A piston for an internal combustion engine has a piston crown and a cooling channel disposed close to the piston crown and radially on the outside. The cooling channel is delimited on the underside by ribs uniformly distributed over the circumference, with openings lying between them. The openings of the cooling channel are closed off with two metal cover sheets attached to its underside, in the shape of a half circle. There is at least one oil inflow opening and at least one oil outflow opening in or between the cover sheets.