diff --git a/roles/container-engine/containerd/handlers/main.yml b/roles/container-engine/containerd/handlers/main.yml
index 6a024fd59c6..6edb4597fb5 100644
--- a/roles/container-engine/containerd/handlers/main.yml
+++ b/roles/container-engine/containerd/handlers/main.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
   listen: Restart containerd
 
 - name: Containerd | wait for containerd
-  command: "{{ containerd_bin_dir }}/ctr images ls -q"
+  command: "{{ bin_dir }}/crictl images"
   register: containerd_ready
   retries: 8
   delay: 4
diff --git a/roles/download/tasks/set_container_facts.yml b/roles/download/tasks/set_container_facts.yml
index 5b93f295359..350232f6f43 100644
--- a/roles/download/tasks/set_container_facts.yml
+++ b/roles/download/tasks/set_container_facts.yml
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
     image_save_command: "{{ bin_dir }}/nerdctl -n k8s.io image save -o {{ image_path_final }} {{ image_reponame }}"
     image_load_command: "{{ bin_dir }}/nerdctl -n k8s.io image load < {{ image_path_final }}"
   when: container_manager == 'containerd'
+  # Note: Using nerdctl for save/load as crictl doesn't support image save/load operations (not in CRI spec)
 
 - name: Set image save/load command for crio
   set_fact:
@@ -46,8 +47,9 @@
 
 - name: Set image save/load command for containerd on localhost
   set_fact:
-    image_save_command_on_localhost: "{{ containerd_bin_dir }}/ctr -n k8s.io image export --platform linux/{{ image_arch }} {{ image_path_cached }} {{ image_reponame }}"
+    image_save_command_on_localhost: "{{ bin_dir }}/nerdctl -n k8s.io image save -o {{ image_path_cached }} {{ image_reponame }}"
   when: container_manager_on_localhost == 'containerd'
+  # Changed from ctr to nerdctl for consistency with main image save commands
 
 - name: Set image save/load command for crio on localhost
   set_fact:
diff --git a/roles/kubespray_defaults/defaults/main/download.yml b/roles/kubespray_defaults/defaults/main/download.yml
index 68f147f53de..89062b8d0d6 100644
--- a/roles/kubespray_defaults/defaults/main/download.yml
+++ b/roles/kubespray_defaults/defaults/main/download.yml
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ nerdctl_image_pull_command: "{{ bin_dir }}/nerdctl -n k8s.io pull --quiet"
 crictl_image_info_command: "{{ bin_dir }}/crictl images --verbose | awk -F ': ' '/RepoTags|RepoDigests/ {print $2}' | tr '\n' ','"
 crictl_image_pull_command: "{{ bin_dir }}/crictl pull"
 
-image_command_tool: "{%- if container_manager == 'containerd' -%}nerdctl{%- elif container_manager == 'crio' -%}crictl{%- else -%}{{ container_manager }}{%- endif -%}"
+image_command_tool: "{%- if container_manager == 'containerd' -%}crictl{%- elif container_manager == 'crio' -%}crictl{%- else -%}{{ container_manager }}{%- endif -%}"
 image_command_tool_on_localhost: "{{ image_command_tool }}"
 
 image_pull_command: "{{ lookup('vars', image_command_tool + '_image_pull_command') }}"