diff --git a/build/build-image/Dockerfile b/build/build-image/Dockerfile
index 60cd464ed9c..9cf839dabfe 100644
--- a/build/build-image/Dockerfile
+++ b/build/build-image/Dockerfile
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ RUN chmod -R a+rwx ${HOME}
 
 # Propagate the git tree version into the build image
 ADD kube-version-defs /kube-version-defs
+RUN chmod a+r /kube-version-defs
 ENV KUBE_GIT_VERSION_FILE /kube-version-defs
 
 # Make output from the dockerized build go someplace else