diff --git a/pkg/limayaml/containerd.yaml b/pkg/limayaml/containerd.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fe4afe6e32f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/limayaml/containerd.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+archives:
+- location: https://github.com/containerd/nerdctl/releases/download/v1.7.6/nerdctl-full-1.7.6-linux-amd64.tar.gz
+  arch: x86_64
+  digest: sha256:2c841e097fcfb5a1760bd354b3778cb695b44cd01f9f271c17507dc4a0b25606
+- location: https://github.com/containerd/nerdctl/releases/download/v1.7.6/nerdctl-full-1.7.6-linux-arm64.tar.gz
+  arch: aarch64
+  digest: sha256:77c747f09853ee3d229d77e8de0dd3c85622537d82be57433dc1fca4493bab95
+# No arm-v7
+# No riscv64
diff --git a/pkg/limayaml/defaults.go b/pkg/limayaml/defaults.go
index 160cb9787ca..8ac8c26c7bd 100644
--- a/pkg/limayaml/defaults.go
+++ b/pkg/limayaml/defaults.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package limayaml
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"crypto/sha256"
+	_ "embed"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/coreos/go-semver/semver"
 	"github.com/docker/go-units"
+	"github.com/goccy/go-yaml"
 	"github.com/pbnjay/memory"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"golang.org/x/sys/cpu"
@@ -70,25 +72,20 @@ func defaultCPUType() CPUType {
 	return cpuType
 }
 
+//go:embed containerd.yaml
+var defaultContainerdYAML []byte
+
+type ContainerdYAML struct {
+	Archives []File
+}
+
 func defaultContainerdArchives() []File {
-	const nerdctlVersion = "1.7.6"
-	location := func(goos string, goarch string) string {
-		return "https://github.com/containerd/nerdctl/releases/download/v" + nerdctlVersion + "/nerdctl-full-" + nerdctlVersion + "-" + goos + "-" + goarch + ".tar.gz"
-	}
-	return []File{
-		{
-			Location: location("linux", "amd64"),
-			Arch:     X8664,
-			Digest:   "sha256:2c841e097fcfb5a1760bd354b3778cb695b44cd01f9f271c17507dc4a0b25606",
-		},
-		{
-			Location: location("linux", "arm64"),
-			Arch:     AARCH64,
-			Digest:   "sha256:77c747f09853ee3d229d77e8de0dd3c85622537d82be57433dc1fca4493bab95",
-		},
-		// No arm-v7
-		// No riscv64
+	var containerd ContainerdYAML
+	err := yaml.UnmarshalWithOptions(defaultContainerdYAML, &containerd, yaml.Strict())
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal as YAML: %w", err))
 	}
+	return containerd.Archives
 }
 
 // FirstUsernetIndex gets the index of first usernet network under l.Network[]. Returns -1 if no usernet network found.
diff --git a/pkg/limayaml/defaults_test.go b/pkg/limayaml/defaults_test.go
index 9c4ffd9f88b..7571baa2c2f 100644
--- a/pkg/limayaml/defaults_test.go
+++ b/pkg/limayaml/defaults_test.go
@@ -673,3 +673,8 @@ func TestFillDefault(t *testing.T) {
 	FillDefault(&y, &d, &o, filePath)
 	assert.DeepEqual(t, &y, &expect, opts...)
 }
+
+func TestContainerdDefault(t *testing.T) {
+	archives := defaultContainerdArchives()
+	assert.Assert(t, len(archives) > 0)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/limayaml/validate.go b/pkg/limayaml/validate.go
index 3ceb777182a..8eb719ede32 100644
--- a/pkg/limayaml/validate.go
+++ b/pkg/limayaml/validate.go
@@ -194,8 +194,15 @@ func Validate(y *LimaYAML, warn bool) error {
 		}
 	}
 	needsContainerdArchives := (y.Containerd.User != nil && *y.Containerd.User) || (y.Containerd.System != nil && *y.Containerd.System)
-	if needsContainerdArchives && len(y.Containerd.Archives) == 0 {
-		return fmt.Errorf("field `containerd.archives` must be provided")
+	if needsContainerdArchives {
+		if len(y.Containerd.Archives) == 0 {
+			return fmt.Errorf("field `containerd.archives` must be provided")
+		}
+		for i, f := range y.Containerd.Archives {
+			if err := validateFileObject(f, fmt.Sprintf("containerd.archives[%d]", i)); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
 	}
 	for i, p := range y.Probes {
 		switch p.Mode {