diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a63f5ddcc6c..a1656161e76 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ option(USE_LUAJIT "use luaJIT instead of lua" OFF)
 option(ENABLE_OPENSSL "enable openssl to support tls connection" OFF)
 option(ENABLE_IPO "enable interprocedural optimization" ON)
 option(ENABLE_UNWIND "enable libunwind in glog" ON)
+option(PORTABLE "build a portable binary (disable arch-specific optimizations)" OFF)
 
 if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL "3.24.0")
     cmake_policy(SET CMP0135 NEW)
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index f2210e1199c..661dab930e2 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -17,16 +17,17 @@
 
 FROM ubuntu:focal as build
 
+ARG MORE_BUILD_ARGS
+
 # workaround tzdata install hanging
 ENV TZ=Asia/Shanghai
 RUN ln -snf /usr/share/zoneinfo/$TZ /etc/localtime && echo $TZ > /etc/timezone
 
-RUN apt update
-RUN apt install -y git gcc g++ make cmake autoconf automake libtool python3 libssl-dev
+RUN apt update && apt install -y git gcc g++ make cmake autoconf automake libtool python3 libssl-dev
 WORKDIR /kvrocks
 
 COPY . .
-RUN ./x.py build -DENABLE_OPENSSL=ON
+RUN ./x.py build -DENABLE_OPENSSL=ON -DPORTABLE=ON $MORE_BUILD_ARGS
 
 FROM ubuntu:focal
 
diff --git a/cmake/rocksdb.cmake b/cmake/rocksdb.cmake
index 87f49bccd5d..133ebd2eb47 100644
--- a/cmake/rocksdb.cmake
+++ b/cmake/rocksdb.cmake
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ FetchContent_MakeAvailableWithArgs(rocksdb
   USE_RTTI=ON
   ROCKSDB_BUILD_SHARED=OFF
   WITH_JEMALLOC=${COMPILE_WITH_JEMALLOC}
+  PORTABLE=${PORTABLE}
 )
 
 add_library(rocksdb_with_headers INTERFACE)