diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d732656f7..3f5eabf82 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ CEPHD_PLATFORM = $(GOOS)_$(GOARCH)
 CEPHD_TOUCH_ON_BUILD = pkg/cephmgr/cephd/dummy.cc
 
 GO_CGO_PACKAGES=cmd/castled
-CGO_LDFLAGS = -L$(CURDIR)/$(CEPHD_BUILD_DIR)/$(CEPHD_PLATFORM)/lib
+CGO_LDFLAGS = -L$(abspath $(CEPHD_BUILD_DIR)/$(CEPHD_PLATFORM)/lib)
 CGO_PREREQS = cephd.build
 
 include build/makelib/cephd.mk
diff --git a/build/cross-image/Dockerfile b/build/cross-image/Dockerfile
index 7e5c7c7ed..23c868929 100644
--- a/build/cross-image/Dockerfile
+++ b/build/cross-image/Dockerfile
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 FROM ubuntu:xenial
 MAINTAINER Bassam Tabbara <bassam.tabbara@quantum.com>
 
-RUN echo \
-    "deb [arch=amd64] http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial main universe restricted\n\
-     deb [arch=amd64] http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates main universe restricted\n\
-     deb [arch=arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ xenial main universe restricted\n\
-     deb [arch=arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ xenial-updates main universe restricted\n\
-    " > /etc/apt/sources.list && \
+RUN echo "deb [arch=amd64] http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial main universe restricted" > /etc/apt/sources.list &&\
+    echo "deb [arch=amd64] http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates main universe restricted" >> /etc/apt/sources.list &&\
+    echo "deb [arch=arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ xenial main universe restricted" >> /etc/apt/sources.list &&\
+    echo "deb [arch=arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ xenial-updates main universe restricted" >> /etc/apt/sources.list &&\
     dpkg --add-architecture arm64 && \
     apt-get update
 
@@ -53,9 +51,11 @@ ENV PATH /usr/local/osxcross/bin:$PATH
 RUN ACBUILD_VERSION=0.4.0 && \
     curl -fsSLO https://github.com/containers/build/releases/download/v${ACBUILD_VERSION}/acbuild-v${ACBUILD_VERSION}.tar.gz && \
     tar -C /usr/local/bin --strip-components=1 -xzf acbuild-v${ACBUILD_VERSION}.tar.gz && \
+    rm -f acbuild-v${ACBUILD_VERSION}.tar.gz && \
     DOCKER2ACI_VERSION=0.12.3 && \
     curl -fsSLO https://github.com/appc/docker2aci/releases/download/v${DOCKER2ACI_VERSION}/docker2aci-v${DOCKER2ACI_VERSION}.tar.gz && \
-    tar -C /usr/local/bin --strip-components=1 -xzf docker2aci-v${DOCKER2ACI_VERSION}.tar.gz
+    tar -C /usr/local/bin --strip-components=1 -xzf docker2aci-v${DOCKER2ACI_VERSION}.tar.gz && \
+    rm -f docker2aci-v${DOCKER2ACI_VERSION}.tar.gz
 
 #
 # install multi-arch packages needed to build ceph
diff --git a/build/makelib/cephd.mk b/build/makelib/cephd.mk
index 2569d1f2d..d1b43739c 100644
--- a/build/makelib/cephd.mk
+++ b/build/makelib/cephd.mk
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ cephd.config:
 	@mkdir -p $(CEPHD_BUILD_DIR)/$(CEPHD_PLATFORM)
 	@echo "$(CEPHD_CMAKE)" > $(CEPHD_BUILD_DIR)/$(CEPHD_PLATFORM)/cephd.cmake.new
 	@if test ! -f $(CEPHD_BUILD_DIR)/$(CEPHD_PLATFORM)/cephd.cmake || ! diff $(CEPHD_BUILD_DIR)/$(CEPHD_PLATFORM)/cephd.cmake.new $(CEPHD_BUILD_DIR)/$(CEPHD_PLATFORM)/cephd.cmake > /dev/null; then \
-		cd $(CEPHD_BUILD_DIR)/$(CEPHD_PLATFORM) && cmake $(CEPHD_CMAKE) -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$(CURDIR)/build/makelib/toolchain.$(CEPHD_PLATFORM).cmake $(CURDIR)/ceph; \
+		cd $(CEPHD_BUILD_DIR)/$(CEPHD_PLATFORM) && cmake $(CEPHD_CMAKE) -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$(abspath build/makelib/toolchain.$(CEPHD_PLATFORM).cmake) $(abspath ceph); \
 		echo "$(CEPHD_CMAKE)" > cephd.cmake; \
 	fi
 	@rm $(CEPHD_BUILD_DIR)/$(CEPHD_PLATFORM)/cephd.cmake.new
diff --git a/build/makelib/golang.mk b/build/makelib/golang.mk
index ea094d09e..12015a43b 100644
--- a/build/makelib/golang.mk
+++ b/build/makelib/golang.mk
@@ -63,21 +63,17 @@ unexport CGO_ENABLED
 export CGO_CFLAGS CGO_CPPFLAGS CGO_LDFLAGS GLIDE_HOME
 
