.
diff --git a/internal/image/oci.go b/internal/image/oci.go
index b6b2e52147..af1a90e82d 100644
--- a/internal/image/oci.go
+++ b/internal/image/oci.go
@@ -260,3 +260,12 @@ func (m *manifestOCI1) convertToManifestSchema1(ctx context.Context, options *ty
 func (m *manifestOCI1) SupportsEncryption(context.Context) bool {
 	return true
 }
+
+// CanChangeLayerCompression returns true if we can compress/decompress layers with mimeType in the current image
+// (and the code can handle that).
+// NOTE: Even if this returns true, the relevant format might not accept all compression algorithms; the set of accepted
+// algorithms depends not on the current format, but possibly on the target of a conversion (if UpdatedImage converts
+// to a different manifest format).
+func (m *manifestOCI1) CanChangeLayerCompression(mimeType string) bool {
+	return m.m.CanChangeLayerCompression(mimeType)
+}
diff --git a/internal/image/oci_test.go b/internal/image/oci_test.go
index bafc81d327..bb72601a87 100644
--- a/internal/image/oci_test.go
+++ b/internal/image/oci_test.go
@@ -542,3 +542,17 @@ func TestConvertToV2S2WithInvalidMIMEType(t *testing.T) {
 	_, err = manifestOCI1FromManifest(originalSrc, manifest)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 }
+
+func TestManifestOCI1CanChangeLayerCompression(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, m := range []genericManifest{
+		manifestOCI1FromFixture(t, mocks.ForbiddenImageSource{}, "oci1.json"),
+		manifestOCI1FromComponentsLikeFixture(nil),
+	} {
+		assert.True(t, m.CanChangeLayerCompression(imgspecv1.MediaTypeImageLayerGzip))
+		// Some projects like to use squashfs and other unspecified formats for layers; don’t touch those.
+		assert.False(t, m.CanChangeLayerCompression("a completely unknown and quite possibly invalid MIME type"))
+	}
+
+	artifact := manifestOCI1FromFixture(t, mocks.ForbiddenImageSource{}, "oci1-artifact.json")
+	assert.False(t, artifact.CanChangeLayerCompression(imgspecv1.MediaTypeImageLayerGzip))
+}
diff --git a/manifest/common.go b/manifest/common.go
index 2b2014831b..9cf7dd3a94 100644
--- a/manifest/common.go
+++ b/manifest/common.go
@@ -218,3 +218,13 @@ type ManifestLayerCompressionIncompatibilityError struct {
 func (m ManifestLayerCompressionIncompatibilityError) Error() string {
 	return m.text
 }
+
+// compressionVariantsRecognizeMIMEType returns true if variantTable contains data about compressing/decompressing layers with mimeType
+// Note that the caller still needs to worry about a specific algorithm not being supported.
+func compressionVariantsRecognizeMIMEType(variantTable []compressionMIMETypeSet, mimeType string) bool {
+	if mimeType == mtsUnsupportedMIMEType { // Prevent matching against the {algo:mtsUnsupportedMIMEType} entries
+		return false
+	}
+	variants := findCompressionMIMETypeSet(variantTable, mimeType)
+	return variants != nil // Alternatively, this could be len(variants) > 1, but really the caller should ask about a specific algorithm.
+}
diff --git a/manifest/docker_schema2.go b/manifest/docker_schema2.go
index 1f4db54eed..8b3fbdd399 100644
--- a/manifest/docker_schema2.go
+++ b/manifest/docker_schema2.go
@@ -295,3 +295,11 @@ func (m *Schema2) ImageID([]digest.Digest) (string, error) {
 	}
 	return m.ConfigDescriptor.Digest.Hex(), nil
 }
+
+// CanChangeLayerCompression returns true if we can compress/decompress layers with mimeType in the current image
+// (and the code can handle that).
+// NOTE: Even if this returns true, the relevant format might not accept all compression algorithms; the set of accepted
+// algorithms depends not on the current format, but possibly on the target of a conversion.
