diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 8aebb2962..98c6d809f 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -65,9 +65,6 @@ jobs:
             for f in $( grep -lR --include=Dockerfile\* go-deps: . ) ; do
               validate_go_deps_tag $f
             done
-            for f in $( grep -lR --include=Dockerfile\* proxy-deps: . ) ; do
-              validate_proxy_deps_tag $f
-            done
           )
 
     # Push container images to Google Container Registry.
@@ -123,10 +120,11 @@ jobs:
         - |
           export CONDUIT_TAG=$(. bin/_tag.sh ; clean_head_root_tag)
           echo "CONDUIT_TAG=${CONDUIT_TAG}"
-        - export PROXY_RELEASE=1 BUILD_DEBUG=1 DOCKER_TRACE=1
+        - export BUILD_DEBUG=1 DOCKER_TRACE=1
 
       script:
-        - bin/docker-build
+        # Tests are run in the `test` stage, se-running them here would be redundant/slow. #280
+        - SKIP_TESTS=1 bin/docker-build
 
       after_success:
         - bin/docker-push-deps
diff --git a/BUILD.md b/BUILD.md
index ef28305db..a571b9b1d 100644
--- a/BUILD.md
+++ b/BUILD.md
@@ -327,6 +327,23 @@ To connect to a live `proxy-api` at `localhost:8086`:
 bin/go-run controller/cmd/proxy-api
 ```
 
+### Docker
+
+The `bin/docker-build-proxy` script builds the proxy:
+
+```bash
+DOCKER_TRACE=1 PROXY_UNOPTIMIZED=1 PROXY_SKIP_TESTS=1 bin/docker-build-proxy
+```
+
+It supports two environment variables:
+
+- `PROXY_UNOPTIMIZED` -- When set and non-empty, produces unoptimized build artifacts,
+  which reduces build times at the expense of runtime performance. Changing this will
+  likely invalidate a substantial portion of Docker's cache.
+- `PROXY_SKIP_TESTS` -- When set and non-empty, prevents the proxy's tests from being run
+  during the build. Changing this setting will not invalidate Docker's cache.
+
+
 ### Testing
 
 ```bash
@@ -353,12 +370,7 @@ hard-coded SHA's:
 - [`Gopkg.lock`](Gopkg.lock)
 - [`Dockerfile-go-deps`](Dockerfile-go-deps)
 
-`gcr.io/runconduit/proxy-deps` depends on
-- [`Cargo.lock`](Cargo.lock)
-- [`proxy/Dockerfile-deps`](proxy/Dockerfile-deps)
-
-The `bin/update-proxy-deps-shas` and `bin/update-go-deps-shas` must be run when their
-respective dependencies change.
+`bin/update-go-deps-shas` must be run when go dependencies change.
 
 # Build Architecture
 
@@ -376,7 +388,6 @@ build_architecture
     "cli/Dockerfile" [color=lightblue, style=filled, shape=rect];
     "cli/Dockerfile-bin" [color=lightblue, style=filled, shape=rect];
     "proxy/Dockerfile" [color=lightblue, style=filled, shape=rect];
-    "proxy/Dockerfile-deps" [color=lightblue, style=filled, shape=rect];
     "proxy-init/Dockerfile" [color=lightblue, style=filled, shape=rect];
     "proxy-init/integration-test/iptables/Dockerfile-tester" [color=lightblue, style=filled, shape=rect];
     "web/Dockerfile" [color=lightblue, style=filled, shape=rect];
@@ -422,13 +433,8 @@ build_architecture
     "docker-build-proxy" -> "_docker.sh";
     "docker-build-proxy" -> "_tag.sh";
     "docker-build-proxy" -> "docker-build-base";
-    "docker-build-proxy" -> "docker-build-go-deps";
     "docker-build-proxy" -> "proxy/Dockerfile";
 
-    "docker-build-proxy-deps" -> "_docker.sh";
-    "docker-build-proxy-deps" -> "_tag.sh";
-    "docker-build-proxy-deps" -> "proxy/Dockerfile-deps";
-
     "docker-build-proxy-init" -> "_docker.sh";
     "docker-build-proxy-init" -> "_tag.sh";
     "docker-build-proxy-init" -> "docker-build-base";
@@ -483,9 +489,6 @@ build_architecture
     "update-go-deps-shas" -> "controller/Dockerfile";
     "update-go-deps-shas" -> "proxy-init/Dockerfile";
     "update-go-deps-shas" -> "web/Dockerfile";
-
-    "update-proxy-deps-shas" -> "_tag.sh";
-    "update-proxy-deps-shas" -> "proxy/Dockerfile";
   }
 build_architecture
 </details>
diff --git a/bin/_tag.sh b/bin/_tag.sh
index 2d85116cd..8b7cba12a 100644
--- a/bin/_tag.sh
+++ b/bin/_tag.sh
@@ -6,10 +6,6 @@ git_sha_head() {
     git rev-parse --short=8 HEAD
 }
 
-proxy_deps_sha() {
-    cat Cargo.lock proxy/Dockerfile-deps | shasum - | awk '{print $1}' |cut -c 1-8
-}
-
 go_deps_sha() {
     cat Gopkg.lock Dockerfile-go-deps | shasum - | awk '{print $1}' |cut -c 1-8
 }
@@ -66,14 +62,9 @@ validate_tag() {
 # These functions should be called by any docker-build-* script that relies on
 # Go or Rust dependencies. To confirm the set of scripts that should call this
 # function, run:
-# $ grep -ER 'docker-build-(go|proxy)-deps' .
+# $ grep -ER 'docker-build-go-deps' .
 
 validate_go_deps_tag() {
     file="$1"
     validate_tag "$file" "gcr.io/runconduit/go-deps" "$(go_deps_sha)"
 }
-
-validate_proxy_deps_tag() {
-    file="$1"
-    validate_tag "$file" "gcr.io/runconduit/proxy-deps" "$(proxy_deps_sha)"
-}
diff --git a/bin/docker-build b/bin/docker-build
index ee80575ca..8e3b817b1 100755
--- a/bin/docker-build
+++ b/bin/docker-build
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ fi
 
 bin/docker-build-controller
 bin/docker-build-web
-bin/docker-build-proxy
 bin/docker-build-proxy-init
 bin/docker-build-cli
+
+bin/docker-build-proxy
diff --git a/bin/docker-build-proxy b/bin/docker-build-proxy
index 3544d4916..51632b2ae 100755
--- a/bin/docker-build-proxy
+++ b/bin/docker-build-proxy
@@ -10,13 +10,6 @@ fi
 . bin/_docker.sh
 . bin/_tag.sh
 
-dockerfile=proxy/Dockerfile
-
-validate_proxy_deps_tag $dockerfile
-
-(
-    bin/docker-build-base
-    bin/docker-build-proxy-deps
-) >/dev/null
-
-docker_build proxy "$(head_root_tag)" $dockerfile --build-arg="RELEASE=${PROXY_RELEASE:-1}"
+docker_build proxy "$(head_root_tag)" proxy/Dockerfile \
+    --build-arg="PROXY_SKIP_TESTS=${PROXY_SKIP_TESTS:-}" \
+    --build-arg="PROXY_UNOPTIMIZED=${PROXY_UNOPTIMIZED:-}"
diff --git a/bin/docker-build-proxy-deps b/bin/docker-build-proxy-deps
deleted file mode 100755
index 43585fb10..000000000
--- a/bin/docker-build-proxy-deps
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-
-# Builds (or pulls) our proxy-deps docker image.
-
-set -eu
-
-if [ $# -ne 0 ]; then
-    echo "no arguments allowed for $(basename $0), given: $@" >&2
-    exit 64
-fi
-
-. bin/_docker.sh
-. bin/_tag.sh
-
-tag=$(proxy_deps_sha)
-
-if (docker_pull proxy-deps "${tag}"); then
-    echo "$(docker_repo proxy-deps):${tag}"
-else
-    docker_build proxy-deps "${tag}" proxy/Dockerfile-deps
-fi
diff --git a/bin/docker-images b/bin/docker-images
index e4a202825..a3435ff9f 100755
--- a/bin/docker-images
+++ b/bin/docker-images
@@ -22,4 +22,3 @@ docker_image cli          "${tag}"
 docker_image cli-bin      "${tag}"
 
