diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f0789ea6d5..7eb0d4643b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ IMAGE = $(REGISTRY)/$(IMGNAME)
 MULTI_ARCH_IMG = $(IMAGE)-$(ARCH)
 
 # Set default base image dynamically for each arch
-BASEIMAGE?=quay.io/kubernetes-ingress-controller/nginx-$(ARCH):0.43
+BASEIMAGE?=quay.io/kubernetes-ingress-controller/nginx-$(ARCH):0.44
 
 ifeq ($(ARCH),arm)
 	QEMUARCH=arm
diff --git a/images/nginx/Makefile b/images/nginx/Makefile
index b9f63bca1c..db6da9bed2 100644
--- a/images/nginx/Makefile
+++ b/images/nginx/Makefile
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 TAG ?= 0.43
 REGISTRY ?= quay.io/kubernetes-ingress-controller
 ARCH ?= $(shell go env GOARCH)
-DOCKER ?= gcloud docker --
+DOCKER ?= docker
 
 ALL_ARCH = amd64 arm arm64 ppc64le s390x
 SED_I?=sed -i