diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 89bc555..a7ee40d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -98,6 +98,8 @@ bin/$(OS)_$(ARCH)/$(BIN): build-dirs
 	    -v $$(pwd)/bin/$(OS)_$(ARCH):/go/bin/$(OS)_$(ARCH)                       \
 	    -v $$(pwd)/.go/std/$(OS)_$(ARCH):/usr/local/go/pkg/$(OS)_$(ARCH)_static  \
 	    -v $$(pwd)/.go/cache:/.cache                                             \
+	    --env HTTP_PROXY=$(HTTP_PROXY)                                           \
+	    --env HTTPS_PROXY=$(HTTPS_PROXY)                                         \
 	    -w /go/src/$(PKG)                                                        \
 	    --rm                                                                     \
 	    $(BUILD_IMAGE)                                                           \
@@ -119,7 +121,12 @@ container: .container-$(DOTFILE_IMAGE) container-name
 	    -e 's|{ARG_OS}|$(OS)|g' \
 	    -e 's|{ARG_FROM}|$(BASEIMAGE)|g' \
 	    Dockerfile.in > .dockerfile-$(OS)_$(ARCH)
-	@docker build -t $(IMAGE):$(TAG) -f .dockerfile-$(OS)_$(ARCH) .
+	@docker build \
+	    --build-arg HTTP_PROXY=$(HTTP_PROXY) \
+	    --build-arg HTTPS_PROXY=$(HTTPS_PROXY) \
+	    -t $(IMAGE):$(TAG) \
+	    -f .dockerfile-$(OS)_$(ARCH) \
+	    .
 	@docker images -q $(IMAGE):$(TAG) > $@
 
 container-name:
@@ -155,6 +162,8 @@ test: build-dirs
 	    -v $$(pwd)/bin/$(OS)_$(ARCH):/go/bin                                     \
 	    -v $$(pwd)/.go/std/$(OS)_$(ARCH):/usr/local/go/pkg/$(OS)_$(ARCH)_static  \
 	    -v $$(pwd)/.go/cache:/.cache                                             \
+	    --env HTTP_PROXY=$(HTTP_PROXY)                                           \
+	    --env HTTPS_PROXY=$(HTTPS_PROXY)                                         \
 	    -w /go/src/$(PKG)                                                        \
 	    $(BUILD_IMAGE)                                                           \
 	    /bin/sh -c "                                                             \
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fd50f87..26cf902 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ git-sync can also be configured to make webhook call upon sucessful git repo syn
 # build the container
 make container REGISTRY=registry VERSION=tag
 
+# build the container behind a proxy
+make container REGISTRY=registry VERSION=tag HTTP_PROXY=http://<proxy_address>:<proxy_port> HTTPS_PROXY=https://<proxy_address>:<proxy_port>
+
 # run the container
 docker run -d \
     -v /tmp/git-data:/tmp/git \