diff --git a/docker.Makefile b/docker.Makefile
index 6de7683c64..de1dd4fcd5 100644
--- a/docker.Makefile
+++ b/docker.Makefile
@@ -4,17 +4,21 @@
 # Makefile for developing using Docker
 #
 
+# Overridable env vars
+DOCKER_CLI_MOUNTS ?= -v "$(CURDIR)":/go/src/github.com/docker/cli
+DOCKER_CLI_SHELL ?= ash
+DOCKER_CLI_CONTAINER_NAME ?=
+DOCKER_CLI_GO_BUILD_CACHE ?= y
+
 DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME = docker-cli-dev$(IMAGE_TAG)
 BINARY_NATIVE_IMAGE_NAME = docker-cli-native$(IMAGE_TAG)
 LINTER_IMAGE_NAME = docker-cli-lint$(IMAGE_TAG)
 CROSS_IMAGE_NAME = docker-cli-cross$(IMAGE_TAG)
 VALIDATE_IMAGE_NAME = docker-cli-shell-validate$(IMAGE_TAG)
 E2E_IMAGE_NAME = docker-cli-e2e$(IMAGE_TAG)
-GO_BUILD_CACHE ?= y
-MOUNTS = -v "$(CURDIR)":/go/src/github.com/docker/cli
 CACHE_VOLUME_NAME := docker-cli-dev-cache
-ifeq ($(GO_BUILD_CACHE),y)
-MOUNTS += -v "$(CACHE_VOLUME_NAME):/root/.cache/go-build"
+ifeq ($(DOCKER_CLI_GO_BUILD_CACHE),y)
+DOCKER_CLI_MOUNTS += -v "$(CACHE_VOLUME_NAME):/root/.cache/go-build"
 endif
 VERSION = $(shell cat VERSION)
 ENVVARS = -e VERSION=$(VERSION) -e GITCOMMIT -e PLATFORM
@@ -50,9 +54,11 @@ build_binary_native_image:
 build_e2e_image:
 	docker build -t $(E2E_IMAGE_NAME) --build-arg VERSION=$(VERSION) --build-arg GITCOMMIT=$(GITCOMMIT) -f ./dockerfiles/Dockerfile.e2e .
 
+DOCKER_RUN_NAME_OPTION := $(if $(DOCKER_CLI_CONTAINER_NAME),--name $(DOCKER_CLI_CONTAINER_NAME),)
+DOCKER_RUN := docker run --rm $(ENVVARS) $(DOCKER_CLI_MOUNTS) $(DOCKER_RUN_NAME_OPTION)
 
 binary: build_binary_native_image ## build the CLI
-	docker run --rm $(ENVVARS) $(MOUNTS) $(BINARY_NATIVE_IMAGE_NAME)
+	$(DOCKER_RUN) $(BINARY_NATIVE_IMAGE_NAME)
 
 build: binary ## alias for binary
 
@@ -61,23 +67,23 @@ plugins: build_binary_native_image ## build the CLI plugin examples
 
 .PHONY: clean
 clean: build_docker_image ## clean build artifacts
-	docker run --rm $(ENVVARS) $(MOUNTS) $(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) make clean
+	$(DOCKER_RUN) $(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) make clean
 	docker volume rm -f $(CACHE_VOLUME_NAME)
 
 .PHONY: test-unit
 test-unit: build_docker_image ## run unit tests (using go test)
-	docker run --rm $(ENVVARS) $(MOUNTS) $(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) make test-unit
+	$(DOCKER_RUN) $(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) make test-unit
 
 .PHONY: test ## run unit and e2e tests
 test: test-unit test-e2e
 
 .PHONY: cross
 cross: build_cross_image ## build the CLI for macOS and Windows
-	docker run --rm $(ENVVARS) $(MOUNTS) $(CROSS_IMAGE_NAME) make cross
+	$(DOCKER_RUN) $(CROSS_IMAGE_NAME) make cross
 
