diff --git a/components/engine/api/server/server.go b/components/engine/api/server/server.go
index 5feeaf9229..2aabcb5227 100644
--- a/components/engine/api/server/server.go
+++ b/components/engine/api/server/server.go
@@ -860,7 +860,7 @@ func getContainersByName(eng *engine.Engine, version version.Version, w http.Res
 	}
 	var job = eng.Job("container_inspect", vars["name"])
 	if version.LessThan("1.12") {
-		job.SetenvBool("dirty", true)
+		job.SetenvBool("raw", true)
 	}
 	streamJSON(job, w, false)
 	return job.Run()
@@ -872,7 +872,7 @@ func getImagesByName(eng *engine.Engine, version version.Version, w http.Respons
 	}
 	var job = eng.Job("image_inspect", vars["name"])
 	if version.LessThan("1.12") {
-		job.SetenvBool("dirty", true)
+		job.SetenvBool("raw", true)
 	}
 	streamJSON(job, w, false)
 	return job.Run()
diff --git a/components/engine/daemon/inspect.go b/components/engine/daemon/inspect.go
index af6d4520fb..6c4b74d6f2 100644
--- a/components/engine/daemon/inspect.go
+++ b/components/engine/daemon/inspect.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ func (daemon *Daemon) ContainerInspect(job *engine.Job) engine.Status {
 	if container := daemon.Get(name); container != nil {
 		container.Lock()
 		defer container.Unlock()
-		if job.GetenvBool("dirty") {
+		if job.GetenvBool("raw") {
 			b, err := json.Marshal(&struct {
 				*Container
 				HostConfig *runconfig.HostConfig
diff --git a/components/engine/graph/service.go b/components/engine/graph/service.go
index 4bce6b5645..3201d6b994 100644
--- a/components/engine/graph/service.go
+++ b/components/engine/graph/service.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package graph
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"io"
 
 	"github.com/dotcloud/docker/engine"
@@ -135,8 +134,8 @@ func (s *TagStore) CmdLookup(job *engine.Job) engine.Status {
 	}
 	name := job.Args[0]
 	if image, err := s.LookupImage(name); err == nil && image != nil {
-		if job.GetenvBool("dirty") {
-			b, err := json.Marshal(image)
+		if job.GetenvBool("raw") {
+			b, err := image.RawJson()
 			if err != nil {
 				return job.Error(err)
 			}
diff --git a/components/engine/image/image.go b/components/engine/image/image.go
index b56cbf08ee..5c250947ce 100644
--- a/components/engine/image/image.go
+++ b/components/engine/image/image.go
@@ -149,6 +149,22 @@ func jsonPath(root string) string {
 	return path.Join(root, "json")
 }
 
+func (img *Image) RawJson() ([]byte, error) {
+	root, err := img.root()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Failed to get root for image %s: %s", img.ID, err)
+	}
+	fh, err := os.Open(jsonPath(root))
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Failed to open json for image %s: %s", img.ID, err)
+	}
+	buf, err := ioutil.ReadAll(fh)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Failed to read json for image %s: %s", img.ID, err)
+	}
+	return buf, nil
+}
+
 // TarLayer returns a tar archive of the image's filesystem layer.
 func (img *Image) TarLayer() (arch archive.Archive, err error) {
 	if img.graph == nil {
diff --git a/components/engine/integration-cli/docker_cli_save_load_test.go b/components/engine/integration-cli/docker_cli_save_load_test.go
index d728c7de95..fb94cad9d8 100644
--- a/components/engine/integration-cli/docker_cli_save_load_test.go
+++ b/components/engine/integration-cli/docker_cli_save_load_test.go
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 )
 
-// save a repo and try to load it
-func TestSaveAndLoadRepo(t *testing.T) {
+// save a repo and try to load it using stdout
+func TestSaveAndLoadRepoStdout(t *testing.T) {
 	runCmd := exec.Command(dockerBinary, "run", "-d", "busybox", "true")
 	out, _, err := runCommandWithOutput(runCmd)
 	errorOut(err, t, fmt.Sprintf("failed to create a container: %v %v", out, err))
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ func TestSaveAndLoadRepo(t *testing.T) {
 	out, _, err = runCommandWithOutput(commitCmd)
 	errorOut(err, t, fmt.Sprintf("failed to commit container: %v %v", out, err))
 
