diff --git a/platforms/platforms.go b/platforms/platforms.go
index 43e4ad3d83a1..92696a0978aa 100644
--- a/platforms/platforms.go
+++ b/platforms/platforms.go
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	specifierRe = regexp.MustCompile(`^[A-Za-z0-9_-]+$`)
+	specifierRe = regexp.MustCompile(`^[A-Za-z0-9_."-]+$`)
 )
 
 // Platform is a type alias for convenience, so there is no need to import image-spec package everywhere.
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ func ParseAll(specifiers []string) ([]specs.Platform, error) {
 
 // Parse parses the platform specifier syntax into a platform declaration.
 //
-// Platform specifiers are in the format `<os>|<arch>|<os>/<arch>[/<variant>]`.
+// Platform specifiers are in the format `<os>|<arch>|<os>/<arch>[/<variant>]|<os>/<arch>/<variant>[/<osversion>]`.
 // The minimum required information for a platform specifier is the operating
 // system or architecture. If there is only a single string (no slashes), the
 // value will be matched against the known set of operating systems, then fall
@@ -223,6 +223,9 @@ func Parse(specifier string) (specs.Platform, error) {
 		}
 		if isKnownArch(p.Architecture) {
 			p.OS = runtime.GOOS
+			if p.OS == "windows" {
+				p.OSVersion = GetWindowsOsVersion()
+			}
 			return p, nil
 		}
 
@@ -253,6 +256,21 @@ func Parse(specifier string) (specs.Platform, error) {
 			p.OSVersion = GetWindowsOsVersion()
 		}
 
+		return p, nil
+	case 4:
+		// we have a fully specified variant, this is rare
+		p.OS = normalizeOS(parts[0])
+		variant := parts[2]
+		if variant == "\"\"" { // empty variant
+			variant = ""
+		}
+		p.Architecture, p.Variant = normalizeArch(parts[1], variant)
+		if p.Architecture == "arm64" && p.Variant == "" {
+			p.Variant = "v8"
+		}
+
+		p.OSVersion = parts[3]
+
 		return p, nil
 	}
 
@@ -270,12 +288,22 @@ func MustParse(specifier string) specs.Platform {
 }
 
 // Format returns a string specifier from the provided platform specification.
-func Format(platform specs.Platform) string {
-	if platform.OS == "" {
+func Format(ocispecPlatform specs.Platform) string {
+	if ocispecPlatform.OS == "" {
 		return "unknown"
 	}
 
-	return path.Join(platform.OS, platform.Architecture, platform.Variant)
+	if ocispecPlatform.OSVersion != "" {
+		variant := ocispecPlatform.Variant
+		if variant == "" {
+			variant = "\"\""
+		}
+
+		platform := []string{ocispecPlatform.OS, ocispecPlatform.Architecture, variant, ocispecPlatform.OSVersion}
+		return strings.Join(platform, "/")
+	}
+
+	return path.Join(ocispecPlatform.OS, ocispecPlatform.Architecture, ocispecPlatform.Variant)
 }
 
 // Normalize validates and translate the platform to the canonical value.
diff --git a/platforms/platforms_test.go b/platforms/platforms_test.go
index c2af02178beb..dee596f2e9a5 100644
--- a/platforms/platforms_test.go
+++ b/platforms/platforms_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"path"
 	"reflect"
 	"runtime"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	specs "github.com/opencontainers/image-spec/specs-go/v1"
@@ -27,7 +28,6 @@ import (
 
