diff --git a/services/director/src/simcore_service_director/registry_proxy.py b/services/director/src/simcore_service_director/registry_proxy.py
index bd80228d2fc7..9e4c95e864e1 100644
--- a/services/director/src/simcore_service_director/registry_proxy.py
+++ b/services/director/src/simcore_service_director/registry_proxy.py
@@ -94,7 +94,9 @@ async def _basic_auth_registry_request(
         raise ServiceNotAvailableError(service_name=path)
 
     elif response.status_code >= status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST:
-        raise RegistryConnectionError(msg=str(response))
+        raise RegistryConnectionError(
+            msg=f"{response}: {response.text} for {request_url}"
+        )
 
     else:
         # registry that does not need an auth
@@ -165,7 +167,9 @@ async def _auth_registry_request(  # noqa: C901
         if resp_wbasic.status_code == status.HTTP_404_NOT_FOUND:
             raise ServiceNotAvailableError(service_name=f"{url}")
         if resp_wbasic.status_code >= status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST:
-            raise RegistryConnectionError(msg=f"{resp_wbasic}")
+            raise RegistryConnectionError(
+                msg=f"{resp_wbasic}: {resp_wbasic.text} for {url}"
+            )
         resp_data = await resp_wbasic.json(content_type=None)
         resp_headers = resp_wbasic.headers
         return (resp_data, resp_headers)
@@ -199,7 +203,22 @@ async def registry_request(
     if use_cache and (cached_response := await cache.get(cache_key)):
         assert isinstance(cached_response, tuple)  # nosec
         return cast(tuple[dict, Mapping], cached_response)
-
+    # Add proper Accept headers for manifest requests for accepting both v1 and v2
+    if "manifests/" in path and method.upper() == "GET":
+        headers = session_kwargs.get("headers", {})
+        headers.update(
+            {
+                "Accept": ", ".join(
+                    [
+                        "application/vnd.docker.distribution.manifest.v2+json",
+                        "application/vnd.docker.distribution.manifest.list.v2+json",
+                        "application/vnd.docker.distribution.manifest.v1+prettyjws",
+                        "application/json",
+                    ]
+                )
+            }
+        )
+        session_kwargs["headers"] = headers
     app_settings = get_application_settings(app)
     try:
         response, response_headers = await _retried_request(
@@ -394,12 +413,29 @@ async def get_image_labels(
                     media_type
                     == "application/vnd.docker.distribution.manifest.list.v2+json"
                 ):
-                    raise DockerRegistryUnsupportedManifestSchemaVersionError(
-                        version=schema_version,
-                        service_name=image,
-                        service_tag=tag,
-                        reason="Multiple architectures images are currently not supported and need to be implemented",
+                    # default to x86_64 architecture
+                    _logger.info(
+                        "Image %s:%s is a docker image with multiple architectures. "
+                        "Currently defaulting to x86_64 architecture",
+                        image,
+                        tag,
                     )
+                    manifests = request_result.get("manifests", [])
+                    if not manifests:
+                        raise DockerRegistryUnsupportedManifestSchemaVersionError(
+                            version=schema_version,
+                            service_name=image,
+                            service_tag=tag,
+                            reason="Manifest list is empty",
+                        )
+                    first_manifest_digest = manifests[0]["digest"]
+                    request_result, _ = await registry_request(
+                        app,
+                        path=f"{image}/manifests/{first_manifest_digest}",
+                        method="GET",
+                        use_cache=not update_cache,
+                    )
+
                 config_digest = request_result["config"]["digest"]
                 # Fetch the config blob
                 config_result, _ = await registry_request(