diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 875c22e57..f025fd719 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
 /vendor/*
 /rootfs/manager/bin/manager
 /rootfs/manager/bin/kubectl
+/rootfs/manager/bin/v1*
 /rootfs/resourcifier/bin/resourcifier
 /rootfs/resourcifier/bin/kubectl
+/rootfs/resourcifier/bin/v1*
 /rootfs/expandybird/bin/expandybird
 /rootfs/expandybird/opt/expansion
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 126856f78..11c7bdf38 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ HAS_GLIDE := $(shell command -v glide)
 HAS_GOLINT := $(shell command -v golint)
 HAS_GOVET := $(shell command -v go tool vet)
 HAS_GOX := $(shell command -v gox)
+HAS_DOCKER := $(shell command -v docker)
 
 .PHONY: bootstrap
 bootstrap:
@@ -94,12 +95,19 @@ ifndef HAS_GOX
 	go get -u github.com/mitchellh/gox
 endif
 	glide install
+ifndef HAS_DOCKER
+	$(warning You must install Docker manually)
+endif
 
 .PHONY: .project
 .project:
-	@if [[ -z "${PROJECT}" ]]; then echo "PROJECT variable must be set"; exit 1; fi
+	$(info Docker registry: $(PREFIX))
+ifeq ($(PREFIX),gcr.io)
+	$(error "You must set at least one of the following environment variables: DOCKER_PROJECT, DOCKER_REGISTRY")
+endif
 
 .PHONY: .docker
 .docker:
-	@if [[ -z `which docker` ]] || ! docker version &> /dev/null; then echo "docker is not installed correctly"; exit 1; fi
-
+ifndef HAS_DOCKER
+	$(error You must install docker)
+endif
diff --git a/rootfs/docker.mk b/rootfs/docker.mk
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..77c085247
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rootfs/docker.mk
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# Copyright 2016 The Kubernetes Authors All rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+DOCKER_REGISTRY ?= gcr.io
+
+# Legacy support for $PROJECT
+DOCKER_PROJECT ?= $(PROJECT)
+
+# Support both local and remote repos, and support no project.
+ifdef $(DOCKER_PROJECT)
+PREFIX := $(DOCKER_REGISTRY)/$(DOCKER_PROJECT)
+else
+PREFIX := $(DOCKER_REGISTRY)
+endif
+
+TAG ?= git-$(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD)
+
+ROOT_DIR := $(abspath ./..)
+kubectl:
+ifeq ("$(wildcard bin/$(KUBE_VERSION))", "")
+	touch bin/$(KUBE_VERSION)
+	curl -fsSL -o bin/kubectl https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/${KUBE_VERSION}/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl
+	chmod +x bin/kubectl
+endif
diff --git a/rootfs/expandybird/Makefile b/rootfs/expandybird/Makefile
index a7baecf58..2630c6224 100644
--- a/rootfs/expandybird/Makefile
+++ b/rootfs/expandybird/Makefile
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-DOCKER_REGISTRY := gcr.io
-PREFIX := $(DOCKER_REGISTRY)/$(PROJECT)
+include ../docker.mk
+
 IMAGE ?= expandybird
 TAG ?= git-$(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD)
 FULL_IMAGE := $(PREFIX)/$(IMAGE)
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ FULL_IMAGE := $(PREFIX)/$(IMAGE)
 .PHONY: container
 container: binary expansion
 	docker build -t $(FULL_IMAGE):latest -f Dockerfile .
-	docker tag $(FULL_IMAGE):latest $(FULL_IMAGE):$(TAG)
+	docker tag -f $(FULL_IMAGE):latest $(FULL_IMAGE):$(TAG)
 
 .PHONY: push
 push: container
diff --git a/rootfs/manager/Makefile b/rootfs/manager/Makefile
index e116a491f..9583dfb3d 100644
--- a/rootfs/manager/Makefile
+++ b/rootfs/manager/Makefile
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-DOCKER_REGISTRY := gcr.io
-PREFIX := $(DOCKER_REGISTRY)/$(PROJECT)
+include ../docker.mk
+
 IMAGE ?= manager
 TAG ?= git-$(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD)
 FULL_IMAGE := $(PREFIX)/$(IMAGE)
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ KUBE_VERSION ?= v1.1.7
 .PHONY: container
 container: binary kubectl
 	docker build -t $(FULL_IMAGE):latest -f Dockerfile .
-	docker tag $(FULL_IMAGE):latest $(FULL_IMAGE):$(TAG)
+	docker tag -f $(FULL_IMAGE):latest $(FULL_IMAGE):$(TAG)
 
 .PHONY: push
 push: container
@@ -35,6 +35,3 @@ endif
 binary:
 	cp ../../bin/linux-amd64/manager ./bin
 
-kubectl:
-	curl -fsSL -o bin/kubectl https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/${KUBE_VERSION}/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl
-	chmod +x bin/kubectl
diff --git a/rootfs/resourcifier/Makefile b/rootfs/resourcifier/Makefile
index 26a42b2e4..7d377c800 100644
--- a/rootfs/resourcifier/Makefile
+++ b/rootfs/resourcifier/Makefile
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-DOCKER_REGISTRY := gcr.io
-PREFIX := $(DOCKER_REGISTRY)/$(PROJECT)
+include ../docker.mk
+
 IMAGE ?= resourcifier
 TAG ?= git-$(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD)
 FULL_IMAGE := $(PREFIX)/$(IMAGE)
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ KUBE_VERSION ?= v1.1.7
 
 .PHONY: container
 container: binary kubectl
-	docker build -t $(FULL_IMAGE):latest -f Dockerfile .
-	docker tag $(FULL_IMAGE):latest $(FULL_IMAGE):$(TAG)
+	docker build -t $(FULL_IMAGE):$(TAG) -f Dockerfile .
+	docker tag -f $(FULL_IMAGE):$(TAG) $(FULL_IMAGE):latest
 
 .PHONY: push
 push: container
@@ -34,7 +34,3 @@ endif
 
 binary:
 	cp ../../bin/linux-amd64/resourcifier ./bin
-
-kubectl:
-	curl -fsSL -o bin/kubectl https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/${KUBE_VERSION}/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl
-	chmod +x bin/kubectl