 .PHONY: binary-windows
 binary-windows: build_cross_image ## build the CLI for Windows
-	docker run --rm $(ENVVARS) $(MOUNTS) $(CROSS_IMAGE_NAME) make $@
+	$(DOCKER_RUN) $(CROSS_IMAGE_NAME) make $@
 
 .PHONY: plugins-windows
 plugins-windows: build_cross_image ## build the example CLI plugins for Windows
@@ -85,7 +91,7 @@ plugins-windows: build_cross_image ## build the example CLI plugins for Windows
 
 .PHONY: binary-osx
 binary-osx: build_cross_image ## build the CLI for macOS
-	docker run --rm $(ENVVARS) $(MOUNTS) $(CROSS_IMAGE_NAME) make $@
+	$(DOCKER_RUN) $(CROSS_IMAGE_NAME) make $@
 
 .PHONY: plugins-osx
 plugins-osx: build_cross_image ## build the example CLI plugins for macOS
@@ -93,42 +99,42 @@ plugins-osx: build_cross_image ## build the example CLI plugins for macOS
 
 .PHONY: dev
 dev: build_docker_image ## start a build container in interactive mode for in-container development
-	docker run -ti --rm $(ENVVARS) $(MOUNTS) \
+	$(DOCKER_RUN) -it \
 		-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
-		$(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) ash
+		$(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) $(DOCKER_CLI_SHELL)
 
 shell: dev ## alias for dev
 
 .PHONY: lint
 lint: build_linter_image ## run linters
-	docker run -ti --rm $(ENVVARS) $(MOUNTS) $(LINTER_IMAGE_NAME)
+	$(DOCKER_RUN) -it $(LINTER_IMAGE_NAME)
 
 .PHONY: fmt
 fmt: ## run gofmt
-	docker run --rm $(ENVVARS) $(MOUNTS) $(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) make fmt
+	$(DOCKER_RUN) $(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) make fmt
 
 .PHONY: vendor
 vendor: build_docker_image vendor.conf ## download dependencies (vendor/) listed in vendor.conf
-	docker run -ti --rm $(ENVVARS) $(MOUNTS) $(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) make vendor
+	$(DOCKER_RUN) -it $(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) make vendor
 
 dynbinary: build_cross_image ## build the CLI dynamically linked
-	docker run -ti --rm $(ENVVARS) $(MOUNTS) $(CROSS_IMAGE_NAME) make dynbinary
+	$(DOCKER_RUN) -it $(CROSS_IMAGE_NAME) make dynbinary
 
 .PHONY: authors
 authors: ## generate AUTHORS file from git history
-	docker run -ti --rm $(ENVVARS) $(MOUNTS) $(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) make authors
+	$(DOCKER_RUN) -it $(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) make authors
 
 .PHONY: manpages
 manpages: build_docker_image ## generate man pages from go source and markdown
-	docker run -ti --rm $(ENVVARS) $(MOUNTS) $(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) make manpages
+	$(DOCKER_RUN) -it $(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) make manpages
 
 .PHONY: yamldocs
 yamldocs: build_docker_image ## generate documentation YAML files consumed by docs repo
-	docker run -ti --rm $(ENVVARS) $(MOUNTS) $(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) make yamldocs
+	$(DOCKER_RUN) -it $(DEV_DOCKER_IMAGE_NAME) make yamldocs
 
 .PHONY: shellcheck
 shellcheck: build_shell_validate_image ## run shellcheck validation
-	docker run -ti --rm $(ENVVARS) $(MOUNTS) $(VALIDATE_IMAGE_NAME) make shellcheck
+	$(DOCKER_RUN) -it $(VALIDATE_IMAGE_NAME) make shellcheck
 
 .PHONY: test-e2e
 test-e2e: test-e2e-non-experimental test-e2e-experimental test-e2e-connhelper-ssh ## run all e2e tests