diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 42e4042db..ca153d835 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -1,33 +1,14 @@
 version: 2
 
-references:
-  # Install the dependencies required for tests.
-  # Add the step "- *install-dependencies" to the beginning of your job to run
-  # this command.
-  install-dependencies: &install-dependencies
-    run:
-      name: Install dependencies
-      # TODO: We can split these dependencies up by job to reduce installation
-      # time.
-      command: |
-        sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
-        sudo apt-get -y -qq update
-        sudo apt-get -y install \
-            gcc-multilib-powerpc-linux-gnu gcc-arm-linux-gnueabi \
-            libc6-dev-armel-cross gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu libc6-dev-arm64-cross \
-            libc6-dev-ppc64-powerpc-cross zstd gzip coreutils \
-            libcurl4-openssl-dev
-
 jobs:
   # the first half of the jobs are in this test
   short-tests-0:
     # TODO: Create a small custom docker image with all the dependencies we need
     #       preinstalled to reduce installation time.
     docker:
-      - image: circleci/buildpack-deps:bionic
+      - image: fbopensource/zstd-circleci-primary:0.0.1
     steps:
       - checkout
-      - *install-dependencies
       - run:
           name: Test
           command: |
@@ -41,10 +22,9 @@ jobs:
   # the second half of the jobs are in this test
   short-tests-1:
     docker:
-      - image: circleci/buildpack-deps:bionic
+      - image: fbopensource/zstd-circleci-primary:0.0.1
     steps:
       - checkout
-      - *install-dependencies
       - run:
           name: Test
           command: |
@@ -61,12 +41,11 @@ jobs:
   # tagged release.
   publish-github-release:
     docker:
-      - image: circleci/buildpack-deps:bionic
+      - image: fbopensource/zstd-circleci-primary:0.0.1
     environment:
       CIRCLE_ARTIFACTS: /tmp/circleci-artifacts
     steps:
       - checkout
-      - *install-dependencies
       - run:
           name: Publish
           command: |
@@ -86,12 +65,11 @@ jobs:
   # This step should only be run in a cron job
   regression-test:
     docker:
-      - image: circleci/buildpack-deps:bionic
+      - image: fbopensource/zstd-circleci-primary:0.0.1
     environment:
       CIRCLE_ARTIFACTS: /tmp/circleci-artifacts
     steps:
       - checkout
-      - *install-dependencies
       # Restore the cached resources.
       - restore_cache:
           # We try our best to bust the cache when the data changes by hashing
diff --git a/.circleci/images/primary/Dockerfile b/.circleci/images/primary/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dd8004152
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.circleci/images/primary/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+FROM circleci/buildpack-deps:bionic
+
+RUN sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
+RUN sudo apt-get -y -qq update
+RUN sudo apt-get -y install \
+    gcc-multilib-powerpc-linux-gnu gcc-arm-linux-gnueabi \
+    libc6-dev-armel-cross gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu libc6-dev-arm64-cross \
+    libc6-dev-ppc64-powerpc-cross zstd gzip coreutils \
+    libcurl4-openssl-dev