diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 36489cb73..6453f1916 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -62,4 +62,14 @@ publishdevimage:
 	@test -n "${REPO}" || (echo "REPO=... required; e.g. REPO=ghcr.io/${USER}/tailscale" && exit 1)
 	@test "${REPO}" != "tailscale/tailscale" || (echo "REPO=... must not be tailscale/tailscale" && exit 1)
 	@test "${REPO}" != "ghcr.io/tailscale/tailscale" || (echo "REPO=... must not be ghcr.io/tailscale/tailscale" && exit 1)
-	TAGS=latest REPOS=${REPO} PUSH=true ./build_docker.sh
+	@test "${REPO}" != "tailscale/k8s-operator" || (echo "REPO=... must not be tailscale/k8s-operator" && exit 1)
+	@test "${REPO}" != "ghcr.io/tailscale/k8s-operator" || (echo "REPO=... must not be ghcr.io/tailscale/k8s-operator" && exit 1)
+	TAGS=latest REPOS=${REPO} PUSH=true TARGET=client ./build_docker.sh
+
+publishdevoperator:
+	@test -n "${REPO}" || (echo "REPO=... required; e.g. REPO=ghcr.io/${USER}/tailscale" && exit 1)
+	@test "${REPO}" != "tailscale/tailscale" || (echo "REPO=... must not be tailscale/tailscale" && exit 1)
+	@test "${REPO}" != "ghcr.io/tailscale/tailscale" || (echo "REPO=... must not be ghcr.io/tailscale/tailscale" && exit 1)
+	@test "${REPO}" != "tailscale/k8s-operator" || (echo "REPO=... must not be tailscale/k8s-operator" && exit 1)
+	@test "${REPO}" != "ghcr.io/tailscale/k8s-operator" || (echo "REPO=... must not be ghcr.io/tailscale/k8s-operator" && exit 1)
+	TAGS=latest REPOS=${REPO} PUSH=true TARGET=operator ./build_docker.sh
diff --git a/build_docker.sh b/build_docker.sh
index 734f618f5..cd3254265 100755
--- a/build_docker.sh
+++ b/build_docker.sh
@@ -26,23 +26,46 @@ eval $(./build_dist.sh shellvars)
 DEFAULT_TAGS="v${VERSION_SHORT},v${VERSION_MINOR}"
 DEFAULT_REPOS="tailscale/tailscale,ghcr.io/tailscale/tailscale"
 DEFAULT_BASE="ghcr.io/tailscale/alpine-base:3.16"
+DEFAULT_TARGET="client"
 
 PUSH="${PUSH:-false}"
 REPOS="${REPOS:-${DEFAULT_REPOS}}"
 TAGS="${TAGS:-${DEFAULT_TAGS}}"
 BASE="${BASE:-${DEFAULT_BASE}}"
+TARGET="${TARGET:-${DEFAULT_TARGET}}"
 
-go run github.com/tailscale/mkctr \
-  --gopaths="\
-    tailscale.com/cmd/tailscale:/usr/local/bin/tailscale, \
-    tailscale.com/cmd/tailscaled:/usr/local/bin/tailscaled, \
-    tailscale.com/cmd/containerboot:/usr/local/bin/containerboot" \
-  --ldflags="\
-    -X tailscale.com/version.Long=${VERSION_LONG} \
-    -X tailscale.com/version.Short=${VERSION_SHORT} \
-    -X tailscale.com/version.GitCommit=${VERSION_GIT_HASH}" \
-  --base="${BASE}" \
-  --tags="${TAGS}" \
-  --repos="${REPOS}" \
-  --push="${PUSH}" \
-  /usr/local/bin/containerboot
+case "$TARGET" in
+  client)
+    go run github.com/tailscale/mkctr \
+      --gopaths="\
+        tailscale.com/cmd/tailscale:/usr/local/bin/tailscale, \
+        tailscale.com/cmd/tailscaled:/usr/local/bin/tailscaled, \
+        tailscale.com/cmd/containerboot:/usr/local/bin/containerboot" \
+      --ldflags="\
+        -X tailscale.com/version.Long=${VERSION_LONG} \
+        -X tailscale.com/version.Short=${VERSION_SHORT} \
+        -X tailscale.com/version.GitCommit=${VERSION_GIT_HASH}" \
+      --base="${BASE}" \
+      --tags="${TAGS}" \
+      --repos="${REPOS}" \
+      --push="${PUSH}" \
+      /usr/local/bin/containerboot
+    ;;
+  operator)
+    go run github.com/tailscale/mkctr \
+      --gopaths="tailscale.com/cmd/k8s-operator:/usr/local/bin/operator" \
+      --ldflags="\
+        -X tailscale.com/version.Long=${VERSION_LONG} \
+        -X tailscale.com/version.Short=${VERSION_SHORT} \
+        -X tailscale.com/version.GitCommit=${VERSION_GIT_HASH}" \
+      --base="${BASE}" \
+      --tags="${TAGS}" \
+      --repos="${REPOS}" \
+      --push="${PUSH}" \
+      /usr/local/bin/operator
+    ;;
+  *)
+    echo "unknown target: $TARGET"
+    exit 1
+    ;;
+esac
\ No newline at end of file