diff --git a/plugins/modules/podman_image.py b/plugins/modules/podman_image.py
index 570417b..b7a9f10 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/podman_image.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/podman_image.py
@@ -524,8 +524,9 @@ class PodmanImageManager(object):
             image_name = self.image_name
         args = ['image', 'ls', image_name, '--format', 'json']
         rc, images, err = self._run(args, ignore_errors=True)
+        images = json.loads(images)
         if len(images) > 0:
-            return json.loads(images)
+            return images
         else:
             return None
 
@@ -547,8 +548,9 @@ class PodmanImageManager(object):
             image_name = self.image_name
         args = ['inspect', image_name, '--format', 'json']
         rc, image_data, err = self._run(args)
+        image_data = json.loads(image_data)
         if len(image_data) > 0:
-            return json.loads(image_data)
+            return image_data
         else:
             return None