diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/backend/buildImage.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/backend/buildImage.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a847f1ef54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/backend/buildImage.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2020 Spotify AB
+ *
+ * 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.
+ */
+
+import fs from 'fs-extra';
+import { createDistWorkspace } from '../../lib/packager';
+import { paths } from '../../lib/paths';
+import { run } from '../../lib/run';
+
+export default async (imageTag: string) => {
+  const tempDistWorkspace = await createDistWorkspace(['example-backend'], {
+    files: [
+      'package.json',
+      'yarn.lock',
+      'app-config.yaml',
+      { src: paths.resolveTarget('Dockerfile'), dest: 'Dockerfile' },
+    ],
+  });
+
+  console.log(`Dist workspace ready at ${tempDistWorkspace}`);
+
+  await run('docker', ['build', '.', '-t', imageTag], {
+    cwd: tempDistWorkspace,
+  });
+
+  await fs.remove(tempDistWorkspace);
+};
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/index.ts b/packages/cli/src/index.ts
index e67a52c795..bed32bcf8b 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/index.ts
@@ -46,6 +46,15 @@ const main = (argv: string[]) => {
     .description('Build a backend plugin')
     .action(lazyAction(() => import('./commands/backend/build'), 'default'));
 
+  program
+    .command('backend:build-image <image-tag>')
+    .description(
+      'Builds a docker image from the package, with all local deps included',
+    )
+    .action(
+      lazyAction(() => import('./commands/backend/buildImage'), 'default'),
+    );
+
   program
     .command('backend:dev')
     .description('Start local development server with HMR for the backend')
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/packager/index.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/packager/index.ts
index c702fd3df4..2f5233f93f 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/packager/index.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/packager/index.ts
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ export async function createDistWorkspace(
     const dest = typeof file === 'string' ? file : file.dest;
     await fs.copy(paths.resolveTargetRoot(src), resolvePath(targetDir, dest));
   }
+  return targetDir;
 }
 
 async function moveToDistWorkspace(