diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 81abef2b..4616ad0f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ PROXY                      ?= http://proxy.foo.com:8000
 NO_PROXY                   ?= localhost,127.0.0.1,.svc.cluster.local
 USE_PROXY                  ?= false
 
+PYTHON_BASE_IMAGE          ?= python:3.5
+UBUNTU_BASE_IMAGE          ?= ubuntu:16.04
 
 IMAGE:=${DOCKER_REGISTRY}/${IMAGE_PREFIX}/$(IMAGE_NAME):${IMAGE_TAG}
 IMAGE_DIR:=images/$(IMAGE_NAME)
@@ -85,6 +87,7 @@ run:
 build_airflow:
 ifeq ($(USE_PROXY), true)
 	docker build --network host -t $(IMAGE) --label $(LABEL) -f $(IMAGE_DIR)/Dockerfile \
+		--build-arg FROM=$(UBUNTU_BASE_IMAGE) \
 		--build-arg http_proxy=$(PROXY) \
 		--build-arg https_proxy=$(PROXY) \
 		--build-arg HTTP_PROXY=$(PROXY) \
@@ -93,7 +96,9 @@ ifeq ($(USE_PROXY), true)
 		--build-arg NO_PROXY=$(NO_PROXY) \
 		--build-arg ctx_base=$(BUILD_CTX) .
 else
-	docker build --network host -t $(IMAGE) --label $(LABEL) -f $(IMAGE_DIR)/Dockerfile --build-arg ctx_base=$(BUILD_CTX) .
+	docker build --network host -t $(IMAGE) --label $(LABEL) -f $(IMAGE_DIR)/Dockerfile \
+		--build-arg FROM=$(UBUNTU_BASE_IMAGE) \
+		--build-arg ctx_base=$(BUILD_CTX) .
 endif
 ifeq ($(PUSH_IMAGE), true)
 	docker push $(IMAGE)
@@ -102,15 +107,19 @@ endif
 .PHONY: build_shipyard
 build_shipyard:
 ifeq ($(USE_PROXY), true)
-	docker build --network host -t $(IMAGE) --label $(LABEL) -f $(IMAGE_DIR)/Dockerfile --build-arg ctx_base=$(BUILD_CTX) \
+	docker build --network host -t $(IMAGE) --label $(LABEL) -f $(IMAGE_DIR)/Dockerfile \
+		--build-arg FROM=$(PYTHON_BASE_IMAGE) \
 		--build-arg http_proxy=$(PROXY) \
 		--build-arg https_proxy=$(PROXY) \
 		--build-arg HTTP_PROXY=$(PROXY) \
 		--build-arg HTTPS_PROXY=$(PROXY) \
 		--build-arg no_proxy=$(NO_PROXY) \
-		--build-arg NO_PROXY=$(NO_PROXY) .
+		--build-arg NO_PROXY=$(NO_PROXY) \
+		--build-arg ctx_base=$(BUILD_CTX) .
 else
-	docker build --network host -t $(IMAGE) --label $(LABEL) -f $(IMAGE_DIR)/Dockerfile --build-arg ctx_base=$(BUILD_CTX) .
+	docker build --network host -t $(IMAGE) --label $(LABEL) -f $(IMAGE_DIR)/Dockerfile \
+		--build-arg FROM=$(PYTHON_BASE_IMAGE) \
+		--build-arg ctx_base=$(BUILD_CTX) .
 endif
 ifeq ($(PUSH_IMAGE), true)
 	docker push $(IMAGE)
diff --git a/images/airflow/Dockerfile b/images/airflow/Dockerfile
index 625f1a87..7f1cf1ad 100644
--- a/images/airflow/Dockerfile
+++ b/images/airflow/Dockerfile
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 # Docker image to run Airflow on Kubernetes
-FROM ubuntu:16.04
+ARG FROM=ubuntu:16.04
+FROM ${FROM}
 
 # Do not prompt user for choices on installation/configuration of packages
 # Set port 8080 for Airflow Web
diff --git a/images/shipyard/Dockerfile b/images/shipyard/Dockerfile
index cc2fd85e..1fdb1f4a 100644
--- a/images/shipyard/Dockerfile
+++ b/images/shipyard/Dockerfile
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-FROM python:3.5
+ARG FROM=python:3.5
+FROM ${FROM}
 
 ENV container docker
 ENV PORT 9000
diff --git a/tools/gate/playbooks/run-image.yaml b/tools/gate/playbooks/run-image.yaml
index 39854068..3514bdee 100644
--- a/tools/gate/playbooks/run-image.yaml
+++ b/tools/gate/playbooks/run-image.yaml
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 - hosts: all
   gather_facts: False
   become: yes
+  vars_files:
+    - vars.yaml
   roles:
     - build-images
   tags:
diff --git a/tools/gate/playbooks/vars.yaml b/tools/gate/playbooks/vars.yaml
index eb6ffae1..c89b7980 100644
--- a/tools/gate/playbooks/vars.yaml
+++ b/tools/gate/playbooks/vars.yaml
@@ -12,4 +12,8 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-null: null
+docker_daemon:
+  group: zuul
+  registry-mirrors:
+    - "http://{{ zuul_site_mirror_fqdn }}:8082/"
+  storage-driver: overlay2
diff --git a/tools/gate/roles/build-images/files/docker-systemd.conf b/tools/gate/roles/build-images/files/docker-systemd.conf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6b01af0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/gate/roles/build-images/files/docker-systemd.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# NOTE(SamYaple): CentOS cannot be build with userns-remap enabled. httpd uses
+# cap_set_file capability and there is no way to pass that in at build as of
+# docker 17.06.
+# TODO(SamYaple): Periodically check to see if this is possible in newer
+# versions of Docker
+[Service]
+ExecStart=
+ExecStart=/usr/bin/dockerd
diff --git a/tools/gate/roles/build-images/tasks/airship-shipyard.yaml b/tools/gate/roles/build-images/tasks/airship-shipyard.yaml
index a32cb62a..c5a30863 100644
--- a/tools/gate/roles/build-images/tasks/airship-shipyard.yaml
+++ b/tools/gate/roles/build-images/tasks/airship-shipyard.yaml
@@ -36,6 +36,50 @@
   debug:
     var: image_tags
 
+- name: Install Docker (Debian)
+  when: ansible_os_family == 'Debian'
+  block:
+    - file:
+        path: "{{ item }}"
+        state: directory
+      with_items:
+        - /etc/docker/
+        - /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d/
+        - /var/lib/docker/
+    - mount:
+        path: /var/lib/docker/
+        src: tmpfs
+        fstype: tmpfs
+        opts: size=25g
+        state: mounted
+    - copy: "{{ item }}"
+      with_items:
+        - content: "{{ docker_daemon | to_json }}"
+          dest: /etc/docker/daemon.json
+        - src: files/docker-systemd.conf
+          dest: /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d/
+    - apt_key:
+        url: https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg
+    - apt_repository:
+        repo: deb http://{{ zuul_site_mirror_fqdn }}/deb-docker xenial stable
+    - apt:
+        name: "{{ item }}"
+        allow_unauthenticated: True
+      with_items:
+        - docker-ce
+        - python-pip
+    - pip:
+        name: docker
+        version: 2.7.0
+    # NOTE(SamYaple): Allow all connections from containers to host so the
+    # containers can access the http server for git and wheels
+    - iptables:
+        action: insert
+        chain: INPUT
+        in_interface: docker0
+        jump: ACCEPT
+  become: True
+
 - name: Make images
   when: not publish
   block: