diff --git a/BUILD.md b/BUILD.md
index 7497568e2..fa059741e 100644
--- a/BUILD.md
+++ b/BUILD.md
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ Started](https://linkerd.io/2/getting-started/)
 bin/k3d cluster create
 
 # build all docker images
-DOCKER_TRACE=1 bin/docker-build
+bin/docker-build
 
 # load all the images into k3d
 bin/image-load --k3d
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ The `bin/docker-build-proxy` script builds the proxy by pulling a pre-published
 proxy binary:
 
 ```bash
-DOCKER_TRACE=1 bin/docker-build-proxy
+bin/docker-build-proxy
 ```
 
 ### Multi-architecture builds
diff --git a/TEST.md b/TEST.md
index f93e685df..21b6fa60d 100644
--- a/TEST.md
+++ b/TEST.md
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ You can also test a locally-built version of the `linkerd` CLI.
 First build all of the Linkerd images by running:
 
 ```bash
-DOCKER_TRACE=1 bin/docker-build
+bin/docker-build
 ```
 
 That command also copies the corresponding `linkerd` binaries into the
diff --git a/bin/_docker.sh b/bin/_docker.sh
index e10f023f2..6481f288f 100644
--- a/bin/_docker.sh
+++ b/bin/_docker.sh
@@ -11,9 +11,6 @@ bindir=$( cd "${BASH_SOURCE[0]%/*}" && pwd )
 # docker registry in, for instance, CI.
 export DOCKER_REGISTRY=${DOCKER_REGISTRY:-ghcr.io/linkerd}
 
-# When set, causes docker's build output to be emitted to stderr.
-export DOCKER_TRACE=${DOCKER_TRACE:-}
-
 # When set, use `docker buildx` and use the github actions cache to store/retrieve images
 export DOCKER_BUILDKIT=${DOCKER_BUILDKIT:-}
 
@@ -50,11 +47,6 @@ docker_build() {
     file=$1
     shift
 
-    output=/dev/null
-    if [ -n "$DOCKER_TRACE" ]; then
-        output=/dev/stderr
-    fi
-
     rootdir=$( cd "$bindir"/.. && pwd )
 
     if [ -n "$DOCKER_BUILDKIT" ]; then
@@ -82,15 +74,13 @@ docker_build() {
           $output_params \
           -t "$repo:$tag" \
           -f "$file" \
-          "$@" \
-          > "$output"
+          "$@"
     else
       log_debug "  :; docker build $rootdir -t $repo:$tag -f $file $*"
       docker build "$rootdir" \
           -t "$repo:$tag" \
           -f "$file" \
-          "$@" \
-          > "$output"
+          "$@"
     fi
 
     echo "$repo:$tag"
diff --git a/bin/docker-test-proxy b/bin/docker-test-proxy
index b187b8ec7..baf14de95 100755
--- a/bin/docker-test-proxy
+++ b/bin/docker-test-proxy
@@ -2,21 +2,13 @@
 
 set -eu
 
-# When set, causes docker's build output to be emitted to stderr.
-export DOCKER_TRACE=${DOCKER_TRACE:-}
 export RUST_LOG=${RUST_LOG:-}
 
 bindir=$( cd "${BASH_SOURCE[0]%/*}" && pwd )
 rootdir=$( cd "$bindir"/.. && pwd )
 
-if [ -n "$DOCKER_TRACE" ]; then
-	output=/dev/stderr
-else
-	output=/dev/null
-fi
-
 docker build -f "$rootdir/proxy/Dockerfile" . \
     --target build \
     -t proxy-build \
-    --build-arg=PROXY_UNOPTIMIZED=1 > $output
+    --build-arg=PROXY_UNOPTIMIZED=1
 docker run --rm -it proxy-build env RUST_LOG="$RUST_LOG" cargo test "$@"