+	inspectCmd = exec.Command(dockerBinary, "inspect", repoName)
+	before, _, err := runCommandWithOutput(inspectCmd)
+	errorOut(err, t, fmt.Sprintf("the repo should exist before saving it: %v %v", before, err))
+
 	saveCmdTemplate := `%v save %v > /tmp/foobar-save-load-test.tar`
 	saveCmdFinal := fmt.Sprintf(saveCmdTemplate, dockerBinary, repoName)
 	saveCmd := exec.Command("bash", "-c", saveCmdFinal)
@@ -39,14 +43,70 @@ func TestSaveAndLoadRepo(t *testing.T) {
 	errorOut(err, t, fmt.Sprintf("failed to load repo: %v %v", out, err))
 
 	inspectCmd = exec.Command(dockerBinary, "inspect", repoName)
-	out, _, err = runCommandWithOutput(inspectCmd)
-	errorOut(err, t, fmt.Sprintf("the repo should exist after loading it: %v %v", out, err))
+	after, _, err := runCommandWithOutput(inspectCmd)
+	errorOut(err, t, fmt.Sprintf("the repo should exist after loading it: %v %v", after, err))
+
+	if before != after {
+		t.Fatalf("inspect is not the same after a save / load")
+	}
 
 	deleteContainer(cleanedContainerID)
 	deleteImages(repoName)
 
 	os.Remove("/tmp/foobar-save-load-test.tar")
 
-	logDone("save - save a repo")
-	logDone("load - load a repo")
+	logDone("save - save a repo using stdout")
+	logDone("load - load a repo using stdout")
+}
+
+// save a repo and try to load it using flags
+func TestSaveAndLoadRepoFlags(t *testing.T) {
+	runCmd := exec.Command(dockerBinary, "run", "-d", "busybox", "true")
+	out, _, err := runCommandWithOutput(runCmd)
+	errorOut(err, t, fmt.Sprintf("failed to create a container: %v %v", out, err))
+
+	cleanedContainerID := stripTrailingCharacters(out)
+
+	repoName := "foobar-save-load-test"
+
+	inspectCmd := exec.Command(dockerBinary, "inspect", cleanedContainerID)
+	out, _, err = runCommandWithOutput(inspectCmd)
+	errorOut(err, t, fmt.Sprintf("output should've been a container id: %v %v", cleanedContainerID, err))
+
+	commitCmd := exec.Command(dockerBinary, "commit", cleanedContainerID, repoName)
+	out, _, err = runCommandWithOutput(commitCmd)
+	errorOut(err, t, fmt.Sprintf("failed to commit container: %v %v", out, err))
+
+	inspectCmd = exec.Command(dockerBinary, "inspect", repoName)
+	before, _, err := runCommandWithOutput(inspectCmd)
+	errorOut(err, t, fmt.Sprintf("the repo should exist before saving it: %v %v", before, err))
+
+	saveCmdTemplate := `%v save -o /tmp/foobar-save-load-test.tar %v`
+	saveCmdFinal := fmt.Sprintf(saveCmdTemplate, dockerBinary, repoName)
+	saveCmd := exec.Command("bash", "-c", saveCmdFinal)
+	out, _, err = runCommandWithOutput(saveCmd)
+	errorOut(err, t, fmt.Sprintf("failed to save repo: %v %v", out, err))
+
+	deleteImages(repoName)
+
+	loadCmdFinal := `docker load -i /tmp/foobar-save-load-test.tar`
+	loadCmd := exec.Command("bash", "-c", loadCmdFinal)
+	out, _, err = runCommandWithOutput(loadCmd)
+	errorOut(err, t, fmt.Sprintf("failed to load repo: %v %v", out, err))
+
+	inspectCmd = exec.Command(dockerBinary, "inspect", repoName)
+	after, _, err := runCommandWithOutput(inspectCmd)
+	errorOut(err, t, fmt.Sprintf("the repo should exist after loading it: %v %v", after, err))
+
+	if before != after {
+		t.Fatalf("inspect is not the same after a save / load")
+	}
+
+	deleteContainer(cleanedContainerID)
+	deleteImages(repoName)
+
+	os.Remove("/tmp/foobar-save-load-test.tar")
+
+	logDone("save - save a repo using -o")
+	logDone("load - load a repo using -i")
 }
diff --git a/components/engine/server/server.go b/components/engine/server/server.go
index 65efacbb37..f6365ce7a6 100644
--- a/components/engine/server/server.go
+++ b/components/engine/server/server.go
@@ -410,6 +410,7 @@ func (srv *Server) exportImage(eng *engine.Engine, name, tempdir string) error {
 			return err
 		}
 		job := eng.Job("image_inspect", n)
+		job.SetenvBool("raw", true)
 		job.Stdout.Add(json)
 		if err := job.Run(); err != nil {
 			return err