diff --git a/k8s/bases/infrastructure/cluster-policies/best-practices/disallow-latest-tag.yaml b/k8s/bases/infrastructure/cluster-policies/best-practices/disallow-latest-tag.yaml
index 1703f635d..e9a386d8e 100644
--- a/k8s/bases/infrastructure/cluster-policies/best-practices/disallow-latest-tag.yaml
+++ b/k8s/bases/infrastructure/cluster-policies/best-practices/disallow-latest-tag.yaml
@@ -3,22 +3,22 @@
 # tag points at TODAY) and make rollbacks/incident forensics guesswork.
 # Requires every container image to carry a tag, and forbids the ':latest'
 # tag specifically. A tag+digest reference (img:1.2.3@sha256:…) passes both
-# rules — the digest is what actually pins it.
+# checks — the digest is what actually pins it.
 #
 # Audit ONLY for now: third-party chart images can't be enumerated
 # statically, and an Enforce policy that trips on one would wedge its
 # HelmRelease mid-upgrade (the enforce-flux-best-practices failure mode).
-# Flip rule failureAction to Enforce once prod PolicyReports
+# Switch validationActions to Deny once prod PolicyReports
 # (`kubectl get polr -A | grep disallow-latest-tag`) show zero violations.
 #
 # Namespace exclusions mirror validate-pod-security: infrastructure
 # namespaces that run third-party system charts by design.
-apiVersion: kyverno.io/v1
-kind: ClusterPolicy
+apiVersion: policies.kyverno.io/v1
+kind: ValidatingPolicy
 metadata:
   name: disallow-latest-tag
   annotations:
-    policies.kyverno.io/minversion: 1.13.0
+    policies.kyverno.io/minversion: 1.17.0
     policies.kyverno.io/title: Disallow Latest Tag
     policies.kyverno.io/category: Best Practices
     policies.kyverno.io/subject: Pod
@@ -27,77 +27,41 @@ metadata:
       mutable ':latest' tag, so what runs is reproducible and the
       signature-verification layers gate immutable references.
 spec:
-  background: true
-  rules:
-    - name: require-image-tag
-      match:
-        any:
-          - resources:
-              kinds:
-                - Pod
-              operations:
-                - CREATE
-      exclude:
-        any:
-          - resources:
-              namespaces:
-                - kube-system
-                - kube-public
-                - kube-node-lease
-                - flux-system
-                - longhorn-system
-                - local-path-storage
-                - kubescape
-                - kubevirt
-                - cdi
-                - observability
-                - velero
-      validate:
-        failureAction: Audit
-        message: >-
-          An explicit image tag is required — a tagless reference silently
-          resolves to the mutable ':latest'.
-        pattern:
-          spec:
-            =(ephemeralContainers):
-              - image: "*:*"
-            =(initContainers):
-              - image: "*:*"
-            containers:
-              - image: "*:*"
-    - name: validate-image-tag
-      match:
-        any:
-          - resources:
-              kinds:
-                - Pod
-              operations:
-                - CREATE
-      exclude:
-        any:
-          - resources:
-              namespaces:
-                - kube-system
-                - kube-public
-                - kube-node-lease
-                - flux-system
-                - longhorn-system
-                - local-path-storage
-                - kubescape
-                - kubevirt
-                - cdi
-                - observability
-                - velero
-      validate:
-        failureAction: Audit
-        message: >-
-          The mutable ':latest' tag is not allowed — pin a version tag so
-          rollbacks and signature verification reference immutable images.
-        pattern:
-          spec:
-            =(ephemeralContainers):
-              - image: "!*:latest"
-            =(initContainers):
-              - image: "!*:latest"
-            containers:
-              - image: "!*:latest"
+  validationActions:
+    - Audit
+  evaluation:
+    background:
+      enabled: true
+  matchConstraints:
+    resourceRules:
+      - apiGroups: [""]
+        apiVersions: ["v1"]
+        operations: ["CREATE"]
+        resources: ["pods"]
+  matchConditions:
+    - name: not-infrastructure-namespace
+      expression: >-
+        !(object.metadata.?namespace.orValue('') in [
+          'kube-system', 'kube-public', 'kube-node-lease', 'flux-system',
+          'longhorn-system', 'local-path-storage', 'kubescape', 'kubevirt',
+          'cdi', 'observability', 'velero'])
+  variables:
+    # Every container kind the Pod declares: regular, init and ephemeral.
+    - name: images
+      expression: >-
+        object.spec.containers.map(c, c.image) +
+        object.spec.?initContainers.orValue([]).map(c, c.image) +
+        object.spec.?ephemeralContainers.orValue([]).map(c, c.image)
+  validations:
+    # The tag lives in the last path segment: a registry port (host:5000/app)
+    # is not a tag. A digest (app@sha256:…) pins the image, so it also passes.
+    - expression: >-
+        variables.images.all(i, i.contains('@') ||
+        i.substring(i.lastIndexOf('/') + 1).contains(':'))
+      message: >-
+        An explicit image tag is required — a tagless reference silently
+        resolves to the mutable ':latest'.
