diff --git a/.goreleaser.yml b/.goreleaser.yml
index 1e21f2f3b59..bfb198b292a 100644
--- a/.goreleaser.yml
+++ b/.goreleaser.yml
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@ snapshot:
 env:
   - GOPROXY={{ if index .Env "GOPROXY"  }}{{ .Env.GOPROXY }}{{ else }}https://proxy.golang.org,direct{{ end }}
   - GOSUMDB={{ if index .Env "GOSUMDB"  }}{{ .Env.GOSUMDB }}{{ else }}sum.golang.org{{ end }}
-  # If set, BASE_IMAGE determines the base image used for all containers.
-  - BASE_IMAGE_ARG={{ if index .Env "BASE_IMAGE"  }}BASE_IMAGE={{ .Env.BASE_IMAGE }}{{ else }}{{ end }}
   - DOCKER_REPO={{ if index .Env "DOCKER_REPO"  }}{{ .Env.DOCKER_REPO }}/{{ else }}gresearch/{{ end }}
   # Goreleaser always uses the docker buildx builder with name "default"; see
   # https://github.com/goreleaser/goreleaser/pull/3199
@@ -206,7 +204,6 @@ dockers:
       - "{{ .Env.DOCKER_REPO }}armada-bundle:latest"
       - "{{ .Env.DOCKER_REPO }}armada-bundle:{{ .Version }}"
     build_flag_templates: &BUILD_FLAG_TEMPLATES
-      - --build-arg={{ .Env.BASE_IMAGE_ARG }}
       - --builder={{ .Env.DOCKER_BUILDX_BUILDER }}
       - --cache-to={{ .Env.DOCKER_BUILDX_CACHE_TO }}
       - --cache-from={{ .Env.DOCKER_BUILDX_CACHE_FROM }}
diff --git a/magefiles/goreleaser.go b/magefiles/goreleaser.go
index 852680dcad9..ae7711179fb 100644
--- a/magefiles/goreleaser.go
+++ b/magefiles/goreleaser.go
@@ -3,11 +3,8 @@ package main
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
-	"regexp"
 	"time"
 
-	"golang.org/x/exp/slices"
-
 	goreleaserConfig "github.com/goreleaser/goreleaser/pkg/config"
 	"github.com/magefile/mage/sh"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
@@ -54,30 +51,8 @@ func goreleaserWriteMinimalReleaseConfig(dockerIds ...string) error {
 	dockerIdsToBuild := set(dockerIds)
 	dockersById := make(map[string]goreleaserConfig.Docker)
 	buildIds := make(map[string]bool)
-
-	// BASE_IMAGE_ARG is derived from BASE_IMAGE - see .goreleaser.yml
-	buildArgBaseRE := regexp.MustCompile("--build-arg=.*BASE_IMAGE_ARG")
-
 	for _, docker := range config.Dockers {
 		if dockerIdsToBuild[docker.ID] {
-			// Goreleaser constructs a faulty `docker build` command if the environment
-			// variable BASE_IMAGE is not defined - it constructs a `--build-arg= ` option
-			// (no value given) and `docker build` immediately errors. As a work-around
-			// we filter out that whole template option entry if BASE_IMAGE is not defined;
-			// see .goreleaser.yml for how it's used. Goreleaser does not support conditional
-			// templating of YAML in its 'dockers' section, so we filter it out here.
-			if os.Getenv("BASE_IMAGE") == "" {
-				deleteIdx := -1
-				for idx, tpl := range docker.BuildFlagTemplates {
-					if buildArgBaseRE.MatchString(tpl) {
-						deleteIdx = idx
-						break
-					}
-				}
-
-				docker.BuildFlagTemplates = slices.Delete(docker.BuildFlagTemplates, deleteIdx, deleteIdx+1)
-			}
-
 			dockersById[docker.ID] = docker
 			for _, id := range docker.IDs {
 				buildIds[id] = true