diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7b63b0160..935d650e1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,7 +2,12 @@
 
 ## main / unreleased
 
+* [CHANGE] The docker base images are now based off distroless images rather than Alpine. #149
+  * The standard base image is now `gcr.io/distroless/static-debian12:nonroot`.
+  * The boringcrypto base image is now `gcr.io/distroless/base-nossl-debian12:nonroot` (for glibc).
+
 ## v0.16.0
+
 * [ENHANCEMENT] If the POST to prepare-shutdown fails for any replica, attempt to undo the operation by issuing an HTTP DELETE to prepare-shutdown for all target replicas. #146
 
 ## v0.15.0
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 47a245928..22a6a17d0 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+ARG BASEIMAGE
+
 FROM golang:1.22-bookworm AS build
 
 ARG TARGETOS
@@ -8,17 +10,11 @@ COPY . /src/rollout-operator
 WORKDIR /src/rollout-operator
 RUN GOOS=${TARGETOS} GOARCH=${TARGETARCH} make ${BUILDTARGET}
 
-FROM alpine:3.19
-RUN apk add --no-cache ca-certificates gcompat
+FROM ${BASEIMAGE}
 
 COPY --from=build /src/rollout-operator/rollout-operator /bin/rollout-operator
 ENTRYPOINT [ "/bin/rollout-operator" ]
 
-# Create rollout-operator user to run as non-root.
-RUN addgroup -g 10000 -S rollout-operator && \
-    adduser  -u 10000 -S rollout-operator -G rollout-operator
-USER rollout-operator:rollout-operator
-
 ARG revision
 LABEL org.opencontainers.image.title="rollout-operator" \
       org.opencontainers.image.source="https://github.com/grafana/rollout-operator" \
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d21423f93..19063ee15 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ GOARCH ?= $(shell go env GOARCH)
 DONT_FIND := -name vendor -prune -o -name .git -prune -o -name .cache -prune -o -name .pkg -prune
 GO_FILES := $(shell find . $(DONT_FIND) -o -type f -name '*.go' -print)
 
+BASE_IMAGE=gcr.io/distroless/static-debian12:nonroot
+# Boringcrypto has a different base image for glibc
+BORINGCRYPTO_BASE_IMAGE=gcr.io/distroless/base-nossl-debian12:nonroot
+
 .DEFAULT_GOAL := rollout-operator
 
 # Adapted from https://www.thapaliya.com/en/writings/well-documented-makefiles/
@@ -31,23 +35,23 @@ rollout-operator-boringcrypto: $(GO_FILES) ## Build the rollout-operator binary
 
 .PHONY: build-image
 build-image: clean ## Build the rollout-operator image
-	docker buildx build --load --platform linux/amd64 --build-arg revision=$(GIT_REVISION) -t rollout-operator:latest -t rollout-operator:$(IMAGE_TAG) .
+	docker buildx build --load --platform linux/amd64 --build-arg revision=$(GIT_REVISION) --build-arg BASEIMAGE=$(BASE_IMAGE) -t rollout-operator:latest -t rollout-operator:$(IMAGE_TAG) .
 
 .PHONY: build-image-boringcrypto
 build-image-boringcrypto: clean ## Build the rollout-operator image with boringcrypto
 	# Tags with the regular image repo for integration testing
-	docker buildx build --load --platform linux/amd64 --build-arg revision=$(GIT_REVISION) --build-arg BUILDTARGET=rollout-operator-boringcrypto -t rollout-operator:latest -t rollout-operator:$(IMAGE_TAG) .
+	docker buildx build --load --platform linux/amd64 --build-arg revision=$(GIT_REVISION) --build-arg BASEIMAGE=$(BORINGCRYPTO_BASE_IMAGE) --build-arg BUILDTARGET=rollout-operator-boringcrypto -t rollout-operator:latest -t rollout-operator:$(IMAGE_TAG) .
 
 .PHONY: publish-images
 publish-images: publish-standard-image publish-boringcrypto-image ## Build and publish both the standard and boringcrypto images
 
 .PHONY: publish-standard-image
 publish-standard-image: clean ## Build and publish only the standard rollout-operator image
-	docker buildx build --push --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 --build-arg revision=$(GIT_REVISION) --build-arg BUILDTARGET=rollout-operator -t $(IMAGE_PREFIX)/rollout-operator:$(IMAGE_TAG) .
+	docker buildx build --push --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 --build-arg revision=$(GIT_REVISION) --build-arg BASEIMAGE=$(BASE_IMAGE) --build-arg BUILDTARGET=rollout-operator -t $(IMAGE_PREFIX)/rollout-operator:$(IMAGE_TAG) .
 
 .PHONY: publish-boringcrypto-image
 publish-boringcrypto-image: clean ## Build and publish only the boring-crypto rollout-operator image
-	docker buildx build --push --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 --build-arg revision=$(GIT_REVISION) --build-arg BUILDTARGET=rollout-operator-boringcrypto -t $(IMAGE_PREFIX)/rollout-operator-boringcrypto:$(IMAGE_TAG) .
+	docker buildx build --push --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 --build-arg revision=$(GIT_REVISION) --build-arg BASEIMAGE=$(BORINGCRYPTO_BASE_IMAGE) --build-arg BUILDTARGET=rollout-operator-boringcrypto -t $(IMAGE_PREFIX)/rollout-operator-boringcrypto:$(IMAGE_TAG) .
 
 .PHONY: test
 test: ## Run tests
diff --git a/integration/mock-service/Dockerfile b/integration/mock-service/Dockerfile
index 422d85d60..52d966c9e 100644
--- a/integration/mock-service/Dockerfile
+++ b/integration/mock-service/Dockerfile
@@ -1,13 +1,8 @@
-FROM alpine:3.19
+FROM gcr.io/distroless/static-debian12:nonroot
 
 COPY       mock-service /bin/mock-service
 ENTRYPOINT [ "/bin/mock-service" ]
 
-# Create mock-service user to run as non-root.
-RUN addgroup -g 10000 -S mock-service && \
-    adduser  -u 10000 -S mock-service -G mock-service
-USER mock-service:mock-service
-
 ARG revision
 LABEL org.opencontainers.image.title="mock-service" \
       org.opencontainers.image.source="https://github.com/grafana/rollout-operator/integration/mock-service" \