diff --git a/docs/usage/advanced/podman.md b/docs/usage/advanced/podman.md
index cb5edb53fb..2432cce393 100644
--- a/docs/usage/advanced/podman.md
+++ b/docs/usage/advanced/podman.md
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ Or start an already existing podman machine
 podman machine start
 ```
 
-Grab connection details 
+Grab connection details
 
 ```
 podman system connection ls
@@ -162,7 +162,11 @@ true
 
 ## Creating local registries
 
-Because Podman does not have a default "bridge" network, you have to specify a network using the `--default-network` flag when creating a local registry:
+Because Podman does not have a default "bridge" network, you have to specify a network to use when creating a local registry.
+
+### Using the CLI
+
+In the CLI, you can use the `--default-network` flag to specify a network for the registry:
 
 ```bash
 k3d registry create --default-network podman mycluster-registry
@@ -180,3 +184,18 @@ k3d cluster create --registry-use mycluster-registry mycluster
 !!! note "Missing cpuset cgroup controller"
     If you experince an error regarding missing cpuset cgroup controller, ensure the user unit `xdg-document-portal.service` is disabled by running `systemctl --user stop xdg-document-portal.service`. See [this issue](https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/18293#issuecomment-831397578)
 
+### Using the config file
+
+If you're using a configuration file to create your cluster, you can use the `registries.create.network` field to specify the network for the registry.
+
+```yaml
+apiVersion: k3d.io/v1alpha5
+kind: Simple
+
+...
+
+registries:
+  create:
+    name: mycluster-registry
+    network: podman
+```
diff --git a/docs/usage/configfile.md b/docs/usage/configfile.md
index c1ce60f2e5..cbefc04fb8 100644
--- a/docs/usage/configfile.md
+++ b/docs/usage/configfile.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ The config file feature is **available as of k3d v4.0.0**
 ## Introduction
 
 !!! info "Syntax & Semantics"
-    The options defined in the config file are not 100% the same as the CLI flags.  
+    The options defined in the config file are not 100% the same as the CLI flags.
     This concerns naming and style/usage/structure, e.g.
 
     - `--api-port` is split up into a field named `kubeAPI` that has 3 different "child fields" (`host`, `hostIP` and `hostPort`)
@@ -36,13 +36,13 @@ kind: Simple
 
 ## Config Options
 
-The configuration options for k3d are continuously evolving and so is the config file (syntax) itself.  
+The configuration options for k3d are continuously evolving and so is the config file (syntax) itself.
 Currently, the config file is still in an Alpha-State, meaning, that it is subject to change anytime (though we try to keep breaking changes low).
 
 !!! info "Validation via JSON-Schema"
-    k3d uses a [JSON-Schema](https://json-schema.org/) to describe the expected format and fields of the configuration file.  
-    This schema is also used to [validate](https://github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonschema#validation) a user-given config file.  
-    This JSON-Schema can be found in the specific config version sub-directory in the repository (e.g. [here for `v1alpha5`](https://github.com/k3d-io/k3d/blob/main/pkg/config/v1alpha5/schema.json)) and could be used to lookup supported fields or by linters to validate the config file, e.g. in your code editor.  
+    k3d uses a [JSON-Schema](https://json-schema.org/) to describe the expected format and fields of the configuration file.
+    This schema is also used to [validate](https://github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonschema#validation) a user-given config file.
+    This JSON-Schema can be found in the specific config version sub-directory in the repository (e.g. [here for `v1alpha5`](https://github.com/k3d-io/k3d/blob/main/pkg/config/v1alpha5/schema.json)) and could be used to lookup supported fields or by linters to validate the config file, e.g. in your code editor.
 
 ### All Options: Example
 
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ registries: # define how registries should be created or used
     name: registry.localhost
     host: "0.0.0.0"
     hostPort: "5000"
+    network: k3d-network # use a network other than the default "bridge" network
     proxy: # omit this to have a "normal" registry, set this to create a registry proxy (pull-through cache)
       remoteURL: https://registry-1.docker.io # mirror the DockerHub registry
       username: "" # unauthenticated
@@ -110,7 +111,7 @@ registries: # define how registries should be created or used
           - http://my.company.registry:5000
 hostAliases: # /etc/hosts style entries to be injected into /etc/hosts in the node containers and in the NodeHosts section in CoreDNS
   - ip: 1.2.3.4
-    hostnames: 
+    hostnames:
       - my.host.local
       - that.other.local
   - ip: 1.1.1.1
@@ -153,18 +154,18 @@ options:
 
 ## Tips
 
-- k3d [expands environment variables](https://pkg.go.dev/os#ExpandEnv) (`$VAR` or `${VAR}`) unconditionally in the config file, even before processing it in any way.  
+- k3d [expands environment variables](https://pkg.go.dev/os#ExpandEnv) (`$VAR` or `${VAR}`) unconditionally in the config file, even before processing it in any way.
 
 ## Config File vs. CLI Flags
 
-k3d uses [`Cobra`](https://github.com/spf13/cobra) and [`Viper`](https://github.com/spf13/viper) for CLI and general config handling respectively.  
+k3d uses [`Cobra`](https://github.com/spf13/cobra) and [`Viper`](https://github.com/spf13/viper) for CLI and general config handling respectively.
