diff --git a/bin/docker-image-tool.sh b/bin/docker-image-tool.sh
index e51201a77cb5d..9f735f1148da4 100755
--- a/bin/docker-image-tool.sh
+++ b/bin/docker-image-tool.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,20 @@ if [ -z "${SPARK_HOME}" ]; then
 fi
 . "${SPARK_HOME}/bin/load-spark-env.sh"
 
+CTX_DIR="$SPARK_HOME/target/tmp/docker"
+
+function is_dev_build {
+  [ ! -f "$SPARK_HOME/RELEASE" ]
+}
+
+function cleanup_ctx_dir {
+  if is_dev_build; then
+    rm -rf "$CTX_DIR"
+  fi
+}
+
+trap cleanup_ctx_dir EXIT
+
 function image_ref {
   local image="$1"
   local add_repo="${2:-1}"
@@ -53,80 +67,114 @@ function docker_push {
   fi
 }
 
+# Create a smaller build context for docker in dev builds to make the build faster. Docker
+# uploads all of the current directory to the daemon, and it can get pretty big with dev
+# builds that contain test log files and other artifacts.
+#
+# Three build contexts are created, one for each image: base, pyspark, and sparkr. For them
+# to have the desired effect, the docker command needs to be executed inside the appropriate
+# context directory.
+#
+# Note: docker does not support symlinks in the build context.
+function create_dev_build_context {(
+  set -e
+  local BASE_CTX="$CTX_DIR/base"
+  mkdir -p "$BASE_CTX/kubernetes"
+  cp -r "resource-managers/kubernetes/docker/src/main/dockerfiles" \
+    "$BASE_CTX/kubernetes/dockerfiles"
+
+  cp -r "assembly/target/scala-$SPARK_SCALA_VERSION/jars" "$BASE_CTX/jars"
+  cp -r "resource-managers/kubernetes/integration-tests/tests" \
+    "$BASE_CTX/kubernetes/tests"
+
+  mkdir "$BASE_CTX/examples"
+  cp -r "examples/src" "$BASE_CTX/examples/src"
+  # Copy just needed examples jars instead of everything.
+  mkdir "$BASE_CTX/examples/jars"
+  for i in examples/target/scala-$SPARK_SCALA_VERSION/jars/*; do
+    if [ ! -f "$BASE_CTX/jars/$(basename $i)" ]; then
+      cp $i "$BASE_CTX/examples/jars"
+    fi
+  done
+
+  for other in bin sbin data; do
+    cp -r "$other" "$BASE_CTX/$other"
+  done
+
+  local PYSPARK_CTX="$CTX_DIR/pyspark"
+  mkdir -p "$PYSPARK_CTX/kubernetes"
+  cp -r "resource-managers/kubernetes/docker/src/main/dockerfiles" \
+    "$PYSPARK_CTX/kubernetes/dockerfiles"
+  mkdir "$PYSPARK_CTX/python"
+  cp -r "python/lib" "$PYSPARK_CTX/python/lib"
+
+  local R_CTX="$CTX_DIR/sparkr"
+  mkdir -p "$R_CTX/kubernetes"
+  cp -r "resource-managers/kubernetes/docker/src/main/dockerfiles" \
+    "$R_CTX/kubernetes/dockerfiles"
+  cp -r "R" "$R_CTX/R"
+)}
+
+function img_ctx_dir {
+  if is_dev_build; then
+    echo "$CTX_DIR/$1"
+  else
+    echo "$SPARK_HOME"
+  fi
+}
+
 function build {
   local BUILD_ARGS
-  local IMG_PATH
-  local JARS
-
-  if [ ! -f "$SPARK_HOME/RELEASE" ]; then
-    # Set image build arguments accordingly if this is a source repo and not a distribution archive.
-    #
-    # Note that this will copy all of the example jars directory into the image, and that will
-    # contain a lot of duplicated jars with the main Spark directory. In a proper distribution,
-    # the examples directory is cleaned up before generating the distribution tarball, so this
-    # issue does not occur.
-    IMG_PATH=resource-managers/kubernetes/docker/src/main/dockerfiles
-    JARS=assembly/target/scala-$SPARK_SCALA_VERSION/jars
-    BUILD_ARGS=(
-      ${BUILD_PARAMS}
-      --build-arg
-      img_path=$IMG_PATH
-      --build-arg
-      spark_jars=$JARS
-      --build-arg
-      example_jars=examples/target/scala-$SPARK_SCALA_VERSION/jars
-      --build-arg
-      k8s_tests=resource-managers/kubernetes/integration-tests/tests
-    )
-  else
-    # Not passed as arguments to docker, but used to validate the Spark directory.
-    IMG_PATH="kubernetes/dockerfiles"
-    JARS=jars
-    BUILD_ARGS=(${BUILD_PARAMS})
+  local SPARK_ROOT="$SPARK_HOME"
+
+  if is_dev_build; then
+    create_dev_build_context || error "Failed to create docker build context."
+    SPARK_ROOT="$CTX_DIR/base"
   fi
 
   # Verify that the Docker image content directory is present
-  if [ ! -d "$IMG_PATH" ]; then
+  if [ ! -d "$SPARK_ROOT/kubernetes/dockerfiles" ]; then
     error "Cannot find docker image. This script must be run from a runnable distribution of Apache Spark."
   fi
 
