diff --git a/cmd/helm/root.go b/cmd/helm/root.go
index 3405299fd..ea0654c4b 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/root.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/root.go
@@ -416,6 +416,7 @@ func newRootCmd(actionConfig *action.Configuration, out io.Writer, args []string
 	registryClient, err := registry.NewClient(
 		registry.ClientOptDebug(settings.Debug),
 		registry.ClientOptWriter(out),
+		registry.ClientOptCredentialsFile(settings.RepositoryConfig),
 	)
 	if err != nil {
 		// TODO: don't panic here, refactor newRootCmd to return error
diff --git a/internal/experimental/registry/client.go b/internal/experimental/registry/client.go
index d52d9f3e0..48d4d9ecc 100644
--- a/internal/experimental/registry/client.go
+++ b/internal/experimental/registry/client.go
@@ -41,11 +41,13 @@ const (
 type (
 	// Client works with OCI-compliant registries and local Helm chart cache
 	Client struct {
-		debug      bool
-		out        io.Writer
-		authorizer *Authorizer
-		resolver   *Resolver
-		cache      *Cache
+		debug bool
+		// path to repository config file e.g. ~/.docker/config.json
+		credentialsFile string
+		out             io.Writer
+		authorizer      *Authorizer
+		resolver        *Resolver
+		cache           *Cache
 	}
 )
 
@@ -58,9 +60,11 @@ func NewClient(opts ...ClientOption) (*Client, error) {
 		opt(client)
 	}
 	// set defaults if fields are missing
+	if client.credentialsFile == "" {
+		client.credentialsFile = helmpath.CachePath("registry", CredentialsFileBasename)
+	}
 	if client.authorizer == nil {
-		credentialsFile := helmpath.CachePath("registry", CredentialsFileBasename)
-		authClient, err := auth.NewClient(credentialsFile)
+		authClient, err := auth.NewClient(client.credentialsFile)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
diff --git a/internal/experimental/registry/client_opts.go b/internal/experimental/registry/client_opts.go
index cd295813a..76b527492 100644
--- a/internal/experimental/registry/client_opts.go
+++ b/internal/experimental/registry/client_opts.go
@@ -60,3 +60,10 @@ func ClientOptCache(cache *Cache) ClientOption {
 		client.cache = cache
 	}
 }
+
+// ClientOptCache returns a function that sets the cache setting on a client options set
+func ClientOptCredentialsFile(credentialsFile string) ClientOption {
+	return func(client *Client) {
+		client.credentialsFile = credentialsFile
+	}
+}