diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 8460852..b4e12e4 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -3,7 +3,10 @@
 #!BuildTag: opensuse/tumbleweed/virt-operator:%%PKG_VERSION%%.%RELEASE%
 
 # virt-operator container image
-FROM opensuse/tumbleweed:latest
+# KUBEVIRTFROM defined in prjconf, e.g.
+#  BuildFlags: dockerarg:KUBEVIRTFROM=opensuse/tumbleweed
+ARG KUBEVIRTFROM
+FROM $KUBEVIRTFROM
 
 # labelprefix=org.opensuse.kubevirt
 PREFIXEDLABEL org.opencontainers.image.title="kubevirt virt-operator container"
diff --git a/virt-operator-container.changes b/virt-operator-container.changes
index de1f27d..4766518 100644
--- a/virt-operator-container.changes
+++ b/virt-operator-container.changes
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+Tue Nov 17 23:04:54 UTC 2020 - James Fehlig <jfehlig@suse.com>
+
+- use ARG for defining base image
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
 Tue Sep 15 03:24:20 UTC 2020 - James Fehlig <jfehlig@suse.com>