diff --git a/lib/do_create_instance.js b/lib/do_create_instance.js
index 30dea0f..ffa74f0 100644
--- a/lib/do_create_instance.js
+++ b/lib/do_create_instance.js
@@ -33,8 +33,14 @@ function do_create_instance(subcmd, opts, args, callback) {
 
     vasync.pipeline({arg: {}, funcs: [
         function getImg(ctx, next) {
-            // XXX don't get the image object if it is a UUID, waste of time
-            self.tritonapi.getImage(args[0], function (err, img) {
+            var id = args[0];
+            if (common.isUUID(id)) {
+                ctx.img = id;
+                next();
+                return;
+            }
+
+            self.tritonapi.getImage(id, function (err, img) {
                 if (err) {
                     return next(err);
                 }
@@ -47,8 +53,15 @@ function do_create_instance(subcmd, opts, args, callback) {
             if (args.length < 2) {
                 return next();
             }
-            // XXX don't get the package object if it is a UUID, waste of time
-            self.tritonapi.getPackage(args[1], function (err, pkg) {
+
+            var id = args[1];
+            if (common.isUUID(id)) {
+                ctx.img = id;
+                next();
+                return;
+            }
+
+            self.tritonapi.getPackage(id, function (err, pkg) {
                 if (err) {
                     return next(err);
                 }
diff --git a/lib/tritonapi.js b/lib/tritonapi.js
index 0bad6c2..e31ef74 100644
--- a/lib/tritonapi.js
+++ b/lib/tritonapi.js
@@ -263,6 +263,9 @@ TritonApi.prototype.getImage = function getImage(name, cb) {
             }
         });
     } else {
+        var s = name.split('@');
+        name = s[0];
+        var version = s[1];
         this.cloudapi.listImages(function (err, imgs) {
             if (err) {
                 return cb(err);
@@ -272,10 +275,12 @@ TritonApi.prototype.getImage = function getImage(name, cb) {
             var shortIdMatches = [];
             for (var i = 0; i < imgs.length; i++) {
                 var img = imgs[i];
+                if (version && img.version !== version)
+                    continue;
                 if (img.name === name) {
                     nameMatches.push(img);
                 }
-                if (img.id.slice(0, 8) === name) {
+                if (common.uuidToShortId(img.id) === name) {
                     shortIdMatches.push(img);
                 }
             }