diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7a512f9fa..de9660172 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -18,3 +18,5 @@ pbjs-genfiles/
 .test-out-showcase
 .client_library
 *test-out*
+docker/package.tgz
+*.tgz
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f3f1e8179
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+FROM node:12-alpine
+
+# Create folder structure
+RUN mkdir -p /in
+RUN mkdir -p /out
+RUN mkdir -p /protos
+RUN mkdir -p /root/files
+
+# Install the generator
+COPY ./package.tgz /root/files/
+RUN npm install -g /root/files/package.tgz
+
+# Download and install protoc
+RUN apk update && apk add libc6-compat && rm -f /var/cache/apk/*
+ENV LD_LIBRARY_PATH /lib64:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+RUN cd /root/files && \
+    wget https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/download/v3.10.0/protoc-3.10.0-linux-x86_64.zip
+RUN cd /usr/local && unzip /root/files/protoc-3.10.0-linux-x86_64.zip
+
+# Download a copy of API common protos
+RUN cd /root/files && \
+    wget https://github.com/googleapis/api-common-protos/archive/master.zip
+RUN cd /protos && unzip /root/files/master.zip && chmod -R a+rx /protos
+
+# Copy the start script
+COPY ./start.sh /usr/local/bin/
+RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/start.sh
+
+# Delete downloaded files
+RUN rm -rf /root/files
+
+# Print versions for debugging purposes
+RUN gapic-generator-typescript --version
+RUN protoc --version
+
+ENTRYPOINT [ "/usr/local/bin/start.sh" ]
diff --git a/docker/build.sh b/docker/build.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..87de6e188
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+### Prepare the package and run `docker build`
+
+SCRIPTDIR=`dirname "$0"`
+cd "$SCRIPTDIR"
+cd ..   # now in the package.json directory
+npm pack
+
+VERSION=`cat package.json | grep version | awk -F'"' '{ print $4; }'`
+
+cp "google-cloud-gapic-generator-$VERSION.tgz" "docker/package.tgz"
+cd docker
+
+docker build -t gapic-generator-typescript .
diff --git a/docker/start.sh b/docker/start.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..50b6bd6c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/start.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+### Start script that is an entry point for a Docker image.
+
+# Change directory to the input directory. 
+# Make it easier to pass gRPC service config relative to it, e.g.
+# --grpc-service-config google/cloud/texttospeech/v1/texttospeech_grpc_service_config.json
+
+cd /in 
+gapic-generator-typescript \
+  --common-proto-path /protos/api-common-protos-master \
+  -I /in \
+  --output-dir /out \
+  $* \
+  `find /in -name '*.proto'`
+exit 0
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 48ad6c6ec..d4784f895 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@
     "c8": "^6.0.0",
     "codecov": "^3.6.1",
     "espower-typescript": "^9.0.0",
-    "google-gax": "^1.7.5",
     "gts": "^1.0.0",
     "intelli-espower-loader": "^1.0.1",
     "mocha": "^6.2.1",
@@ -60,6 +59,7 @@
     "file-system": "^2.2.2",
     "fs-extra": "^8.1.0",
     "get-stdin": "^7.0.0",
+    "google-gax": "^1.7.5",
     "nunjucks": "^3.1.3",
     "object-hash": "^2.0.0",
     "protobufjs": "^6.8.8",
diff --git a/typescript/src/start_script.ts b/typescript/src/start_script.ts
index c29a42474..80c6dccab 100755
--- a/typescript/src/start_script.ts
+++ b/typescript/src/start_script.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,11 @@ const argv = yargs
   .describe('output_dir', 'Path to a directory for the generated code')
   .alias('grpc-service-config', 'grpc_service_config')
   .describe('grpc-service-config', 'Path to gRPC service config JSON')
-  .usage(`Usage: $0 -I /path/to/googleapis \\
+  .alias('common-proto-path', 'common_protos_path')
+  .describe(
+    'common_proto_path',
+    'Path to API common protos to use (if unset, will use protos shipped with google-gax)'
+  ).usage(`Usage: $0 -I /path/to/googleapis \\
   --output_dir /path/to/output_directory \\
   google/example/api/v1/api.proto`).argv;
 const outputDir = argv.outputDir as string;
@@ -53,10 +57,12 @@ if (Array.isArray(argv._)) {
   protoFiles.push(argv._);
 }
 
+const commonProtoPath = argv.commonProtoPath || GOOGLE_GAX_PROTOS_DIR;
+
 // run protoc command to generate client library
 const cliPath = path.join(__dirname, 'cli.js');
 const protocCommand = [
-  `-I${GOOGLE_GAX_PROTOS_DIR}`,
+  `-I${commonProtoPath}`,
   `--plugin=protoc-gen-typescript_gapic=${cliPath}`,
   `--typescript_gapic_out=${outputDir}`,
 ];