diff --git a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/images.go b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/images.go
index 55c84458b13..a2c1cca4d19 100644
--- a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/images.go
+++ b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/images.go
@@ -483,6 +483,11 @@ func (ir *ImageEngine) Load(ctx context.Context, options entities.ImageLoadOptio
 
 	loadedImages, err := ir.Libpod.LibimageRuntime().Load(ctx, options.Input, loadOptions)
 	if err != nil {
+		// Surface ENOSPC immediately — no point wrapping in a generic error.
+		// The error string arrives from a subprocess, so we check the message.
+		if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "no space left on device") {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("loading image: %w", syscall.ENOSPC)
+		}
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	return &entities.ImageLoadReport{Names: loadedImages}, nil
diff --git a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/images_test.go b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/images_test.go
index 5739d604d09..cabac4df0b4 100644
--- a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/images_test.go
+++ b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/images_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
 package abi
 
 import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+	"syscall"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -18,3 +22,34 @@ func TestToDomainHistoryLayer(t *testing.T) {
 	newLayer := toDomainHistoryLayer(&layer)
 	assert.Equal(t, layer.Size, newLayer.Size)
 }
+
+// TestLoadImageENOSPCWrapping verifies that the ENOSPC-detection logic used
+// in (*ImageEngine).Load wraps disk-full errors so that callers can detect
+// them with errors.Is(err, syscall.ENOSPC).
+func TestLoadImageENOSPCWrapping(t *testing.T) {
+	// applyENOSPCCheck reproduces the inline check added to the Load function.
+	applyENOSPCCheck := func(loadErr error) error {
+		if loadErr == nil {
+			return nil
+		}
+		if strings.Contains(loadErr.Error(), "no space left on device") {
+			return fmt.Errorf("loading image: %w", syscall.ENOSPC)
+		}
+		return loadErr
+	}
+
+	// A subprocess error that contains the canonical ENOSPC string.
+	enospcErr := errors.New("writing blob: no space left on device")
+	result := applyENOSPCCheck(enospcErr)
+	assert.True(t, errors.Is(result, syscall.ENOSPC),
+		"expected syscall.ENOSPC in error chain, got: %v", result)
+
+	// A generic error must not be mistaken for ENOSPC.
+	otherErr := errors.New("permission denied")
+	result = applyENOSPCCheck(otherErr)
+	assert.False(t, errors.Is(result, syscall.ENOSPC),
+		"non-ENOSPC error must not wrap syscall.ENOSPC")
+
+	// No error must pass through as nil.
+	assert.NoError(t, applyENOSPCCheck(nil))
+}