 docker_image go-deps      "$(go_deps_sha)"
-docker_image proxy-deps   "$(proxy_deps_sha)"
diff --git a/bin/docker-pull-deps b/bin/docker-pull-deps
index cdd652b89..a39d3fb63 100755
--- a/bin/docker-pull-deps
+++ b/bin/docker-pull-deps
@@ -7,4 +7,3 @@ set -eu
 
 docker_pull base       2017-10-30.01       || true
 docker_pull go-deps    "$(go_deps_sha)"    || true
-docker_pull proxy-deps "$(proxy_deps_sha)" || true
diff --git a/bin/docker-push-deps b/bin/docker-push-deps
index a2ec2f045..068d6d5d6 100755
--- a/bin/docker-push-deps
+++ b/bin/docker-push-deps
@@ -7,4 +7,3 @@ set -eu
 
 docker_push base         2017-10-30.01
 docker_push go-deps      "$(go_deps_sha)"
-docker_push proxy-deps   "$(proxy_deps_sha)"
diff --git a/bin/update-proxy-deps-shas b/bin/update-proxy-deps-shas
deleted file mode 100755
index 9defafb3b..000000000
--- a/bin/update-proxy-deps-shas
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-
-set -eu
-
-# Updates the tag for `runconduit/proxy-deps` across all Dockerfiles in this repository.
-
-sha=$(. bin/_tag.sh ; proxy_deps_sha)
-
-for f in $( grep -lR --include=Dockerfile\* proxy-deps: . ) ; do
-    sed -E -i.bak -e "s|runconduit/proxy-deps:[^ ]+|runconduit/proxy-deps:${sha}|" "$f"
-    rm "$f".bak
-done
diff --git a/proxy/Dockerfile b/proxy/Dockerfile
index 4b627e4f2..dc05b44e4 100644
--- a/proxy/Dockerfile
+++ b/proxy/Dockerfile
@@ -1,24 +1,74 @@
 # Proxy build and runtime
 #
-# Builds a slim runtime image with the conduit-proxy binary.
-
-## Build the rust proxy into a binary.
+# When PROXY_UNOPTIMIZED is set and not empty, unoptimized rust artifacts are produced.
+# This reduces build time and produces binaries with debug symbols, at the expense of
+# runtime perforamnce.
 #
-# If the RELEASE arg is set and non-empty, a release artifact is built.
-FROM gcr.io/runconduit/proxy-deps:673c53de as build
+# When PROXY_SKIP_TESTS is set and not empty, tests are not run. Otherwise, tests are run
+# against either unoptimized or optimized proxy code, according to PROXY_UNOPTIMIZED.
+
+ARG RUST_IMAGE=rust:1.23.0
+ARG RUNTIME_IMAGE=gcr.io/runconduit/base:2017-10-30.01
+
+## Builds the proxy as incrementally as possible.
+FROM $RUST_IMAGE as build
+
 WORKDIR /usr/src/conduit
-# Ranked roughly from least to most likely to change. Cargo.lock is the least likely
-# because it is supposed to be cached in the deps base image.
-COPY proto ./proto
-COPY proxy ./proxy
-ARG RELEASE
-RUN if [ -z "$RELEASE" ]; \
-    then cargo build --frozen -p conduit-proxy           && mv target/debug/conduit-proxy   target/conduit-proxy ; \
-    else cargo build --frozen -p conduit-proxy --release && mv target/release/conduit-proxy target/conduit-proxy ; \
+
+# Fetch external dependencies.
+#
+# Mock out all local code and fetch external dependencies to ensure that external sources
+# are cached.
+RUN for d in proxy proxy/controller-grpc proxy/convert proxy/futures-mpsc-lossy proxy/router ; \
+    do mkdir -p "${d}/src" && touch "${d}/src/lib.rs" ; \
+    done
+COPY Cargo.toml Cargo.lock ./
+COPY proxy/Cargo.toml                       proxy/Cargo.toml
+COPY proxy/controller-grpc/Cargo.toml       proxy/controller-grpc/Cargo.toml
+COPY proxy/convert/Cargo.toml               proxy/convert/Cargo.toml
+COPY proxy/futures-mpsc-lossy/Cargo.toml    proxy/futures-mpsc-lossy/Cargo.toml
+COPY proxy/router/Cargo.toml                proxy/router/Cargo.toml
+RUN cargo fetch --locked
+
+# Build libraries, leaving the proxy and gRPC bindings mocked out.
+COPY proxy/convert             proxy/convert
+COPY proxy/futures-mpsc-lossy  proxy/futures-mpsc-lossy
+COPY proxy/router              proxy/router
+ARG PROXY_UNOPTIMIZED
+RUN if [ -n "$PROXY_UNOPTIMIZED" ]; \
+    then cargo build --frozen ; \
+    else cargo build --frozen --release ; \
+    fi
+
+# Build gRPC bindings, leaving the proxy mocked out.
+COPY proto                  proto
+COPY proxy/controller-grpc  proxy/controller-grpc
+RUN if [ -n "$PROXY_UNOPTIMIZED" ]; \
+    then cargo build -p conduit-proxy-controller-grpc --features=arbitrary --frozen ; \
+    else cargo build -p conduit-proxy-controller-grpc --features=arbitrary --frozen --release ; \
+    fi
+
+# Build the proxy binary using pre-built dependencies.
+COPY proxy/src      proxy/src
+COPY proxy/tests    proxy/tests
+RUN if [ -n "$PROXY_UNOPTIMIZED" ]; \
+    then cargo build -p conduit-proxy --bin conduit-proxy --frozen ; \
+    else cargo build -p conduit-proxy --bin conduit-proxy --frozen --release ; \
+    fi
+ARG PROXY_SKIP_TESTS
+RUN if [ -n "$PROXY_SKIP_TESTS" ]; \
+    then echo "tests skipped" ; \
+    elif [ -n "$PROXY_UNOPTIMIZED" ]; \
+    then cargo test -p conduit-proxy --frozen ; \
+    else cargo test -p conduit-proxy --frozen --release ; \
+    fi
+RUN if [ -n "$PROXY_UNOPTIMIZED" ]; \
+    then mv target/debug/conduit-proxy   target/conduit-proxy ; \
+    else mv target/release/conduit-proxy target/conduit-proxy ; \
     fi
 
