diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index e0223a8c54b2881404037e5909d556c2b54782dd..4267500242993eb3a99c53356b0f99731644ee76 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ default:
         export PUBLISHED_IMAGE_TAG=$DOCKER_TAG_NAME$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA
       fi
     - "[ $DOCKERFILE ] && KANIKO_DOCKERFILE=\"--dockerfile $DOCKERFILE\""
-    - /kaniko/executor --context `pwd`/$CONTEXT $KANIKO_DOCKERFILE $KANIKO_D
+    - "BUILD_ARGS=$(printenv | sed -n 's/BUILD_ARG_/--build-arg=/p')"
+    - /kaniko/executor --context `pwd`/$CONTEXT $KANIKO_DOCKERFILE $KANIKO_D $BUILD_ARGS
     - echo "PUBLISHED_IMAGE_TAG=$PUBLISHED_IMAGE_TAG" >> $CI_PROJECT_DIR/build.env
   artifacts:
     reports:
@@ -897,8 +898,8 @@ deploy-buildimage-k3d-helm:
     - .kaniko-push
   needs: []
   variables:
-    DOCKER_VERSION: 20.10.12
-    KUBECTL: v1.21.3
+    BUILD_ARG_DOCKER_VERSION: 20.10.12
+    BUILD_ARG_KUBECTL: v1.21.3
     IMAGE_NAME: theodolite-build-k3d-helm
     IMAGE_TAG: $DOCKER_VERSION
   before_script:
diff --git a/buildimages/k3d-helm/Dockerfile b/buildimages/k3d-helm/Dockerfile
index 121e6f0ef2540d3754ad5ffaf7746c00d4a84838..ad652929f3491ebd2a1b63616b12180453565137 100644
--- a/buildimages/k3d-helm/Dockerfile
+++ b/buildimages/k3d-helm/Dockerfile
@@ -1,9 +1,14 @@
-FROM docker:${DOCKER_VERSION:-latest}
+ARG DOCKER_VERSION=latest
 
-RUN apk add -U wget bash openssl
+FROM docker:${DOCKER_VERSION}
+
+ARG KUBECTL_VERSION=v1.21.3
+
+RUN apk add -U wget curl bash openssl
 # install kubectl
-RUN wget -q -O /usr/local/bin/kubectl https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/${KUBECTL}/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl && \
+RUN wget -q -O /usr/local/bin/kubectl https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/${KUBECTL_VERSION}/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl && \
     chmod +x /usr/local/bin/kubectl
+RUN echo https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/${KUBECTL_VERSION}
 # install k3d
 RUN wget -q -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rancher/k3d/main/install.sh | bash
 # install Helm