diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index bc02ef809a..861655c64c 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -25,11 +25,12 @@
 #
 
 ARG CROSS="false"
+ARG GO_VERSION=1.12.7
 
-FROM golang:1.12.7 AS base
-# allow replacing httpredir or deb mirror
-ARG APT_MIRROR=deb.debian.org
-RUN sed -ri "s/(httpredir|deb).debian.org/$APT_MIRROR/g" /etc/apt/sources.list
+FROM golang:${GO_VERSION}-stretch AS base
+ARG APT_MIRROR
+RUN sed -ri "s/(httpredir|deb).debian.org/${APT_MIRROR:-deb.debian.org}/g" /etc/apt/sources.list \
+ && sed -ri "s/(security).debian.org/${APT_MIRROR:-security.debian.org}/g" /etc/apt/sources.list
 
 FROM base AS criu
 # Install CRIU for checkpoint/restore support
diff --git a/Dockerfile.e2e b/Dockerfile.e2e
index f24d29a364..9b6c0fe544 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.e2e
+++ b/Dockerfile.e2e
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-FROM golang:1.12.7-alpine as base
+ARG GO_VERSION=1.12.7
+
+FROM golang:${GO_VERSION}-alpine AS base
 
 RUN apk --no-cache add \
     bash \
diff --git a/Dockerfile.simple b/Dockerfile.simple
index 303b0cfd35..ff64fa4f54 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.simple
+++ b/Dockerfile.simple
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@
 
 # This represents the bare minimum required to build and test Docker.
 
-FROM golang:1.12.7
+ARG GO_VERSION=1.12.7
+
+FROM golang:${GO_VERSION}-stretch
 
 # allow replacing httpredir or deb mirror
 ARG APT_MIRROR=deb.debian.org
diff --git a/Dockerfile.windows b/Dockerfile.windows
index 7c034019d1..c11b373c4f 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.windows
+++ b/Dockerfile.windows
@@ -165,10 +165,12 @@ FROM microsoft/windowsservercore
 # Use PowerShell as the default shell
 SHELL ["powershell", "-Command", "$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'; $ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue';"]
 
+ARG GO_VERSION=1.12.7
+
 # Environment variable notes:
 #  - GO_VERSION must be consistent with 'Dockerfile' used by Linux.
 #  - FROM_DOCKERFILE is used for detection of building within a container.
-ENV GO_VERSION=1.12.7 `
+ENV GO_VERSION=${GO_VERSION} `
     GIT_VERSION=2.11.1 `
     GOPATH=C:\go `
     FROM_DOCKERFILE=1
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f778902fe6..1c97812b2c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ build: DOCKER_BUILD_ARGS += --build-arg=CROSS=$(DOCKER_CROSS)
 build: DOCKER_BUILDKIT ?= 1
 build: bundles
 	$(warning The docker client CLI has moved to github.com/docker/cli. For a dev-test cycle involving the CLI, run:${\n} DOCKER_CLI_PATH=/host/path/to/cli/binary make shell ${\n} then change the cli and compile into a binary at the same location.${\n})
-	DOCKER_BUILDKIT="${DOCKER_BUILDKIT}" docker build ${BUILD_APT_MIRROR} ${DOCKER_BUILD_ARGS} ${DOCKER_BUILD_OPTS} -t "$(DOCKER_IMAGE)" -f "$(DOCKERFILE)" .
+	DOCKER_BUILDKIT="${DOCKER_BUILDKIT}" docker build --build-arg=GO_VERSION ${BUILD_APT_MIRROR} ${DOCKER_BUILD_ARGS} ${DOCKER_BUILD_OPTS} -t "$(DOCKER_IMAGE)" -f "$(DOCKERFILE)" .
 