 ## Install the proxy binary into the base runtime image.
-FROM gcr.io/runconduit/base:2017-10-30.01
+FROM $RUNTIME_IMAGE as runtime
 COPY --from=build /usr/src/conduit/target/conduit-proxy /usr/local/bin/conduit-proxy
-ENV CONDUIT_PROXY_LOG=info
+ENV CONDUIT_PROXY_LOG=warn,conduit_proxy=info
 ENTRYPOINT ["/usr/local/bin/conduit-proxy"]
diff --git a/proxy/Dockerfile-deps b/proxy/Dockerfile-deps
deleted file mode 100644
index 299f812cd..000000000
--- a/proxy/Dockerfile-deps
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-# Proxy dependencies
-#
-# Fetches all required rust dependencies and caches library artifacts. All Conduit sources
-# are omitted from the resulting image so that artifacts may be built from source over
-# this image.
-#
-# When this file is changed, you must run `bin/update-proxy-deps-shas`.
-
-# Compile the application to ensure we've obtained all build dependencies and that they
-# compile.
-FROM rust:1.23.0 as build
-WORKDIR /usr/src/conduit
-COPY Cargo.toml Cargo.lock ./
-COPY proto ./proto
-COPY proxy ./proxy
-RUN cargo fetch --locked
-
-# Preserve dependency sources and build artifacts without maintaining conduit
-# sources/artifacts.
-FROM rust:1.23.0
-WORKDIR /usr/src/conduit
-COPY --from=build $CARGO_HOME                           $CARGO_HOME
-COPY --from=build /usr/src/conduit/Cargo.toml           Cargo.toml
-COPY --from=build /usr/src/conduit/Cargo.lock           Cargo.lock