diff --git a/pkg/cli/admin/release/new.go b/pkg/cli/admin/release/new.go
index b2f0858100..87faa4e04e 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/admin/release/new.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/admin/release/new.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
+	"slices"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
@@ -711,6 +712,12 @@ func (o *NewOptions) Run(ctx context.Context) error {
 			}
 		}
 		ordered = filteredNames
+
+		if len(o.ToImageBaseTag) > 0 {
+			ordered = slices.DeleteFunc(ordered, func(s string) bool {
+				return s == o.ToImageBaseTag
+			})
+		}
 	}
 
 	if len(o.Mirror) > 0 {
@@ -1035,6 +1042,13 @@ func (o *NewOptions) extractManifests(is *imageapi.ImageStream, name string, met
 				}
 
 				if len(labels[annotationReleaseOperator]) == 0 {
+					if tag.Name == o.ToImageBaseTag {
+						if err := os.MkdirAll(dstDir, 0777); err != nil {
+							return false, err
+						}
+						klog.V(2).Infof("Image %s is the release base image, extracting for image-references", m.ImageRef)
+						return true, nil
+					}
 					klog.V(2).Infof("Image %s has no %s label, skipping", m.ImageRef, annotationReleaseOperator)
 					return false, nil
 				}
diff --git a/pkg/cli/admin/release/new_test.go b/pkg/cli/admin/release/new_test.go
index 8391747a09..0103768885 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/admin/release/new_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/admin/release/new_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,12 @@
 package release
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -12,6 +17,138 @@ import (
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 )
 
+// createImageStream builds an ImageStream with tags for the given names.
+func createImageStream(names ...string) *imageapi.ImageStream {
+	is := &imageapi.ImageStream{
+		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+			Kind:       "ImageStream",
+			APIVersion: "image.openshift.io/v1",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, name := range names {
+		is.Spec.Tags = append(is.Spec.Tags, imageapi.TagReference{
+			Name: name,
+			From: &corev1.ObjectReference{
+				Kind: "DockerImage",
+				Name: "example.com/" + name + ":latest",
+			},
+		})
+	}
+	return is
+}
+
+// writeImageReferences creates an image-references file in dir with the given tag names.
+func writeImageReferences(t *testing.T, dir string, names []string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	is := createImageStream(names...)
+	data, err := json.Marshal(is)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to marshal image-references: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, "image-references"), data, 0644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to write image-references: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// tagNames returns the names of all tags in the image stream.
+func tagNames(is *imageapi.ImageStream) []string {
+	var names []string
+	for _, tag := range is.Spec.Tags {
+		names = append(names, tag.Name)
+	}
+	return names
+}
+
+func TestPruneUnreferencedImageStreams(t *testing.T) {
+
+	t.Run("images referenced by operator image-references are kept", func(t *testing.T) {
+		dir := t.TempDir()
+		operatorDir := filepath.Join(dir, "my-operator")
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(operatorDir, 0777); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		writeImageReferences(t, operatorDir, []string{"helper-image"})
+
+		is := createImageStream("my-operator", "helper-image", "unreferenced-image")
+		metadata := map[string]imageData{
+			"my-operator": {Directory: operatorDir},
+		}
+
+		if err := pruneUnreferencedImageStreams(&bytes.Buffer{}, is, metadata, []string{"my-operator"}); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		names := tagNames(is)
+		if !slices.Contains(names, "my-operator") {
+			t.Error("expected my-operator to be kept (in include list)")
+		}
+		if !slices.Contains(names, "helper-image") {
+			t.Error("expected helper-image to be kept (referenced by operator image-references)")
+		}
+		if slices.Contains(names, "unreferenced-image") {
+			t.Error("expected unreferenced-image to be pruned")
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("base image image-references prevents pruning", func(t *testing.T) {
+		dir := t.TempDir()
+
+		operatorDir := filepath.Join(dir, "my-operator")
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(operatorDir, 0777); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		writeImageReferences(t, operatorDir, []string{"operator-dep"})
+
+		baseDir := filepath.Join(dir, "cluster-version-operator")
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(baseDir, 0777); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		writeImageReferences(t, baseDir, []string{"cluster-update-console-plugin"})
+
+		is := createImageStream("cluster-version-operator", "my-operator", "operator-dep", "cluster-update-console-plugin")
+		metadata := map[string]imageData{
+			"my-operator":              {Directory: operatorDir},
+			"cluster-version-operator": {Directory: baseDir},
+		}
+
+		if err := pruneUnreferencedImageStreams(&bytes.Buffer{}, is, metadata, []string{"cluster-version-operator", "my-operator"}); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		names := tagNames(is)
+		if !slices.Contains(names, "cluster-update-console-plugin") {
+			t.Error("expected cluster-update-console-plugin to be kept (referenced by base image image-references)")
+		}
+		if !slices.Contains(names, "operator-dep") {
+			t.Error("expected operator-dep to be kept (referenced by operator image-references)")
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("without base image image-references the image is pruned", func(t *testing.T) {
+		dir := t.TempDir()
+
+		operatorDir := filepath.Join(dir, "my-operator")
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(operatorDir, 0777); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		writeImageReferences(t, operatorDir, []string{"operator-dep"})
+
+		is := createImageStream("cluster-version-operator", "my-operator", "operator-dep", "cluster-update-console-plugin")
+		metadata := map[string]imageData{
+			"my-operator": {Directory: operatorDir},
+		}
+
+		if err := pruneUnreferencedImageStreams(&bytes.Buffer{}, is, metadata, []string{"cluster-version-operator", "my-operator"}); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		names := tagNames(is)
+		if slices.Contains(names, "cluster-update-console-plugin") {
+			t.Error("expected cluster-update-console-plugin to be pruned (not referenced by any image-references)")
+		}
+	})
+}
+
 func TestMirrorImages(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx := context.Background()