+func (m *Schema2) CanChangeLayerCompression(mimeType string) bool {
+	return compressionVariantsRecognizeMIMEType(schema2CompressionMIMETypeSets, mimeType)
+}
diff --git a/manifest/docker_schema2_test.go b/manifest/docker_schema2_test.go
index cd89b97016..bdd10d0987 100644
--- a/manifest/docker_schema2_test.go
+++ b/manifest/docker_schema2_test.go
@@ -203,3 +203,11 @@ func TestSchema2ImageID(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	assert.Equal(t, "b5b2b2c507a0944348e0303114d8d93aaaa081732b86451d9bce1f432a537bc7", id)
 }
+
+func TestSchema2CanChangeLayerCompression(t *testing.T) {
+	m := manifestSchema2FromFixture(t, "v2s2.manifest.json")
+
+	assert.True(t, m.CanChangeLayerCompression(DockerV2Schema2LayerMediaType))
+	// Some projects like to use squashfs and other unspecified formats for layers; don’t touch those.
+	assert.False(t, m.CanChangeLayerCompression("a completely unknown and quite possibly invalid MIME type"))
+}
diff --git a/manifest/oci.go b/manifest/oci.go
index 2fa23e69cb..11927ab5ec 100644
--- a/manifest/oci.go
+++ b/manifest/oci.go
@@ -116,6 +116,12 @@ var oci1CompressionMIMETypeSets = []compressionMIMETypeSet{
 // UpdateLayerInfos replaces the original layers with the specified BlobInfos (size+digest+urls+mediatype), in order (the root layer first, and then successive layered layers)
 // The returned error will be a manifest.ManifestLayerCompressionIncompatibilityError if any of the layerInfos includes a combination of CompressionOperation and
 // CompressionAlgorithm that isn't supported by OCI.
+//
+// It’s generally the caller’s responsibility to determine whether a particular edit is acceptable, rather than relying on
+// failures of this function, because the layer is typically created _before_ UpdateLayerInfos is called, because UpdateLayerInfos needs
+// to know the final digest). See OCI1.CanChangeLayerCompression for some help in determining this; other aspects like compression
+// algorithms that might not be supported by a format, or the limited set of MIME types accepted for encryption, are not currently
+// handled — that logic should eventually also be provided as OCI1 methods, not hard-coded in callers.
 func (m *OCI1) UpdateLayerInfos(layerInfos []types.BlobInfo) error {
 	if len(m.Layers) != len(layerInfos) {
 		return errors.Errorf("Error preparing updated manifest: layer count changed from %d to %d", len(m.Layers), len(layerInfos))
@@ -247,3 +253,14 @@ func (m *OCI1) ImageID([]digest.Digest) (string, error) {
 	}
 	return m.Config.Digest.Hex(), nil
 }
+
+// CanChangeLayerCompression returns true if we can compress/decompress layers with mimeType in the current image
+// (and the code can handle that).
+// NOTE: Even if this returns true, the relevant format might not accept all compression algorithms; the set of accepted
+// algorithms depends not on the current format, but possibly on the target of a conversion.
+func (m *OCI1) CanChangeLayerCompression(mimeType string) bool {
+	if m.Config.MediaType != imgspecv1.MediaTypeImageConfig {
+		return false
+	}
+	return compressionVariantsRecognizeMIMEType(oci1CompressionMIMETypeSets, mimeType)
+}
diff --git a/manifest/oci_test.go b/manifest/oci_test.go
index b752051490..4eabc0545f 100644
--- a/manifest/oci_test.go
+++ b/manifest/oci_test.go
@@ -373,3 +373,14 @@ func TestOCI1ImageID(t *testing.T) {
 	var expected NonImageArtifactError
 	assert.ErrorAs(t, err, &expected)
 }
+
+func TestOCI1CanChangeLayerCompression(t *testing.T) {
+	m := manifestOCI1FromFixture(t, "ociv1.manifest.json")
+
+	assert.True(t, m.CanChangeLayerCompression(imgspecv1.MediaTypeImageLayerGzip))
+	// Some projects like to use squashfs and other unspecified formats for layers; don’t touch those.
+	assert.False(t, m.CanChangeLayerCompression("a completely unknown and quite possibly invalid MIME type"))
+
+	artifact := manifestOCI1FromFixture(t, "ociv1.artifact.json")
+	assert.False(t, artifact.CanChangeLayerCompression(imgspecv1.MediaTypeImageLayerGzip))
+}