diff --git a/api/server/router/image/image_routes.go b/api/server/router/image/image_routes.go
index 3ae77c38a0..23096e5418 100644
--- a/api/server/router/image/image_routes.go
+++ b/api/server/router/image/image_routes.go
@@ -459,6 +459,7 @@ func (ir *imageRouter) getImagesJSON(ctx context.Context, w http.ResponseWriter,
 	useNone := versions.LessThan(version, "1.43")
 	withVirtualSize := versions.LessThan(version, "1.44")
 	noDescriptor := versions.LessThan(version, "1.48")
+	noContainers := versions.LessThan(version, "1.51")
 	for _, img := range images {
 		if useNone {
 			if len(img.RepoTags) == 0 && len(img.RepoDigests) == 0 {
@@ -479,6 +480,9 @@ func (ir *imageRouter) getImagesJSON(ctx context.Context, w http.ResponseWriter,
 		if noDescriptor {
 			img.Descriptor = nil
 		}
+		if noContainers {
+			img.Containers = -1
+		}
 	}
 
 	return httputils.WriteJSON(w, http.StatusOK, images)
diff --git a/api/swagger.yaml b/api/swagger.yaml
index 207dabe1aa..8d6a8f9356 100644
--- a/api/swagger.yaml
+++ b/api/swagger.yaml
@@ -2196,8 +2196,7 @@ definitions:
           Number of containers using this image. Includes both stopped and running
           containers.
 
-          This size is not calculated by default, and depends on which API endpoint
-          is used. `-1` indicates that the value has not been set / calculated.
+          `-1` indicates that the value has not been set / calculated.
         x-nullable: false
         type: "integer"
         example: 2
diff --git a/api/types/image/opts.go b/api/types/image/opts.go
index fd038557c0..9e33a42fa6 100644
--- a/api/types/image/opts.go
+++ b/api/types/image/opts.go
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ type ListOptions struct {
 	SharedSize bool
 
 	// ContainerCount indicates whether container count should be computed.
+	//
+	// Deprecated: This field has been unused and is no longer required and will be removed in a future version.
 	ContainerCount bool
 
 	// Manifests indicates whether the image manifests should be returned.
diff --git a/daemon/containerd/image_list.go b/daemon/containerd/image_list.go
index 734bfb1ec8..d9085b810e 100644
--- a/daemon/containerd/image_list.go
+++ b/daemon/containerd/image_list.go
@@ -409,10 +409,7 @@ func (i *ImageService) imageSummary(ctx context.Context, img c8dimages.Image, pl
 	image.Manifests = summary.Manifests
 	target := img.Target
 	image.Descriptor = &target
-
-	if opts.ContainerCount {
-		image.Containers = summary.ContainersCount
-	}
+	image.Containers = summary.ContainersCount
 	return image, summary, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/daemon/disk_usage.go b/daemon/disk_usage.go
index ae960dca2e..9f6d3ad376 100644
--- a/daemon/disk_usage.go
+++ b/daemon/disk_usage.go
@@ -57,9 +57,8 @@ func (daemon *Daemon) imageDiskUsage(ctx context.Context) ([]*image.Summary, err
 	imgs, _, err := daemon.usageImages.Do(ctx, struct{}{}, func(ctx context.Context) ([]*image.Summary, error) {
 		// Get all top images with extra attributes
 		imgs, err := daemon.imageService.Images(ctx, image.ListOptions{
-			Filters:        filters.NewArgs(),
-			SharedSize:     true,
-			ContainerCount: true,
+			Filters:    filters.NewArgs(),
+			SharedSize: true,
 		})
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "failed to retrieve image list")
diff --git a/daemon/images/image_list.go b/daemon/images/image_list.go
index e5a22a07c8..364923fab5 100644
--- a/daemon/images/image_list.go
+++ b/daemon/images/image_list.go
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ func (i *ImageService) Images(ctx context.Context, opts imagetypes.ListOptions)
 
 	var (
 		summaries     = make([]*imagetypes.Summary, 0, len(selectedImages))
-		summaryMap    map[*image.Image]*imagetypes.Summary
+		summaryMap    = make(map[*image.Image]*imagetypes.Summary, len(selectedImages))
 		allContainers []*container.Container
 	)
 	for id, img := range selectedImages {
@@ -198,30 +198,20 @@ func (i *ImageService) Images(ctx context.Context, opts imagetypes.ListOptions)
 			continue
 		}
 
-		if opts.ContainerCount {
-			// Lazily init allContainers.
-			if allContainers == nil {
-				allContainers = i.containers.List()
-			}
-
-			// Get container count
-			var containers int64
-			for _, c := range allContainers {
-				if c.ImageID == id {
-					containers++
-				}
-			}
-			// NOTE: By default, Containers is -1, or "not set"
-			summary.Containers = containers
+		// Lazily init allContainers.
+		if allContainers == nil {
+			allContainers = i.containers.List()
 		}
 
-		if opts.ContainerCount || opts.SharedSize {
-			// Lazily init summaryMap.
-			if summaryMap == nil {
-				summaryMap = make(map[*image.Image]*imagetypes.Summary, len(selectedImages))
+		// Get container count
+		var containersCount int64
+		for _, c := range allContainers {
+			if c.ImageID == id {
+				containersCount++
 			}
-			summaryMap[img] = summary
 		}
+		summary.Containers = containersCount
+		summaryMap[img] = summary
 		summaries = append(summaries, summary)
 	}
 
diff --git a/docs/api/version-history.md b/docs/api/version-history.md
index 09466f6043..4e295e4526 100644
--- a/docs/api/version-history.md
+++ b/docs/api/version-history.md
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ keywords: "API, Docker, rcli, REST, documentation"
 
 [Docker Engine API v1.51](https://docs.docker.com/reference/api/engine/version/v1.51/) documentation
 
+* `GET /images/json` now sets the value of `Containers` field for all images
+  to the count of containers using the image.
+  This field was previously always -1.
 
 ## v1.50 API changes