 # setup glide
-GLIDE_HOME := $(CURDIR)/.glide
+GLIDE_HOME := $(abspath .glide)
 GLIDE := $(GO_TOOLS_DIR)/glide
 
 GO := go
 GOHOST := GOOS=$(GOHOSTOS) GOARCH=$(GOHOSTARCH) go
 
-ifeq ($(GOOS)_$(GOARCH),$(GOHOSTOS)_$(GOHOSTARCH))
-GO_OUT_DIR := $(CURDIR)/$(GO_BIN_DIR)
-else
-GO_OUT_DIR := $(CURDIR)/$(GO_BIN_DIR)/$(GOOS)_$(GOARCH)
-endif
+GO_OUT_DIR := $(abspath $(GO_BIN_DIR)/$(GOOS)_$(GOARCH))
 
 ifneq ($(GO_PKG_DIR),)
-GO_PKG_FLAGS := -pkgdir $(CURDIR)/$(GO_PKG_DIR)/$(GOOS)_$(GOARCH)
-GO_PKG_STATIC_FLAGS := -pkgdir $(CURDIR)/$(GO_PKG_DIR)/$(GOOS)_$(GOARCH)_static -installsuffix static
+GO_PKG_FLAGS := -pkgdir $(abspath $(GO_PKG_DIR)/$(GOOS)_$(GOARCH))
+GO_PKG_STATIC_FLAGS := -pkgdir $(abspath $(GO_PKG_DIR)/$(GOOS)_$(GOARCH)_static) -installsuffix static
 else
 GO_PKG_STATIC_FLAGS := -installsuffix static
 endif
@@ -85,8 +81,7 @@ endif
 # ====================================================================================
 # Targets
 
-ifneq ($(MAKECMDGOALS), help)
-ifneq ($(MAKECMDGOALS), clean)
+ifeq ($(filter help clean distclean, $(MAKECMDGOALS)),)
 .PHONY: go.check
 go.check:
 ifneq ($(shell $(GO) version | grep -q -E '\bgo($(GO_SUPPORTED_VERSIONS))\b' && echo 0 || echo 1), 0)
@@ -103,7 +98,6 @@ go.init: $(GO_VENDOR_DIR)/vendor.stamp
 
 -include go.init
 endif
-endif
 
 .PHONY: go.build
 go.build: go.vet go.fmt $(CGO_PREREQS)
diff --git a/build/run b/build/run
index 36f68b665..bbe937d59 100755
--- a/build/run
+++ b/build/run
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 #!/bin/bash -e
 
 scriptdir="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
-
 friendly_name=cross-build
 version=$(cat ${scriptdir}/cross-image/version)
 container=quantum/castle-${friendly_name}:${version}
+volume=cross-build
 
 function ver() {
     printf "%d%03d%03d%03d" $(echo "$1" | tr '.' ' ')
@@ -28,40 +28,55 @@ if [ ! -z $DOCKER_HOST ]; then
     return 1
 fi
 
+# if our volume does not exist create one.
+# NOTE: osxfs is really slow so we avoid using it
+if [[ ! $(docker volume ls | grep $volume) ]]; then
+    echo ==== Creating docker volume ${volume}
+    docker volume create --name ${volume}
+fi
+
 # if the container does not exist the pull or build it
 if [[ ! $(docker images -q ${container}) ]]; then
+    echo ==== Pulling ${container}
     docker pull ${container}
 fi
 
-USER_ARGS="-e BUILDER_UID=$( id -u ) -e BUILDER_GID=$( id -g ) -e BUILDER_USER=$( id -un ) -e BUILDER_GROUP=$( id -gn )"
-BUILDER_HOME=/home/$( id -un )
+# on Linux we run the container with the same uid and gid of the user to avoid
+# permissions issues. For docker on macOS this is not needed since we rely on osxfs
+if [ "`uname -s`" == "Linux" ]; then
+  USER_ARGS="-e BUILDER_UID=$( id -u ) -e BUILDER_GID=$( id -g ) -e BUILDER_USER=$( id -un ) -e BUILDER_GROUP=$( id -gn )"
+  BUILDER_HOME=/home/$( id -un )
+else
+  BUILDER_HOME=/root
+fi
 
-if [ -n ${CCACHE_DIR+x} ]; then
+if [[ `which ccache` && -n "${CCACHE_DIR}" ]]; then
     CCACHE_ARGS="-e CCACHE_DIR=${BUILDER_HOME}/.ccache -e CCACHE_LOG -v ${CCACHE_DIR}:${BUILDER_HOME}/.ccache"
 fi
 
+# we copy credential files for github access
 [[ -f ${HOME}/.netrc ]] && NETRC_ARGS="-v ${HOME}/.netrc:${BUILDER_HOME}/.netrc"
 
 tty -s && TTY_ARGS=-ti || TTY_ARGS=
 
+# docker seems more reliable when running with net=host.
 if [ -z "${DISABLE_HOST_NETWORK}" ]; then
     NET_ARGS="--net=host"
 fi
 
+# sometimes we run docker inside docker. bind the docker config and socket
 if [ -z "${DISABLE_NESTED_DOCKER}" ]; then
     DOCKER_NESTED_ARGS="\
     -v ${HOME}/.docker/config.json:${BUILDER_HOME}/.docker/config.json \
     -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock"
 fi
 
-# NOTE: docker seems more reliable when running with net=host.
-
 docker run \
     --rm \
     --name "${friendly_name}" \
     --hostname "${friendly_name}" \
     -e GOPATH="${BUILDER_HOME}/go" \
-    -e WORKDIR=".work/cross" \
+    -e WORKDIR="${BUILDER_HOME}/go/.cross" \
     -e GO_PKG_DIR="" \
     -e GITHUB_TOKEN \
     -e VERSION \
@@ -71,8 +86,8 @@ docker run \
     ${USER_ARGS} \
     ${DOCKER_NESTED_ARGS} \
     ${NET_ARGS} \
+    -v cross-build:${BUILDER_HOME}/go \
     -v ${scriptdir}/../bin:${BUILDER_HOME}/go/bin \
-    -v ${scriptdir}/../.work/cross/pkg:${BUILDER_HOME}/go/pkg \
     -v ${scriptdir}/..:${BUILDER_HOME}/go/src/github.com/quantum/castle \
     -w ${BUILDER_HOME}/go/src/github.com/quantum/castle \
     ${container} \