diff --git a/packages/cdk-assets/lib/private/docker.ts b/packages/cdk-assets/lib/private/docker.ts
index 8f9ab535d1836..8c563b8d59923 100644
--- a/packages/cdk-assets/lib/private/docker.ts
+++ b/packages/cdk-assets/lib/private/docker.ts
@@ -37,9 +37,9 @@ export class Docker {
       '--tag', options.tag,
       ...options.target ? ['--target', options.target] : [],
       ...options.file ? ['--file', options.file] : [],
-      options.directory,
+      '.'
     ];
-    await this.execute(buildCommand);
+    await this.execute(buildCommand, { cwd: options.directory });
   }
 
   /**
@@ -100,4 +100,4 @@ async function obtainEcrCredentials(ecr: AWS.ECR, logger?: Logger) {
 
 function flatten(x: string[][]) {
   return Array.prototype.concat([], ...x);
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/packages/cdk-assets/test/docker-images.test.ts b/packages/cdk-assets/test/docker-images.test.ts
index b20c5636f5c18..f4ee947cd7823 100644
--- a/packages/cdk-assets/test/docker-images.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cdk-assets/test/docker-images.test.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { mockAws, mockedApiFailure, mockedApiResult } from './mock-aws';
 import { mockSpawn } from './mock-child_process';
 
 let aws: ReturnType<typeof mockAws>;
+const absoluteDockerPath = '/simple/cdk.out/dockerdir';
 beforeEach(() => {
   mockfs({
     '/simple/cdk.out/assets.json': JSON.stringify({
@@ -33,7 +34,7 @@ beforeEach(() => {
       dockerImages: {
         theAsset: {
           source: {
-            directory: '/simple/cdk.out/dockerdir'
+            directory: absoluteDockerPath
           },
           destinations: {
             theDestination: {
@@ -112,7 +113,7 @@ describe('with a complete manifest', () => {
     mockSpawn(
       { commandLine: ['docker', 'login', '--username', 'user', '--password-stdin', 'https://proxy.com/'] },
       { commandLine: ['docker', 'inspect', 'cdkasset-theasset'], exitCode: 1 },
-      { commandLine: ['docker', 'build', '--tag', 'cdkasset-theasset', '/simple/cdk.out/dockerdir'] },
+      { commandLine: ['docker', 'build', '--tag', 'cdkasset-theasset', '.'], cwd: absoluteDockerPath },
       { commandLine: ['docker', 'tag', 'cdkasset-theasset', '12345.amazonaws.com/repo:abcdef'] },
       { commandLine: ['docker', 'push', '12345.amazonaws.com/repo:abcdef'] },
     );
@@ -135,7 +136,7 @@ test('correctly identify Docker directory if path is absolute', async () => {
     // Only care about the 'build' command line
     { commandLine: ['docker', 'login'], prefix: true, },
     { commandLine: ['docker', 'inspect'], exitCode: 1, prefix: true },
-    { commandLine: ['docker', 'build', '--tag', 'cdkasset-theasset', '/simple/cdk.out/dockerdir'] },
+    { commandLine: ['docker', 'build', '--tag', 'cdkasset-theasset', '.'], cwd: absoluteDockerPath },
     { commandLine: ['docker', 'tag'], prefix: true },
     { commandLine: ['docker', 'push'], prefix: true },
   );
diff --git a/packages/cdk-assets/test/mock-child_process.ts b/packages/cdk-assets/test/mock-child_process.ts
index 78f3341b62db2..e7ab39934349e 100644
--- a/packages/cdk-assets/test/mock-child_process.ts
+++ b/packages/cdk-assets/test/mock-child_process.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ if (!(child_process as any).spawn.mockImplementationOnce) {
 
 export interface Invocation {
   commandLine: string[];
+  cwd?: string;
   exitCode?: number;
   stdout?: string;
 
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@ export function mockSpawn(...invocations: Invocation[]) {
   let mock = (child_process.spawn as any);
   for (const _invocation of invocations) {
     const invocation = _invocation; // Mirror into variable for closure
-    mock = mock.mockImplementationOnce((binary: string, args: string[], _options: any) => {
+    mock = mock.mockImplementationOnce((binary: string, args: string[], options: child_process.SpawnOptions) => {
       if (invocation.prefix) {
         // Match command line prefix
         expect([binary, ...args].slice(0, invocation.commandLine.length)).toEqual(invocation.commandLine);
@@ -29,6 +30,10 @@ export function mockSpawn(...invocations: Invocation[]) {
         expect([binary, ...args]).toEqual(invocation.commandLine);
       }
 
+      if (invocation.cwd != null) {
+        expect(options.cwd).toBe(invocation.cwd);
+      }
+
       const child: any = new events.EventEmitter();
       child.stdin = new events.EventEmitter();
       child.stdin.write = jest.fn();
@@ -57,4 +62,4 @@ function mockEmit(emitter: events.EventEmitter, event: string, data: any) {
   setImmediate(() => {
     emitter.emit(event, data);
   });
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}