diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 6afdf8f4c9..3ab41cdb45 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ CHANGELOG
 * feature: Estimators: dependencies attribute allows export of additional libraries into the container
 * feature: Add APIs to export Airflow transform and deploy config
 * bug-fix: Allow code_location argument to be S3 URI in training_config API
+* enhancement: Local Mode: add explicit pull for serving
 
 1.15.0
 ======
diff --git a/src/sagemaker/local/image.py b/src/sagemaker/local/image.py
index 56196639d7..8416e47048 100644
--- a/src/sagemaker/local/image.py
+++ b/src/sagemaker/local/image.py
@@ -118,7 +118,9 @@ def train(self, input_data_config, output_data_config, hyperparameters, job_name
                                                    additional_env_vars=training_env_vars)
         compose_command = self._compose()
 
-        _ecr_login_if_needed(self.sagemaker_session.boto_session, self.image)
+        if _ecr_login_if_needed(self.sagemaker_session.boto_session, self.image):
+            _pull_image(self.image)
+
         process = subprocess.Popen(compose_command, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
 
         try:
@@ -164,7 +166,8 @@ def serve(self, model_dir, environment):
             if parsed_uri.scheme == 'file':
                 volumes.append(_Volume(parsed_uri.path, '/opt/ml/code'))
 
-        _ecr_login_if_needed(self.sagemaker_session.boto_session, self.image)
+        if _ecr_login_if_needed(self.sagemaker_session.boto_session, self.image):
+            _pull_image(self.image)
 
         self._generate_compose_file('serve',
                                     additional_env_vars=environment,
@@ -656,11 +659,11 @@ def _write_json_file(filename, content):
 def _ecr_login_if_needed(boto_session, image):
     # Only ECR images need login
     if not ('dkr.ecr' in image and 'amazonaws.com' in image):
-        return
+        return False
 
     # do we have the image?
     if _check_output('docker images -q %s' % image).strip():
-        return
+        return False
 
     if not boto_session:
         raise RuntimeError('A boto session is required to login to ECR.'
@@ -676,3 +679,13 @@ def _ecr_login_if_needed(boto_session, image):
 
     cmd = "docker login -u AWS -p %s %s" % (token, ecr_url)
     subprocess.check_output(cmd, shell=True)
+
+    return True
+
+
+def _pull_image(image):
+    pull_image_command = ('docker pull %s' % image).strip()
+    logger.info('docker command: {}'.format(pull_image_command))
+
+    subprocess.check_output(pull_image_command, shell=True)
+    logger.info('image pulled: {}'.format(image))
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_image.py b/tests/unit/test_image.py
index 1d5f62b8a2..5a2cbb39fe 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_image.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_image.py
@@ -537,9 +537,10 @@ def test_prepare_serving_volumes_with_local_model(get_data_source_instance, sage
 
 def test_ecr_login_non_ecr():
     session_mock = Mock()
-    sagemaker.local.image._ecr_login_if_needed(session_mock, 'ubuntu')
+    result = sagemaker.local.image._ecr_login_if_needed(session_mock, 'ubuntu')
 
     session_mock.assert_not_called()
+    assert result is False
 
 
 @patch('sagemaker.local.image._check_output', return_value='123451324')
@@ -547,10 +548,11 @@ def test_ecr_login_image_exists(_check_output):
     session_mock = Mock()
 
     image = '520713654638.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/image-i-have:1.0'
-    sagemaker.local.image._ecr_login_if_needed(session_mock, image)
+    result = sagemaker.local.image._ecr_login_if_needed(session_mock, image)
 
     session_mock.assert_not_called()
     _check_output.assert_called()
+    assert result is False
 
 
 @patch('subprocess.check_output', return_value=''.encode('utf-8'))
@@ -577,13 +579,26 @@ def test_ecr_login_needed(check_output):
     }
     session_mock.client('ecr').get_authorization_token.return_value = response
     image = '520713654638.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/image-i-need:1.1'
-    sagemaker.local.image._ecr_login_if_needed(session_mock, image)
+    result = sagemaker.local.image._ecr_login_if_needed(session_mock, image)
 
     expected_command = 'docker login -u AWS -p %s https://520713654638.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com' % token
 
     check_output.assert_called_with(expected_command, shell=True)
     session_mock.client('ecr').get_authorization_token.assert_called_with(registryIds=['520713654638'])
 
+    assert result is True
+
+
+@patch('subprocess.check_output', return_value=''.encode('utf-8'))
+def test_pull_image(check_output):
+    image = '520713654638.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/image-i-need:1.1'
+
+    sagemaker.local.image._pull_image(image)
+
+    expected_command = 'docker pull %s' % image
+
+    check_output.assert_called_once_with(expected_command, shell=True)
+
 
 def test__aws_credentials_with_long_lived_credentials():
     credentials = Credentials(access_key=_random_string(), secret_key=_random_string(), token=None)