 func TestParseSelector(t *testing.T) {
 	var (
-		defaultOS      = runtime.GOOS
 		defaultArch    = runtime.GOARCH
 		defaultVariant = ""
 	)
@@ -200,45 +200,45 @@ func TestParseSelector(t *testing.T) {
 			formatted: "linux/arm/v7",
 		},
 		{
-			input: "arm",
+			input: "linux/arm",
 			expected: specs.Platform{
-				OS:           defaultOS,
+				OS:           "linux",
 				Architecture: "arm",
 			},
-			formatted: path.Join(defaultOS, "arm"),
+			formatted: path.Join("linux", "arm"),
 		},
 		{
-			input: "armel",
+			input: "linux/armel",
 			expected: specs.Platform{
-				OS:           defaultOS,
+				OS:           "linux",
 				Architecture: "arm",
 				Variant:      "v6",
 			},
-			formatted: path.Join(defaultOS, "arm/v6"),
+			formatted: path.Join("linux", "arm/v6"),
 		},
 		{
-			input: "armhf",
+			input: "linux/armhf",
 			expected: specs.Platform{
-				OS:           defaultOS,
+				OS:           "linux",
 				Architecture: "arm",
 			},
-			formatted: path.Join(defaultOS, "arm"),
+			formatted: path.Join("linux", "arm"),
 		},
 		{
-			input: "Aarch64",
+			input: "linux/Aarch64",
 			expected: specs.Platform{
-				OS:           defaultOS,
+				OS:           "linux",
 				Architecture: "arm64",
 			},
-			formatted: path.Join(defaultOS, "arm64"),
+			formatted: path.Join("linux", "arm64"),
 		},
 		{
-			input: "x86_64",
+			input: "linux/x86_64",
 			expected: specs.Platform{
-				OS:           defaultOS,
+				OS:           "linux",
 				Architecture: "amd64",
 			},
-			formatted: path.Join(defaultOS, "amd64"),
+			formatted: path.Join("linux", "amd64"),
 		},
 		{
 			input: "Linux/x86_64",
@@ -249,12 +249,12 @@ func TestParseSelector(t *testing.T) {
 			formatted: "linux/amd64",
 		},
 		{
-			input: "i386",
+			input: "linux/i386",
 			expected: specs.Platform{
-				OS:           defaultOS,
+				OS:           "linux",
 				Architecture: "386",
 			},
-			formatted: path.Join(defaultOS, "386"),
+			formatted: path.Join("linux", "386"),
 		},
 		{
 			input: "linux",
@@ -266,12 +266,12 @@ func TestParseSelector(t *testing.T) {
 			formatted: path.Join("linux", defaultArch, defaultVariant),
 		},
 		{
-			input: "s390x",
+			input: "linux/s390x",
 			expected: specs.Platform{
-				OS:           defaultOS,
+				OS:           "linux",
 				Architecture: "s390x",
 			},
-			formatted: path.Join(defaultOS, "s390x"),
+			formatted: path.Join("linux", "s390x"),
 		},
 		{
 			input: "linux/s390x",
@@ -290,12 +290,35 @@ func TestParseSelector(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			formatted: path.Join("darwin", defaultArch, defaultVariant),
 		},
+		{
+			input: "windows/amd64",
+			expected: specs.Platform{
+				OS:           "windows",
+				Architecture: "amd64",
+				Variant:      "",
+				OSVersion:    GetWindowsOsVersion(),
+			},
+			formatted: strings.Join([]string{"windows", "amd64", "\"\"", GetWindowsOsVersion()}, "/"),
+		},
+
+		{
+			input: "windows/amd64/\"\"/10.0.20348",
+			expected: specs.Platform{
+				OS:           "windows",
+				Architecture: "amd64",
+				Variant:      "",
+				OSVersion:    "10.0.20348",
+			},
+			formatted: strings.Join([]string{"windows", "amd64", "\"\"", "10.0.20348"}, "/"),
+		},
 	} {
 		t.Run(testcase.input, func(t *testing.T) {
 			if testcase.skip {
 				t.Skip("this case is not yet supported")
 			}
+			t.Logf("testcase.input %v", testcase.input)
 			p, err := Parse(testcase.input)
+			t.Logf("parse the testcase.input %v", p)
 			if err != nil {
 				t.Fatal(err)
 			}
@@ -317,6 +340,7 @@ func TestParseSelector(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 
 			formatted := Format(p)
+			t.Logf("formatted string %v", formatted)
 			if formatted != testcase.formatted {
 				t.Fatalf("unexpected format: %q != %q", formatted, testcase.formatted)
 			}
@@ -353,9 +377,6 @@ func TestParseSelectorInvalid(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			input: "linux/&arm", // invalid character
 		},
-		{
-			input: "linux/arm/foo/bar", // too many components
-		},
 	} {
 		t.Run(testcase.input, func(t *testing.T) {
 			if _, err := Parse(testcase.input); err == nil {