diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4937aa0a7..2a6e18ebd 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -33,10 +33,22 @@ check_go_env:
 	@test $$(go list) = "$(PKG_NAME)" || \
 		(echo "Invalid Go environment - The local directory structure must match:  $(PKG_NAME)" && false)
 
-cross: bin/$(BIN_NAME)-linux bin/$(BIN_NAME)-darwin bin/$(BIN_NAME)-windows.exe ## cross-compile binaries (linux, darwin, windows)
+cross: cross-plugin cross-standalone ## cross-compile binaries (linux, darwin, windows)
+
+cross-plugin: bin/$(BIN_NAME)-linux bin/$(BIN_NAME)-darwin bin/$(BIN_NAME)-windows.exe
+
+cross-standalone: bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-linux bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-darwin bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-windows.exe
 
 e2e-cross: bin/$(BIN_NAME)-e2e-linux bin/$(BIN_NAME)-e2e-darwin bin/$(BIN_NAME)-e2e-windows.exe
 
+.PHONY: bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-windows
+bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-%.exe bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-%: cmd/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME} check_go_env
+	GOOS=$* $(GO_BUILD) -o $@ ./$<
+
+.PHONY: bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}
+bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}: cmd/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME} check_go_env
+	$(GO_BUILD) -o $@$(EXEC_EXT) ./$<
+
 .PHONY: bin/$(BIN_NAME)-e2e-windows
 bin/$(BIN_NAME)-e2e-%.exe bin/$(BIN_NAME)-e2e-%: e2e bin/$(BIN_NAME)-%
 	GOOS=$* $(GO_TEST) -c -o $@ ./e2e/
diff --git a/cmd/docker-app-standalone/main.go b/cmd/docker-app-standalone/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..17d124da1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/docker-app-standalone/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
+
+	"github.com/docker/app/internal"
+	app "github.com/docker/app/internal/commands"
+	"github.com/docker/cli/cli"
+	"github.com/docker/cli/cli/command"
+	cliflags "github.com/docker/cli/cli/flags"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+)
+
+func main() {
+	dockerCli, err := command.NewDockerCli()
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
+	}
+	logrus.SetOutput(dockerCli.Err())
+
+	cmd := app.NewRootCmd("docker-app", dockerCli)
+	configureRootCmd(cmd, dockerCli)
+
+	if err := cmd.Execute(); err != nil {
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+}
+
+func configureRootCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, dockerCli *command.DockerCli) {
+	var (
+		opts  *cliflags.ClientOptions
+		flags *pflag.FlagSet
+	)
+
+	cmd.SilenceUsage = true
+	cmd.TraverseChildren = true
+	cmd.PersistentPreRunE = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+		opts.Common.SetDefaultOptions(flags)
+		return dockerCli.Initialize(opts)
+	}
+	cmd.Version = fmt.Sprintf("%s, build %s", internal.Version, internal.GitCommit)
+
+	opts, flags, _ = cli.SetupRootCommand(cmd)
+	flags.BoolP("version", "v", false, "Print version information")
+	cmd.SetVersionTemplate("docker-app version {{.Version}}\n")
+}
diff --git a/docker.Makefile b/docker.Makefile
index 0fcf13f88..efe14671b 100644
--- a/docker.Makefile
+++ b/docker.Makefile
@@ -43,10 +43,16 @@ cross: create_bin ## cross-compile binaries (linux, darwin, windows)
 	docker cp $(CROSS_CTNR_NAME):$(PKG_PATH)/bin/$(BIN_NAME)-linux bin/$(BIN_NAME)-linux
 	docker cp $(CROSS_CTNR_NAME):$(PKG_PATH)/bin/$(BIN_NAME)-darwin bin/$(BIN_NAME)-darwin
 	docker cp $(CROSS_CTNR_NAME):$(PKG_PATH)/bin/$(BIN_NAME)-windows.exe bin/$(BIN_NAME)-windows.exe
+	docker cp $(CROSS_CTNR_NAME):$(PKG_PATH)/bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-linux bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-linux
+	docker cp $(CROSS_CTNR_NAME):$(PKG_PATH)/bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-darwin bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-darwin
+	docker cp $(CROSS_CTNR_NAME):$(PKG_PATH)/bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-windows.exe bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-windows.exe
 	docker rm $(CROSS_CTNR_NAME)
 	@$(call chmod,+x,bin/$(BIN_NAME)-linux)
 	@$(call chmod,+x,bin/$(BIN_NAME)-darwin)
 	@$(call chmod,+x,bin/$(BIN_NAME)-windows.exe)
+	@$(call chmod,+x,bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-linux)
+	@$(call chmod,+x,bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-darwin)
+	@$(call chmod,+x,bin/${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-windows.exe)
 
 cli-cross: create_bin
 	docker build $(BUILD_ARGS) --target=build -t $(CLI_IMAGE_NAME)  .
@@ -71,11 +77,11 @@ e2e-cross: create_bin
 	@$(call chmod,+x,bin/$(BIN_NAME)-e2e-windows.exe)
 
 tars:
-	tar czf bin/$(BIN_NAME)-linux.tar.gz -C bin $(BIN_NAME)-linux
+	tar --transform='flags=r;s|$(BIN_NAME)-linux|$(BIN_NAME)-plugin-linux|' -czf bin/$(BIN_NAME)-linux.tar.gz -C bin $(BIN_NAME)-linux ${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-linux
 	tar czf bin/$(BIN_NAME)-e2e-linux.tar.gz -C bin $(BIN_NAME)-e2e-linux
-	tar czf bin/$(BIN_NAME)-darwin.tar.gz -C bin $(BIN_NAME)-darwin
+	tar --transform='flags=r;s|$(BIN_NAME)-darwin|$(BIN_NAME)-plugin-darwin|' -czf bin/$(BIN_NAME)-darwin.tar.gz -C bin $(BIN_NAME)-darwin ${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-darwin
 	tar czf bin/$(BIN_NAME)-e2e-darwin.tar.gz -C bin $(BIN_NAME)-e2e-darwin
-	tar czf bin/$(BIN_NAME)-windows.tar.gz -C bin $(BIN_NAME)-windows.exe
+	tar --transform='flags=r;s|$(BIN_NAME)-windows|$(BIN_NAME)-plugin-windows|' -czf bin/$(BIN_NAME)-windows.tar.gz -C bin $(BIN_NAME)-windows.exe ${BIN_STANDALONE_NAME}-windows.exe
 	tar czf bin/$(BIN_NAME)-e2e-windows.tar.gz -C bin $(BIN_NAME)-e2e-windows.exe
 
 test: test-unit test-e2e ## run all tests
diff --git a/vars.mk b/vars.mk
index 33e37d34a..9bb0f9e2d 100644
--- a/vars.mk
+++ b/vars.mk
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 PKG_NAME := github.com/docker/app
 BIN_NAME ?= docker-app
+BIN_STANDALONE_NAME := ${BIN_NAME}-standalone
 E2E_NAME := $(BIN_NAME)-e2e
 
 # Enable experimental features. "on" or "off"