diff --git a/.drone/drone.yml b/.drone/drone.yml
index 7ba8b27679e6c..402b5efad6c6e 100644
--- a/.drone/drone.yml
+++ b/.drone/drone.yml
@@ -182,6 +182,8 @@ steps:
   image: plugins/docker
   settings:
     dockerfile: cmd/loki/Dockerfile
+    build_args:
+    - TOUCH_PROTOS=1
     dry_run: true
     password:
       from_secret: docker_password
@@ -200,6 +202,8 @@ steps:
   image: plugins/docker
   settings:
     dockerfile: cmd/loki-canary/Dockerfile
+    build_args:
+    - TOUCH_PROTOS=1
     dry_run: true
     password:
       from_secret: docker_password
@@ -218,6 +222,8 @@ steps:
   image: plugins/docker
   settings:
     dockerfile: cmd/promtail/Dockerfile
+    build_args:
+    - TOUCH_PROTOS=1
     dry_run: true
     password:
       from_secret: docker_password
@@ -236,6 +242,8 @@ steps:
   image: plugins/docker
   settings:
     dockerfile: cmd/loki/Dockerfile
+    build_args:
+    - TOUCH_PROTOS=1
     password:
       from_secret: docker_password
     repo: grafana/loki
@@ -252,6 +260,8 @@ steps:
   image: plugins/docker
   settings:
     dockerfile: cmd/loki-canary/Dockerfile
+    build_args:
+    - TOUCH_PROTOS=1
     password:
       from_secret: docker_password
     repo: grafana/loki-canary
@@ -268,6 +278,8 @@ steps:
   image: plugins/docker
   settings:
     dockerfile: cmd/promtail/Dockerfile
+    build_args:
+    - TOUCH_PROTOS=1
     password:
       from_secret: docker_password
     repo: grafana/promtail
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 490a9575ac873..52feb25505d7a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -288,6 +288,7 @@ endif
 
 protos: $(PROTO_GOS)
 
+# use with care. This signals to make that the proto definitions don't need recompiling.
 touch-protos:
 	for proto in $(PROTO_GOS); do [ -f "./$${proto}" ] && touch "$${proto}" && echo "touched $${proto}"; done
 
diff --git a/cmd/loki-canary/Dockerfile b/cmd/loki-canary/Dockerfile
index 603192eca6603..6a9d8f41155ea 100644
--- a/cmd/loki-canary/Dockerfile
+++ b/cmd/loki-canary/Dockerfile
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 FROM golang:1.13 as build
+# TOUCH_PROTOS signifies if we should touch the compiled proto files and thus not regenerate them.
+# This is helpful when file system timestamps can't be trusted with make
+ARG TOUCH_PROTOS
 COPY . /src/loki
 WORKDIR /src/loki
-RUN make clean && make BUILD_IN_CONTAINER=false loki-canary
+RUN make clean && (if [ "${TOUCH_PROTOS}" ]; then make touch-protos; fi) && make BUILD_IN_CONTAINER=false loki-canary
 
 FROM alpine:3.9
 RUN apk add --update --no-cache ca-certificates
diff --git a/cmd/loki/Dockerfile b/cmd/loki/Dockerfile
index fc7c4c3ac08aa..ecc9e5b1b6688 100644
--- a/cmd/loki/Dockerfile
+++ b/cmd/loki/Dockerfile
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 FROM golang:1.13 as build
+# TOUCH_PROTOS signifies if we should touch the compiled proto files and thus not regenerate them.
+# This is helpful when file system timestamps can't be trusted with make
+ARG TOUCH_PROTOS
 COPY . /src/loki
 WORKDIR /src/loki
-RUN make clean && make BUILD_IN_CONTAINER=false loki
+RUN make clean && (if [ "${TOUCH_PROTOS}" ]; then make touch-protos; fi) && make BUILD_IN_CONTAINER=false loki
 
 FROM alpine:3.9
 RUN apk add --update --no-cache ca-certificates
diff --git a/cmd/promtail/Dockerfile b/cmd/promtail/Dockerfile
index ea57610a7aaaa..1681b66e4bef3 100644
--- a/cmd/promtail/Dockerfile
+++ b/cmd/promtail/Dockerfile
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 FROM golang:1.13 as build
+# TOUCH_PROTOS signifies if we should touch the compiled proto files and thus not regenerate them.
+# This is helpful when file system timestamps can't be trusted with make
+ARG TOUCH_PROTOS
 COPY . /src/loki
 WORKDIR /src/loki
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -qy libsystemd-dev
-RUN make clean && make BUILD_IN_CONTAINER=false promtail
+RUN make clean && (if [ "${TOUCH_PROTOS}" ]; then make touch-protos; fi) && make BUILD_IN_CONTAINER=false promtail
 
 # Promtail requires debian as the base image to support systemd journal reading
 FROM debian:stretch-slim