diff --git a/build_gpt.sh b/build_gpt.sh
index e10a32a55b..fb96b85846 100755
--- a/build_gpt.sh
+++ b/build_gpt.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ DEFINE_string board "$DEFAULT_BOARD" \
   "The board to build an image for."
 DEFINE_string arm_extra_bootargs "" \
   "Additional command line options to pass to the ARM kernel."
+DEFINE_boolean recovery $FLAGS_FALSE \
+  "Build GPT for a recovery image. Default: False."
 
 # Usage.
 FLAGS_HELP=$(cat <<EOF
@@ -77,6 +79,8 @@ set -e
 set -u
 
 # Check for missing parts.
+# For recovery image, only populate ROOT-A and KERN-A
+# TODO(tgao): write a script to populate ROOT-B and KERN-B
 ROOTFS_IMG="${IMAGEDIR}/rootfs.image"
 if [[ ! -s ${ROOTFS_IMG} ]]; then
   error "Can't find ${ROOTFS_IMG}"
@@ -90,13 +94,13 @@ if [[ ! -s ${KERNEL_IMG} ]]; then
 fi
 
 STATEFUL_IMG="${IMAGEDIR}/stateful_partition.image"
-if [[ ! -s ${STATEFUL_IMG} ]]; then
+if [ ! -s ${STATEFUL_IMG} ] && [ ${FLAGS_recovery} -eq $FLAGS_FALSE ]; then
   error "Can't find ${STATEFUL_IMG}"
   exit 1
 fi
 
 ESP_IMG="${IMAGEDIR}/esp.image"
-if [[ ! -s ${ESP_IMG} ]]; then
+if [ ! -s ${ESP_IMG} ] && [ ${FLAGS_recovery} -eq $FLAGS_FALSE ]; then
   error "Can't find ${ESP_IMG}"
   exit 1
 fi
@@ -111,7 +115,8 @@ fi
 
 # Create the GPT. This has the side-effect of setting some global vars
 # describing the partition table entries (see the comments in the source).
-install_gpt $OUTDEV $ROOTFS_IMG $KERNEL_IMG $STATEFUL_IMG $PMBRCODE $ESP_IMG
+install_gpt $OUTDEV $ROOTFS_IMG $KERNEL_IMG $STATEFUL_IMG $PMBRCODE $ESP_IMG \
+    false $FLAGS_recovery
 
 if [[ "$ARCH" = "arm" ]]; then
   # assume /dev/mmcblk1. we could not get this from ${OUTDEV}
diff --git a/build_image b/build_image
index 1d3747cd21..baeb224fef 100755
--- a/build_image
+++ b/build_image
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ DEFINE_boolean factory_install $FLAGS_FALSE \
 is also required in image_to_usb."
 DEFINE_string arm_extra_bootargs "" \
   "Additional command line options to pass to the ARM kernel."
+DEFINE_boolean recovery $FLAGS_FALSE \
+  "Build a recovery image. Default: False."
 
 # Parse command line.
 FLAGS "$@" || exit 1
@@ -442,11 +444,17 @@ cleanup
 
 trap delete_prompt EXIT
 
+RECOVERY="--norecovery"
+if [[ ${FLAGS_recovery} -eq $FLAGS_TRUE ]]; then
+  RECOVERY="--recovery"
+fi
+
 # Create the GPT-formatted image
 ${SCRIPTS_DIR}/build_gpt.sh \
   --arch=${ARCH} \
   --board=${FLAGS_board} \
   --arm_extra_bootargs="${FLAGS_arm_extra_bootargs}" \
+  ${RECOVERY} \
   "${OUTPUT_DIR}" \
   "${OUTPUT_IMG}"