 This automatically introduces a "config option order of priority" ([precedence order](https://github.com/spf13/viper#why-viper)):
 
 !!! info "Config Precedence Order"
-    Source: [spf13/viper#why-viper](https://github.com/spf13/viper#why-viper)  
+    Source: [spf13/viper#why-viper](https://github.com/spf13/viper#why-viper)
     >Internal Setting > **CLI Flag** > Environment Variable > **Config File** > (k/v store >) Defaults
 
-This means, that you can define e.g. a "base configuration file" with settings that you share across different clusters and override only the fields that differ between those clusters in your CLI flags/arguments.  
+This means, that you can define e.g. a "base configuration file" with settings that you share across different clusters and override only the fields that differ between those clusters in your CLI flags/arguments.
 For example, you use the same config file to create three clusters which only have different names and `kubeAPI` (`--api-port`) settings.
 
 ## References
diff --git a/pkg/config/config_test.go b/pkg/config/config_test.go
index 3f387fcfdc..0f8c4faa70 100644
--- a/pkg/config/config_test.go
+++ b/pkg/config/config_test.go
@@ -334,3 +334,54 @@ func TestReadSimpleConfigRegistries(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("Actual representation\n%+v\ndoes not match expected representation\n%+v\nDiff:\n%+v", readConfig, expectedConfig, diff)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestReadSimpleConfigRegistriesWithNetwork(t *testing.T) {
+	exposedAPI := conf.SimpleExposureOpts{}
+	exposedAPI.HostIP = "0.0.0.0"
+	exposedAPI.HostPort = "6443"
+
+	expectedConfig := conf.SimpleConfig{
+		TypeMeta: configtypes.TypeMeta{
+			APIVersion: "k3d.io/v1alpha5",
+			Kind:       "Simple",
+		},
+		ObjectMeta: configtypes.ObjectMeta{
+			Name: "test",
+		},
+		Servers: 1,
+		Agents:  1,
+		Registries: conf.SimpleConfigRegistries{
+			Create: &conf.SimpleConfigRegistryCreateConfig{
+				Name:     "registry.localhost",
+				Host:     "0.0.0.0",
+				HostPort: "5001",
+				Network:  "k3d-test-network",
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	cfgFile := "./test_assets/config_test_registries_2.yaml"
+
+	config := viper.New()
+	config.SetConfigFile(cfgFile)
+
+	// try to read config into memory (viper map structure)
+	if err := config.ReadInConfig(); err != nil {
+		if _, ok := err.(viper.ConfigFileNotFoundError); ok {
+			t.Error(err)
+		}
+		// config file found but some other error happened
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+
+	readConfig, err := FromViper(config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+
+	t.Logf("\n========== Read Config ==========\n%+v\n=================================\n", readConfig)
+
+	if diff := deep.Equal(readConfig, expectedConfig); diff != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Actual representation\n%+v\ndoes not match expected representation\n%+v\nDiff:\n%+v", readConfig, expectedConfig, diff)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/config/test_assets/config_test_registries_2.yaml b/pkg/config/test_assets/config_test_registries_2.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..85dfac12ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/config/test_assets/config_test_registries_2.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+apiVersion: k3d.io/v1alpha5
+kind: Simple
+metadata:
+  name: test
+servers: 1
+agents: 1
+registries:
+  create:
+    name: registry.localhost
+    host: "0.0.0.0"
+    hostPort: "5001"
+    network: "k3d-test-network"
diff --git a/pkg/config/transform.go b/pkg/config/transform.go
index 12ca8b49b9..86781c33f0 100644
--- a/pkg/config/transform.go
+++ b/pkg/config/transform.go
@@ -340,6 +340,7 @@ func TransformSimpleToClusterConfig(ctx context.Context, runtime runtimes.Runtim
 			Host:         regName,
 			Image:        image,
 			ExposureOpts: *regPort,
+			Network:      simpleConfig.Registries.Create.Network,
 			Volumes:      simpleConfig.Registries.Create.Volumes,
 			Options: k3d.RegistryOptions{
 				Proxy:            simpleConfig.Registries.Create.Proxy,
diff --git a/pkg/config/v1alpha5/schema.json b/pkg/config/v1alpha5/schema.json
index c4eaa6ee4f..e3ff40cdb7 100644
--- a/pkg/config/v1alpha5/schema.json
+++ b/pkg/config/v1alpha5/schema.json
@@ -335,6 +335,14 @@
               ],
               "default": "random"
             },
+            "network": {
+              "type": "string",
+              "examples": [
+                "bridge",
+                "k3d-network"
+              ],
+              "default": "bridge"
+            },
             "image": {
               "type": "string",
               "examples": [
diff --git a/pkg/config/v1alpha5/types.go b/pkg/config/v1alpha5/types.go
index e681062021..86e14d850d 100644
--- a/pkg/config/v1alpha5/types.go
+++ b/pkg/config/v1alpha5/types.go
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ type SimpleConfigRegistryCreateConfig struct {
 	Name     string            `mapstructure:"name" json:"name,omitempty"`
 	Host     string            `mapstructure:"host" json:"host,omitempty"`
 	HostPort string            `mapstructure:"hostPort" json:"hostPort,omitempty"`
+	Network  string 		   `mapstructure:"network" json:"network,omitempty"`
 	Image    string            `mapstructure:"image" json:"image,omitempty"`
 	Proxy    k3d.RegistryProxy `mapstructure:"proxy" json:"proxy,omitempty"`
 	Volumes  []string          `mapstructure:"volumes" json:"volumes,omitempty"`