diff --git a/registry/config.go b/registry/config.go
index 61047e53ba..3d3cddfc6b 100644
--- a/registry/config.go
+++ b/registry/config.go
@@ -318,16 +318,22 @@ func ValidateMirror(val string) (string, error) {
 // ValidateIndexName validates an index name. It is used by the daemon to
 // validate the daemon configuration.
 func ValidateIndexName(val string) (string, error) {
-	// TODO: upstream this to check to reference package
-	if val == "index.docker.io" {
-		val = "docker.io"
-	}
+	val = normalizeIndexName(val)
 	if strings.HasPrefix(val, "-") || strings.HasSuffix(val, "-") {
 		return "", invalidParamf("invalid index name (%s). Cannot begin or end with a hyphen", val)
 	}
 	return val, nil
 }
 
+func normalizeIndexName(val string) string {
+	// TODO(thaJeztah): consider normalizing other known options, such as "(https://)registry-1.docker.io", "https://index.docker.io/v1/".
+	// TODO: upstream this to check to reference package
+	if val == "index.docker.io" {
+		return "docker.io"
+	}
+	return val
+}
+
 func hasScheme(reposName string) bool {
 	return strings.Contains(reposName, "://")
 }
@@ -357,25 +363,20 @@ func validateHostPort(s string) error {
 }
 
 // newIndexInfo returns IndexInfo configuration from indexName
-func newIndexInfo(config *serviceConfig, indexName string) (*registry.IndexInfo, error) {
-	var err error
-	indexName, err = ValidateIndexName(indexName)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
+func newIndexInfo(config *serviceConfig, indexName string) *registry.IndexInfo {
+	indexName = normalizeIndexName(indexName)
 
 	// Return any configured index info, first.
 	if index, ok := config.IndexConfigs[indexName]; ok {
-		return index, nil
+		return index
 	}
 
 	// Construct a non-configured index info.
 	return &registry.IndexInfo{
-		Name:     indexName,
-		Mirrors:  make([]string, 0),
-		Secure:   config.isSecureIndex(indexName),
-		Official: false,
-	}, nil
+		Name:    indexName,
+		Mirrors: make([]string, 0),
+		Secure:  config.isSecureIndex(indexName),
+	}
 }
 
 // GetAuthConfigKey special-cases using the full index address of the official
@@ -388,11 +389,8 @@ func GetAuthConfigKey(index *registry.IndexInfo) string {
 }
 
 // newRepositoryInfo validates and breaks down a repository name into a RepositoryInfo
-func newRepositoryInfo(config *serviceConfig, name reference.Named) (*RepositoryInfo, error) {
-	index, err := newIndexInfo(config, reference.Domain(name))
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
+func newRepositoryInfo(config *serviceConfig, name reference.Named) *RepositoryInfo {
+	index := newIndexInfo(config, reference.Domain(name))
 	var officialRepo bool
 	if index.Official {
 		// RepositoryInfo.Official indicates whether the image repository
@@ -406,7 +404,7 @@ func newRepositoryInfo(config *serviceConfig, name reference.Named) (*Repository
 		Name:     reference.TrimNamed(name),
 		Index:    index,
 		Official: officialRepo,
-	}, nil
+	}
 }
 
 // ParseRepositoryInfo performs the breakdown of a repository name into a
@@ -414,5 +412,5 @@ func newRepositoryInfo(config *serviceConfig, name reference.Named) (*Repository
 //
 // It is used by the Docker cli to interact with registry-related endpoints.
 func ParseRepositoryInfo(reposName reference.Named) (*RepositoryInfo, error) {
-	return newRepositoryInfo(emptyServiceConfig, reposName)
+	return newRepositoryInfo(emptyServiceConfig, reposName), nil
 }
diff --git a/registry/registry_test.go b/registry/registry_test.go
index 935cf23f85..6237628f6b 100644
--- a/registry/registry_test.go
+++ b/registry/registry_test.go
@@ -270,15 +270,11 @@ func TestNewIndexInfo(t *testing.T) {
 	overrideLookupIP(t)
 	testIndexInfo := func(config *serviceConfig, expectedIndexInfos map[string]*registry.IndexInfo) {
 		for indexName, expectedIndexInfo := range expectedIndexInfos {
-			index, err := newIndexInfo(config, indexName)
-			if err != nil {
-				t.Fatal(err)
-			} else {
-				assert.Check(t, is.Equal(index.Name, expectedIndexInfo.Name), indexName+" name")
-				assert.Check(t, is.Equal(index.Official, expectedIndexInfo.Official), indexName+" is official")
-				assert.Check(t, is.Equal(index.Secure, expectedIndexInfo.Secure), indexName+" is secure")
-				assert.Check(t, is.Equal(len(index.Mirrors), len(expectedIndexInfo.Mirrors)), indexName+" mirrors")
-			}
+			index := newIndexInfo(config, indexName)
+			assert.Check(t, is.Equal(index.Name, expectedIndexInfo.Name), indexName+" name")
+			assert.Check(t, is.Equal(index.Official, expectedIndexInfo.Official), indexName+" is official")
+			assert.Check(t, is.Equal(index.Secure, expectedIndexInfo.Secure), indexName+" is secure")
+			assert.Check(t, is.Equal(len(index.Mirrors), len(expectedIndexInfo.Mirrors)), indexName+" mirrors")
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/registry/search.go b/registry/search.go
index 4ce90f55d4..da77a2f42d 100644
--- a/registry/search.go
+++ b/registry/search.go
@@ -93,12 +93,8 @@ func (s *Service) searchUnfiltered(ctx context.Context, term string, limit int,
 
 	// Search is a long-running operation, just lock s.config to avoid block others.
 	s.mu.RLock()
-	index, err := newIndexInfo(s.config, indexName)
+	index := newIndexInfo(s.config, indexName)
 	s.mu.RUnlock()
-
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
 	if index.Official {
 		// If pull "library/foo", it's stored locally under "foo"
 		remoteName = strings.TrimPrefix(remoteName, "library/")
@@ -158,5 +154,5 @@ func splitReposSearchTerm(reposName string) (string, string) {
 // for that.
 func ParseSearchIndexInfo(reposName string) (*registry.IndexInfo, error) {
 	indexName, _ := splitReposSearchTerm(reposName)
-	return newIndexInfo(emptyServiceConfig, indexName)
+	return newIndexInfo(emptyServiceConfig, indexName), nil
 }
diff --git a/registry/service.go b/registry/service.go
index 4d66523c61..d8870b731d 100644
--- a/registry/service.go
+++ b/registry/service.go
@@ -97,7 +97,8 @@ func (s *Service) Auth(ctx context.Context, authConfig *registry.AuthConfig, use
 func (s *Service) ResolveRepository(name reference.Named) (*RepositoryInfo, error) {
 	s.mu.RLock()
 	defer s.mu.RUnlock()
-	return newRepositoryInfo(s.config, name)
+	// TODO(thaJeztah): remove error return as it's no longer used.
+	return newRepositoryInfo(s.config, name), nil
 }
 
 // APIEndpoint represents a remote API endpoint