diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 691699fc..268c162a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ LATEST                     := latest
 NO_PROXY                   ?= localhost,127.0.0.1,.svc.cluster.local
 USE_PROXY                  ?= false
 RANGER_USER                ?= ranger
+BASE_IMAGE                 ?= ubuntu:18.04
 
 IMAGE_DIR:=images/$(IMAGE_NAME)
 
@@ -33,7 +34,7 @@ images: $(IMAGE_NAME)
  $(IMAGE_NAME):
 	@echo "  "
 	@echo "===== Processing [$@] image ====="
-	@make build_$@ IMAGE=${DOCKER_REGISTRY}/${IMAGE_PREFIX}/$@:${COMMIT} IMAGE_DIR=images/$@ IMAGE_NAME=$@
+	@make build_$@ IMAGE=${DOCKER_REGISTRY}/${IMAGE_PREFIX}/$@:${COMMIT} BASE_IMAGE=${BASE_IMAGE} IMAGE_DIR=images/$@ IMAGE_NAME=$@
 
 # Create tgz of the chart
 .PHONY: charts
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ build_ranger:
 ifeq ($(USE_PROXY), true)
 	docker build --network host -t $(IMAGE) --label $(LABEL) -f $(IMAGE_DIR)/Dockerfile \
 		--build-arg user=$(RANGER_USER) \
+		--build-arg BASE_IMAGE=${BASE_IMAGE} \
 		--build-arg http_proxy=$(PROXY) \
 		--build-arg https_proxy=$(PROXY) \
 		--build-arg HTTP_PROXY=$(PROXY) \
@@ -64,7 +66,7 @@ ifeq ($(USE_PROXY), true)
 		--build-arg no_proxy=$(NO_PROXY) \
 		--build-arg NO_PROXY=$(NO_PROXY) .
 else
-	docker build --network host -t $(IMAGE) --label $(LABEL) -f $(IMAGE_DIR)/Dockerfile --build-arg user=$(RANGER_USER) .
+	docker build --network host -t $(IMAGE) --label $(LABEL) -f $(IMAGE_DIR)/Dockerfile --build-arg BASE_IMAGE=${BASE_IMAGE} --build-arg user=$(RANGER_USER) .
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(PUSH_IMAGE), true)
@@ -78,6 +80,7 @@ build_rangercli:
 
 ifeq ($(USE_PROXY), true)
 	docker build --network host -t $(IMAGE) --label $(LABEL) -f $(IMAGE_DIR)/Dockerfile \
+		--build-arg BASE_IMAGE=${BASE_IMAGE} \
 		--build-arg http_proxy=$(PROXY) \
 		--build-arg https_proxy=$(PROXY) \
 		--build-arg HTTP_PROXY=$(PROXY) \
@@ -85,7 +88,7 @@ ifeq ($(USE_PROXY), true)
 		--build-arg no_proxy=$(NO_PROXY) \
 		--build-arg NO_PROXY=$(NO_PROXY) .
 else
-	docker build --network host -t $(IMAGE) --label $(LABEL) -f $(IMAGE_DIR)/Dockerfile .
+	docker build --network host -t $(IMAGE) --label $(LABEL) --build-arg BASE_IMAGE=${BASE_IMAGE} -f $(IMAGE_DIR)/Dockerfile .
 endif
 
 .PHONY: clean
diff --git a/images/ranger/Dockerfile b/images/ranger/Dockerfile
index 79549232..43600583 100644
--- a/images/ranger/Dockerfile
+++ b/images/ranger/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-FROM ubuntu:18.04
+ARG BASE_IMAGE=ubuntu:18.04
+FROM ${BASE_IMAGE}
 
 ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive
 ENV container docker
diff --git a/images/rangercli/Dockerfile b/images/rangercli/Dockerfile
index 81818507..fc0cefa4 100644
--- a/images/rangercli/Dockerfile
+++ b/images/rangercli/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-FROM ubuntu:18.04
+ARG BASE_IMAGE=ubuntu:18.04
+FROM ${BASE_IMAGE}
 
 #ubuntu environment variables
 ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive