diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/build/ko/builder.go b/pkg/skaffold/build/ko/builder.go
index 8756c081d68..884c6f82f4c 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/build/ko/builder.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/build/ko/builder.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/google/ko/pkg/commands/options"
 
 	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold/v2/pkg/skaffold/config"
+	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold/v2/pkg/skaffold/constants"
 	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold/v2/pkg/skaffold/docker"
 	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold/v2/pkg/skaffold/platform"
 	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold/v2/pkg/skaffold/schema/latest"
@@ -40,9 +41,9 @@ func (b *Builder) newKoBuilder(ctx context.Context, a *latest.Artifact, platform
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("parsing image %v: %w", tag, err)
 	}
 	imageInfoEnv := map[string]string{
-		"IMAGE_REPO": ref.Repo,
-		"IMAGE_NAME": ref.Name,
-		"IMAGE_TAG":  ref.Tag,
+		constants.ImageRef.Repo: ref.Repo,
+		constants.ImageRef.Name: ref.Name,
+		constants.ImageRef.Tag:  ref.Tag,
 	}
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not resolve skaffold runtime env for ko builder: %v", err)
diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/build/ko/builder_test.go b/pkg/skaffold/build/ko/builder_test.go
index 5401ae0d2ff..783265b6e9a 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/build/ko/builder_test.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/build/ko/builder_test.go
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ func TestBuildOptions(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 		},
 		{
-			description: "",
+			description: "test build option, inject envs for expanding templates",
 			artifact: latest.Artifact{
 				ArtifactType: latest.ArtifactType{
 					KoArtifact: &latest.KoArtifact{
diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/constants/constants.go b/pkg/skaffold/constants/constants.go
index f113a9bc8ee..1e5ef4c1dd5 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/constants/constants.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/constants/constants.go
@@ -140,10 +140,12 @@ var ImageRef = struct {
 	Repo   string
 	Tag    string
 	Digest string
+	Name   string
 }{
 	Repo:   "IMAGE_REPO",
 	Tag:    "IMAGE_TAG",
 	Digest: "IMAGE_DIGEST",
+	Name:   "IMAGE_NAME",
 }
 var DefaultKubectlManifests = []string{"k8s/*.yaml"}