diff --git a/commands/provider/service_deployer.go b/commands/provider/service_deployer.go
index 2eff4001e..c308f0df1 100644
--- a/commands/provider/service_deployer.go
+++ b/commands/provider/service_deployer.go
@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@ package provider
 import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 
 	"github.com/asaskevich/govalidator"
+	"github.com/docker/cli/cli/command/image/build"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/pkg/archive"
 	"github.com/mesg-foundation/core/protobuf/coreapi"
 )
@@ -77,8 +79,27 @@ func (p *ServiceProvider) ServiceDeploy(path string, env map[string]string, stat
 }
 
 func deployServiceSendServiceContext(path string, env map[string]string, stream coreapi.Core_DeployServiceClient) error {
+	contextDir, relDockerfile, err := build.GetContextFromLocalDir(path, build.DefaultDockerfileName)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	excludes, err := build.ReadDockerignore(contextDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if err := build.ValidateContextDirectory(contextDir, excludes); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("error checking context: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	// And canonicalize dockerfile name to a platform-independent one
+	relDockerfile = archive.CanonicalTarNameForPath(relDockerfile)
+	excludes = build.TrimBuildFilesFromExcludes(excludes, relDockerfile, false)
+
 	archive, err := archive.TarWithOptions(path, &archive.TarOptions{
-		Compression: archive.Gzip,
+		Compression:     archive.Gzip,
+		ExcludePatterns: excludes,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index cc9e07ecf..0389f7c48 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/briandowns/spinner v0.0.0-20180822135157-9f016caa1359
 	github.com/cnf/structhash v0.0.0-20180104161610-62a607eb0224
 	github.com/containerd/continuity v0.0.0-20180712174259-0377f7d76720 // indirect
+	github.com/docker/cli v0.0.0-20190129171106-b258f458cc8d
 	github.com/docker/distribution v0.0.0-20180720172123-0dae0957e5fe // indirect
 	github.com/docker/docker v0.0.0-20180803200506-eeea12db7a65
 	github.com/docker/go-connections v0.0.0-20180212134524-7beb39f0b969 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 654024ebe..166804edc 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0 h1:ZDRjVQ15GmhC3fiQ8ni8+OwkZQO4DARzQgrnXU1Liz8
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
+github.com/docker/cli v0.0.0-20190129171106-b258f458cc8d h1:n+Le3bCrmzFqx0uw8xOmQr4ZkDfRftw+8DuprUbKfps=
+github.com/docker/cli v0.0.0-20190129171106-b258f458cc8d/go.mod h1:JLrzqnKDaYBop7H2jaqPtU4hHvMKP+vjCwu2uszcLI8=
 github.com/docker/distribution v0.0.0-20180720172123-0dae0957e5fe h1:ZRQNMB7Sw5jf9g/0imDbI+vTFNk4J7qBdtFI5/zf1kg=
 github.com/docker/distribution v0.0.0-20180720172123-0dae0957e5fe/go.mod h1:J2gT2udsDAN96Uj4KfcMRqY0/ypR+oyYUYmja8H+y+w=
 github.com/docker/docker v0.0.0-20180803200506-eeea12db7a65 h1:WeqSIzsb30/sarqEph9RS+6xw8rmRpCACwV8+cJ1Rkc=