diff --git a/.github/workflows/main_push_and_pull_request_workflow.yml b/.github/workflows/main_push_and_pull_request_workflow.yml
index 9d22ad3b6..48413be48 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main_push_and_pull_request_workflow.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main_push_and_pull_request_workflow.yml
@@ -44,11 +44,10 @@ jobs:
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Build Docker image
-        run: make docker_image
-
       - name: Run E2E tests
         timeout-minutes: 30
+        env:
+          JAVA_OPTS: -Xmx1G
         run: make E2E_TEST=${{ matrix.test }} e2e_test
 
       # TODO: publish docker image
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 11e3dbf4c..70d752dc9 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ plugins {
     id 'info.solidsoft.pitest' version '1.15.0' apply false
     id "java-library"
     id "distribution"
+    id "com.palantir.docker" version "0.36.0"
 }
 
 apply plugin: 'info.solidsoft.pitest.aggregator'
@@ -285,6 +286,25 @@ tasks.register('validateDependencies') {
     }
 }
 
+dockerPrepare.dependsOn(
+        tasks.distTar,
+        project("core").tasks.distTar,
+        project("storage:s3").tasks.distTar,
+        project("storage:gcs").tasks.distTar,
+        project("storage:azure").tasks.distTar,
+)
+
+docker {
+    name 'aivenoy/kafka-with-ts-plugin'
+    dockerfile file('docker/Dockerfile')
+    copySpec.from(".").into(".")
+    buildArgs([_VERSION: project.version.toString()])
+}
+
+project("e2e").tasks.named("test") {
+    dependsOn(rootProject.tasks.named("docker"))
+}
+
 // TODO fix GCP dependency issues
 //tasks.named("check") {
 //    dependsOn(tasks.named("validateDependencies"))