diff --git a/pkg/container/api.go b/pkg/container/api.go
index 050679771..7c25079d9 100644
--- a/pkg/container/api.go
+++ b/pkg/container/api.go
@@ -112,6 +112,11 @@ func (c *clientV1Alpha1) runAirship() error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	defer func(container Container) {
+		if rmErr := container.RmContainer(); rmErr != nil {
+			log.Printf("Failed to remove container with id '%s', err is '%s'", container.GetID(), rmErr.Error())
+		}
+	}(cont)
 
 	// this will split the env vars into the ones to be exported and the ones that have values
 	contEnv := runtimeutil.NewContainerEnvFromStringSlice(c.conf.Spec.EnvVars)
diff --git a/tools/deployment/24_build_images.sh b/tools/deployment/24_build_images.sh
index 5856a731a..f45ecfadd 100755
--- a/tools/deployment/24_build_images.sh
+++ b/tools/deployment/24_build_images.sh
@@ -37,9 +37,6 @@ done
 echo "List generated images"
 ls -lth ${IMAGE_DIR}
 
-echo "Remove the container used for image generation"
-sudo docker rm $(docker ps -a -f status=exited -q)
-
 #cleanup the directories
 if [ "${CLEANUP_SERVE_DIR}" == "true" ] || [ "${CLEANUP_SERVE_DIR}" == "True" ]; then
   echo "Clean directories used by image-builder"