 bundles:
 	mkdir bundles
diff --git a/TESTING.md b/TESTING.md
index b2c53769ca..15322f9eed 100644
--- a/TESTING.md
+++ b/TESTING.md
@@ -87,3 +87,10 @@ To run the integration test suite:
 ```
 make test-integration
 ```
+
+You can change a version of golang used for building stuff that is being tested
+by setting `GO_VERSION` variable, for example:
+
+```
+make GO_VERSION=1.12.7 test
+```
diff --git a/hack/ci/windows.ps1 b/hack/ci/windows.ps1
index 6d87f3256b..8828f73d01 100644
--- a/hack/ci/windows.ps1
+++ b/hack/ci/windows.ps1
@@ -426,20 +426,9 @@ Try {
     Write-Host -ForegroundColor Green "INFO: Location for testing is $env:TEMP"
 
     # CI Integrity check - ensure Dockerfile.windows and Dockerfile go versions match
-    $goVersionDockerfileWindows=$(Get-Content ".\Dockerfile.windows" | Select-String "^ENV GO_VERSION" | Select-object -First 1).ToString().Replace("ENV GO_VERSION=","").Replace("\","").Replace("``","").Trim()
-    $goVersionDockerfile=$(Get-Content ".\Dockerfile" | Select-String "^ENV GO_VERSION" | Select-object -First 1)
-    
-    # As of go 1.11, Dockerfile changed to be in the format like "FROM golang:1.11.0 AS base".
-    # If a version number ends with .0 (as in 1.11.0, a convention used in golang docker
-    # image versions), it needs to be removed (i.e. "1.11.0" becomes "1.11").
-    if ($null -eq $goVersionDockerfile) {
-        $goVersionDockerfile=$(Get-Content ".\Dockerfile" | Select-String "^FROM golang:" | Select-object -First 1)
-        if ($null -ne $goVersionDockerfile) {
-            $goVersionDockerfile = $goVersionDockerfile.ToString().Split(" ")[1].Split(":")[1] -replace '\.0$',''
-        }
-    } else {
-        $goVersionDockerfile = $goVersionDockerfile.ToString().Split(" ")[2]
-    }
+    $goVersionDockerfileWindows=(Select-String -Path ".\Dockerfile.windows" -Pattern "^ARG[\s]+GO_VERSION=(.*)$").Matches.groups[1].Value
+    $goVersionDockerfile=(Select-String -Path ".\Dockerfile" -Pattern "^ARG[\s]+GO_VERSION=(.*)$").Matches.groups[1].Value
+
     if ($null -eq $goVersionDockerfile) {
         Throw "ERROR: Failed to extract golang version from Dockerfile"
     }
@@ -453,7 +442,7 @@ Try {
         Write-Host  -ForegroundColor Cyan "`n`nINFO: Building the image from Dockerfile.windows at $(Get-Date)..."
         Write-Host
         $ErrorActionPreference = "SilentlyContinue"
-        $Duration=$(Measure-Command { docker build -t docker -f Dockerfile.windows . | Out-Host })
+        $Duration=$(Measure-Command { docker build --build-arg=GO_VERSION -t docker -f Dockerfile.windows . | Out-Host })
         $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
         if (-not($LastExitCode -eq 0)) {
            Throw "ERROR: Failed to build image from Dockerfile.windows"
diff --git a/hack/make.ps1 b/hack/make.ps1
index 6e5bc45e50..3c51716ed3 100644
--- a/hack/make.ps1
+++ b/hack/make.ps1
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ Function Check-InContainer() {
 # outside of a container where it may be out of date with master.
 Function Verify-GoVersion() {
     Try {
-        $goVersionDockerfile=(Select-String -Path ".\Dockerfile" -Pattern "^FROM golang:").ToString().Split(" ")[1].SubString(7) -replace '\.0$',''
+        $goVersionDockerfile=(Select-String -Path ".\Dockerfile" -Pattern "^ARG[\s]+GO_VERSION=(.*)$").Matches.groups[1].Value.TrimEnd(".0")
         $goVersionInstalled=(go version).ToString().Split(" ")[2].SubString(2)
     }
     Catch [Exception] {