diff --git a/dev/gpctl/cmd/imagebuilds-build-batch.go b/dev/gpctl/cmd/imagebuilds-build-batch.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..aabe36c295d247
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev/gpctl/cmd/imagebuilds-build-batch.go
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2021 Gitpod GmbH. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL).
+// See License-AGPL.txt in the project root for license information.
+
+package cmd
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"context"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+
+	"github.com/gitpod-io/gitpod/common-go/log"
+	builder "github.com/gitpod-io/gitpod/image-builder/api"
+)
+
+// imagebuildsBuildBatch represents the build command
+var imagebuildsBuildBatch = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:   "build-batch",
+	Short: "Builds workspace images from base-image refs read from STDIN",
+	Long: `Tip: re-build the workspace images of all workspaces started in the last 30 days.
+	mysql -N -B -u root -p -h 127.0.0.1 gitpod -e 'SELECT ws.baseImageNameResolved FROM d_b_workspace_instance wsi LEFT JOIN d_b_workspace ws ON ws.id = workspaceId WHERE wsi.creationTime > (NOW() - INTERVAL 30 DAY)' | \
+	sort | \
+	uniq | \
+	gpctl imagebuilds build-batch
+`,
+	Args: cobra.ExactArgs(0),
+	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		forceRebuild, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("force-rebuild")
+
+		ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+
+		conn, client, err := getImagebuildsClient(ctx)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.WithError(err).Fatal("cannot connect")
+		}
+		defer conn.Close()
+
+		var wg sync.WaitGroup
+		scanner := bufio.NewScanner(os.Stdin)
+		for scanner.Scan() {
+			ref := strings.TrimSpace(scanner.Text())
+			if len(ref) == 0 {
+				continue
+			}
+
+			wg.Add(1)
+			go buildWorkspaceImage(&wg, ctx, client, forceRebuild, ref)
+		}
+
+		wg.Wait()
+		cancel()
+	},
+}
+
+func buildWorkspaceImage(wg *sync.WaitGroup, ctx context.Context, client builder.ImageBuilderClient, forceRebuild bool, ref string) {
+	defer wg.Done()
+
+	br, err := client.Build(ctx, &builder.BuildRequest{
+		Source: &builder.BuildSource{
+			From: &builder.BuildSource_Ref{
+				Ref: &builder.BuildSourceReference{
+					Ref: ref,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		ForceRebuild: forceRebuild,
+		Auth: &builder.BuildRegistryAuth{
+			Mode: &builder.BuildRegistryAuth_Total{
+				Total: &builder.BuildRegistryAuthTotal{
+					AllowAll: true,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		log.WithField("ref", ref).WithError(err).Warn("cannot build workspace image")
+		return
+	}
+
+	r, err := br.Recv()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.WithField("ref", ref).WithError(err).Warn("cannot receive build response")
+		return
+	}
+	br.CloseSend()
+
+	switch r.Status {
+	case builder.BuildStatus_done_failure, builder.BuildStatus_done_success:
+		log.WithField("ref", ref).Infof("build done: %s", builder.BuildStatus_name[int32(r.Status)])
+	case builder.BuildStatus_unknown:
+		log.WithField("ref", ref).Error("build status unknown")
+	case builder.BuildStatus_running:
+		log.WithField("ref", ref).Info("build running")
+	}
+
+}
+
+func init() {
+	imagebuildsCmd.AddCommand(imagebuildsBuildBatch)
+
+	imagebuildsBuildBatch.Flags().Bool("force-rebuild", false, "force an image build even if the image exists already")
+}
diff --git a/dev/gpctl/cmd/imagebuilds-build.go b/dev/gpctl/cmd/imagebuilds-build.go
index e9770f4b488895..4cf745b2648b6f 100644
--- a/dev/gpctl/cmd/imagebuilds-build.go
+++ b/dev/gpctl/cmd/imagebuilds-build.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import (
 // imagebuildsBuildCmd represents the build command
 var imagebuildsBuildCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "build <source.json>",
-	Short: "Runs a full workspace build",
+	Short: "Runs a full workspace image build",
 	Args:  cobra.ExactArgs(1),
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		fc, err := os.ReadFile(args[0])