+    - expression: "variables.images.all(i, !i.endsWith(':latest'))"
+      message: >-
+        The mutable ':latest' tag is not allowed — pin a version tag so
+        rollbacks and signature verification reference immutable images.
diff --git a/tests/disallow-latest-tag/kyverno-test.yaml b/tests/disallow-latest-tag/kyverno-test.yaml
index ce93f771f..4471d462b 100644
--- a/tests/disallow-latest-tag/kyverno-test.yaml
+++ b/tests/disallow-latest-tag/kyverno-test.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-# Pins the ClusterPolicy's behaviour before its ValidatingPolicy rewrite (#4996).
-# A versioned tag and a tag+digest pass both rules; ':latest' fails only the
-# latest-tag rule; a tagless image fails only the tag-required rule; the same
-# tagless image in an excluded infrastructure namespace is out of scope.
+# Pins the policy's behaviour across its ValidatingPolicy rewrite (#4996).
+# A versioned tag, a tag+digest and a digest alone pass, with or without a
+# registry port; a registry port is not a tag; ':latest' fails, as does a tagless
+# image, in a regular, init or ephemeral container; the same tagless image in an
+# excluded infrastructure namespace is out of scope.
 apiVersion: cli.kyverno.io/v1alpha1
 kind: Test
 metadata:
@@ -12,45 +13,25 @@ resources:
   - resources.yaml
 results:
   - policy: disallow-latest-tag
-    rule: require-image-tag
     resources:
       - default/versioned-tag
       - default/tag-and-digest
-      - default/latest-tag
-      - default/latest-tag-init-container
+      - default/digest-only
+      - default/registry-port-versioned-tag
     kind: Pod
     result: pass
   - policy: disallow-latest-tag
-    rule: require-image-tag
-    resources:
-      - default/tagless
-      - default/tagless-init-container
-    kind: Pod
-    result: fail
-  - policy: disallow-latest-tag
-    rule: validate-image-tag
     resources:
-      - default/versioned-tag
-      - default/tag-and-digest
       - default/tagless
       - default/tagless-init-container
-    kind: Pod
-    result: pass
-  - policy: disallow-latest-tag
-    rule: validate-image-tag
-    resources:
       - default/latest-tag
       - default/latest-tag-init-container
+      - default/latest-tag-ephemeral-container
+      - default/tagless-ephemeral-container
+      - default/registry-port-tagless
     kind: Pod
     result: fail
   - policy: disallow-latest-tag
-    rule: require-image-tag
-    resources:
-      - kube-system/tagless
-    kind: Pod
-    result: skip
-  - policy: disallow-latest-tag
-    rule: validate-image-tag
     resources:
       - kube-system/tagless
     kind: Pod
diff --git a/tests/disallow-latest-tag/resources.yaml b/tests/disallow-latest-tag/resources.yaml
index 9c2dfdd40..a4b482240 100644
--- a/tests/disallow-latest-tag/resources.yaml
+++ b/tests/disallow-latest-tag/resources.yaml
@@ -73,3 +73,59 @@ spec:
   containers:
     - name: app
       image: ghcr.io/example/app
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Pod
+metadata:
+  name: latest-tag-ephemeral-container
+  namespace: default
+spec:
+  ephemeralContainers:
+    - name: debug
+      image: ghcr.io/example/debug:latest
+  containers:
+    - name: app
+      image: ghcr.io/example/app:1.2.3
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Pod
+metadata:
+  name: tagless-ephemeral-container
+  namespace: default
+spec:
+  ephemeralContainers:
+    - name: debug
+      image: ghcr.io/example/debug
+  containers:
+    - name: app
+      image: ghcr.io/example/app:1.2.3
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Pod
+metadata:
+  name: registry-port-tagless
+  namespace: default
+spec:
+  containers:
+    - name: app
+      image: registry.example.com:5000/example/app
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Pod
+metadata:
+  name: registry-port-versioned-tag
+  namespace: default
+spec:
+  containers:
+    - name: app
+      image: registry.example.com:5000/example/app:1.2.3
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Pod
+metadata:
+  name: digest-only
+  namespace: default
+spec:
+  containers:
+    - name: app
+      image: ghcr.io/example/app@sha256:0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
diff --git a/tests/policy-failure-actions.json b/tests/policy-failure-actions.json
index e75914047..c3715885f 100644
--- a/tests/policy-failure-actions.json
+++ b/tests/policy-failure-actions.json
@@ -5,8 +5,7 @@
   "require-baseline-workers-for-hcloud-volumes/require-baseline-worker-affinity": "Enforce",
   "require-baseline-workers-for-hcloud-volumes/report-claim-lookup-failure": "Audit",
   "audit-privileged-rbac/privileged-rules": "Enforce",
-  "disallow-latest-tag/require-image-tag": "Audit",
-  "disallow-latest-tag/validate-image-tag": "Audit",
+  "disallow-latest-tag": "Audit",
   "restrict-github-team-external-identity/teammemberships-external-name-matches-declared-member": "Enforce",
   "restrict-github-team-external-identity/teamrepositories-external-name-matches-declared-grant": "Enforce",
   "restrict-github-team-external-identity/teams-external-name-is-an-approved-identity": "Enforce",