   # Verify that Spark has actually been built/is a runnable distribution
   # i.e. the Spark JARs that the Docker files will place into the image are present
-  local TOTAL_JARS=$(ls $JARS/spark-* | wc -l)
+  local TOTAL_JARS=$(ls $SPARK_ROOT/jars/spark-* | wc -l)
   TOTAL_JARS=$(( $TOTAL_JARS ))
   if [ "${TOTAL_JARS}" -eq 0 ]; then
     error "Cannot find Spark JARs. This script assumes that Apache Spark has first been built locally or this is a runnable distribution."
   fi
 
+  local BUILD_ARGS=(${BUILD_PARAMS})
   local BINDING_BUILD_ARGS=(
     ${BUILD_PARAMS}
     --build-arg
     base_img=$(image_ref spark)
   )
-  local BASEDOCKERFILE=${BASEDOCKERFILE:-"$IMG_PATH/spark/Dockerfile"}
+  local BASEDOCKERFILE=${BASEDOCKERFILE:-"kubernetes/dockerfiles/spark/Dockerfile"}
   local PYDOCKERFILE=${PYDOCKERFILE:-false}
   local RDOCKERFILE=${RDOCKERFILE:-false}
 
-  docker build $NOCACHEARG "${BUILD_ARGS[@]}" \
+  (cd $(img_ctx_dir base) && docker build $NOCACHEARG "${BUILD_ARGS[@]}" \
     -t $(image_ref spark) \
-    -f "$BASEDOCKERFILE" .
+    -f "$BASEDOCKERFILE" .)
   if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
     error "Failed to build Spark JVM Docker image, please refer to Docker build output for details."
   fi
 
   if [ "${PYDOCKERFILE}" != "false" ]; then
-    docker build $NOCACHEARG "${BINDING_BUILD_ARGS[@]}" \
+    (cd $(img_ctx_dir pyspark) && docker build $NOCACHEARG "${BINDING_BUILD_ARGS[@]}" \
       -t $(image_ref spark-py) \
-      -f "$PYDOCKERFILE" .
+      -f "$PYDOCKERFILE" .)
       if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
         error "Failed to build PySpark Docker image, please refer to Docker build output for details."
       fi
   fi
 
   if [ "${RDOCKERFILE}" != "false" ]; then
-    docker build $NOCACHEARG "${BINDING_BUILD_ARGS[@]}" \
+    (cd $(img_ctx_dir sparkr) && docker build $NOCACHEARG "${BINDING_BUILD_ARGS[@]}" \
       -t $(image_ref spark-r) \
-      -f "$RDOCKERFILE" .
+      -f "$RDOCKERFILE" .)
     if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
       error "Failed to build SparkR Docker image, please refer to Docker build output for details."
     fi
diff --git a/project/SparkBuild.scala b/project/SparkBuild.scala
index 08e22fab65165..bb834bc483f1f 100644
--- a/project/SparkBuild.scala
+++ b/project/SparkBuild.scala
@@ -516,7 +516,8 @@ object KubernetesIntegrationTests {
       s"-Dspark.kubernetes.test.unpackSparkDir=$sparkHome"
     ),
     // Force packaging before building images, so that the latest code is tested.
-    dockerBuild := dockerBuild.dependsOn(packageBin in Compile in assembly).value
+    dockerBuild := dockerBuild.dependsOn(packageBin in Compile in assembly)
+      .dependsOn(packageBin in Compile in examples).value
   )
 }
 
diff --git a/resource-managers/kubernetes/docker/src/main/dockerfiles/spark/Dockerfile b/resource-managers/kubernetes/docker/src/main/dockerfiles/spark/Dockerfile
index 5f469c30a96fa..89b20e1446229 100644
--- a/resource-managers/kubernetes/docker/src/main/dockerfiles/spark/Dockerfile
+++ b/resource-managers/kubernetes/docker/src/main/dockerfiles/spark/Dockerfile
@@ -17,11 +17,6 @@
 
 FROM openjdk:8-alpine
 
-ARG spark_jars=jars
-ARG example_jars=examples/jars
-ARG img_path=kubernetes/dockerfiles
-ARG k8s_tests=kubernetes/tests
-
 # Before building the docker image, first build and make a Spark distribution following
 # the instructions in http://spark.apache.org/docs/latest/building-spark.html.
 # If this docker file is being used in the context of building your images from a Spark
@@ -41,13 +36,12 @@ RUN set -ex && \
     echo "auth required pam_wheel.so use_uid" >> /etc/pam.d/su && \
     chgrp root /etc/passwd && chmod ug+rw /etc/passwd
 
-COPY ${spark_jars} /opt/spark/jars
+COPY jars /opt/spark/jars
 COPY bin /opt/spark/bin
 COPY sbin /opt/spark/sbin
-COPY ${img_path}/spark/entrypoint.sh /opt/
-COPY ${example_jars} /opt/spark/examples/jars
-COPY examples/src /opt/spark/examples/src
-COPY ${k8s_tests} /opt/spark/tests
+COPY kubernetes/dockerfiles/spark/entrypoint.sh /opt/
+COPY examples /opt/spark/examples
+COPY kubernetes/tests /opt/spark/tests
 COPY data /opt/spark/data
 
 ENV SPARK_HOME /opt/spark