diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a99a2488..c2ccfb9e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 NAME?=kube-router
 GOARCH?=amd64
 DEV_SUFFIX?=-git
-BUILD_DATE?=$(shell date --iso-8601)
+OSX=$(filter Darwin,$(shell uname))
+BUILD_DATE?=$(shell date +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z)
 LOCAL_PACKAGES?=app app/controllers app/options app/watchers utils
 IMG_NAMESPACE?=cloudnativelabs
 GIT_COMMIT=$(shell git describe --tags --dirty)
@@ -12,10 +13,11 @@ REGISTRY?=$(if $(IMG_FQDN),$(IMG_FQDN)/$(IMG_NAMESPACE)/$(NAME),$(IMG_NAMESPACE)
 REGISTRY_DEV?=$(REGISTRY)$(DEV_SUFFIX)
 IN_DOCKER_GROUP=$(filter docker,$(shell groups))
 IS_ROOT=$(filter 0,$(shell id -u))
-DOCKER=$(if $(or $(IN_DOCKER_GROUP),$(IS_ROOT)),docker,sudo docker)
+DOCKER=$(if $(or $(IN_DOCKER_GROUP),$(IS_ROOT),$(OSX)),docker,sudo docker)
 MAKEFILE_DIR=$(dir $(realpath $(firstword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
 UPSTREAM_IMPORT_PATH=$(GOPATH)/src/github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router/
-
+BUILD_IN_DOCKER?=false
+DOCKER_BUILD_IMAGE?=golang:1.8.7-alpine
 ifeq ($(GOARCH), arm)
 QEMU_ARCH=arm
 ARCH_TAG_PREFIX=$(GOARCH)
@@ -34,12 +36,25 @@ $(info Building for GOARCH=$(GOARCH))
 all: test kube-router container ## Default target. Runs tests, builds binaries and images.
 
 kube-router:
+ifeq "$(BUILD_IN_DOCKER)" "true"
 	@echo Starting kube-router binary build.
-	GOARCH=$(GOARCH) CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -ldflags '-X github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router/app.version=$(GIT_COMMIT) -X github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router/app.buildDate=$(BUILD_DATE)' -o kube-router kube-router.go
+	$(DOCKER) run -v $(PWD):/go/src/github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router -w /go/src/github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router $(DOCKER_BUILD_IMAGE) \
+	    sh -c ' \
+	    GOARCH=$(GOARCH) CGO_ENABLED=0 go build \
+		-ldflags "-X github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router/app.version=$(GIT_COMMIT) -X github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router/app.buildDate=$(BUILD_DATE)" \
+		-o kube-router kube-router.go'
 	@echo Finished kube-router binary build.
+else
+	GOARCH=$(GOARCH) CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -ldflags '-X github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router/app.version=$(GIT_COMMIT) -X github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router/app.buildDate=$(BUILD_DATE)' -o kube-router kube-router.go
+endif
 
 test: gofmt gomoqs ## Runs code quality pipelines (gofmt, tests, coverage, lint, etc)
-	go test github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router/app/... github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router/utils/
+ifeq "$(BUILD_IN_DOCKER)" "true"
+	$(DOCKER) run -v $(PWD):/go/src/github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router -w /go/src/github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router $(DOCKER_BUILD_IMAGE) \
+	    sh -c 'go test github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router/app/... github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router/utils/'
+else
+		go test github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router/app/... github.com/cloudnativelabs/kube-router/utils/
+endif
 
 vagrant-up: export docker=$(DOCKER)
 vagrant-up: export DEV_IMG=$(REGISTRY_DEV):$(IMG_TAG)
@@ -174,7 +189,7 @@ else
 endif
 
 gobgp: vendor/github.com/osrg/gobgp/gobgp
-	$(DOCKER) run -v $(PWD):/pwd golang:alpine \
+	$(DOCKER) run -v $(PWD):/pwd $(DOCKER_BUILD_IMAGE) \
 	    sh -c ' \
 	    apk add -U git && \
 	    ln -s /pwd/vendor /go/src && \