diff --git a/src/main/java/com/spotify/docker/BuildMojo.java b/src/main/java/com/spotify/docker/BuildMojo.java
index 6f2044fdc..d300cf837 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/spotify/docker/BuildMojo.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/spotify/docker/BuildMojo.java
@@ -161,6 +161,10 @@ public class BuildMojo extends AbstractDockerMojo {
 
   private List<String> runList;
 
+  /** Flag to squash all run commands into one layer. Defaults to false. */
+  @Parameter(property = "squashRunCommands", defaultValue = "false")
+  private boolean squashRunCommands;
+
   /** All resources will be copied to this directory before building the image. */
   @Parameter(property = "project.build.directory")
   protected String buildDirectory;
@@ -568,8 +572,12 @@ private void createDockerFile(final String directory, final List<String> filesTo
     }
 
     if (runList != null && !runList.isEmpty()) {
-      for (final String run : runList) {
-        commands.add("RUN " + run);
+      if (squashRunCommands) {
+        commands.add("RUN " + Joiner.on(" &&\\\n\t").join(runList));
+      } else {
+        for (final String run : runList) {
+          commands.add("RUN " + run);
+        }
       }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/spotify/docker/BuildMojoTest.java b/src/test/java/com/spotify/docker/BuildMojoTest.java
index 254f0e4bc..be354f16e 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/spotify/docker/BuildMojoTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/spotify/docker/BuildMojoTest.java
@@ -103,6 +103,22 @@ public class BuildMojoTest extends AbstractMojoTestCase {
             "VOLUME /example2"
     );
 
+  private static final List<String> GENERATED_DOCKERFILE_WITH_SQUASH_COMMANDS = Arrays.asList(
+          "FROM busybox",
+          "MAINTAINER user",
+          "ENV FOO BAR",
+          "WORKDIR /opt/app",
+          "ADD resources/parent/child/child.xml resources/parent/child/",
+          "ADD resources/parent/parent.xml resources/parent/",
+          "ADD copy2.json .",
+          "RUN ln -s /a /b &&\\",
+          "\twget 127.0.0.1:8080",
+          "EXPOSE 8080 8081",
+          "USER app",
+          "ENTRYPOINT date",
+          "CMD [\"-u\"]"
+      );
+
   private static final List<String> PROFILE_GENERATED_DOCKERFILE = Arrays.asList(
       "FROM busybox",
       "ENV APP_NAME FOOBAR",
@@ -268,6 +284,22 @@ public void testBuildWithGeneratedDockerfile() throws Exception {
                  Files.readAllLines(Paths.get("target/docker/Dockerfile"), UTF_8));
   }
 
+  public void testBuildWithGeneratedDockerfileWithSquashCommands() throws Exception {
+      final File pom = getTestFile("src/test/resources/pom-build-generated-dockerfile-with-squash-commands.xml");
+      assertNotNull("Null pom.xml", pom);
+      assertTrue("pom.xml does not exist", pom.exists());
+
+      final BuildMojo mojo = setupMojo(pom);
+      final DockerClient docker = mock(DockerClient.class);
+      mojo.execute(docker);
+
+      verify(docker).build(eq(Paths.get("target/docker")), eq("busybox"),
+                           any(AnsiProgressHandler.class));
+      assertFilesCopied();
+      assertEquals("wrong dockerfile contents", GENERATED_DOCKERFILE_WITH_SQUASH_COMMANDS,
+                   Files.readAllLines(Paths.get("target/docker/Dockerfile"), UTF_8));
+    }
+
   public void testBuildGeneratedDockerFile_CopiesEntireDirectory() throws Exception {
     final File pom = getTestFile("src/test/resources/pom-build-copy-entire-directory.xml");
 
diff --git a/src/test/resources/pom-build-generated-dockerfile-with-squash-commands.xml b/src/test/resources/pom-build-generated-dockerfile-with-squash-commands.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..176af0907
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/pom-build-generated-dockerfile-with-squash-commands.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
+         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+
+  <name>Docker Maven Plugin Test Pom</name>
+  <groupId>com.spotify</groupId>
+  <artifactId>docker-maven-plugin-test</artifactId>
+  <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+  <packaging>jar</packaging>
+
+  <build>
+    <plugins>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>com.spotify</groupId>
+        <artifactId>docker-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+        <version>0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <configuration>
+          <!-- a DockerFile should be generated since dockerDirectory is not specified -->
+          <baseImage>busybox</baseImage>
+          <maintainer>user</maintainer>
+          <dockerHost>http://host:2375</dockerHost>
+          <imageName>busybox</imageName>
+          <entryPoint>date</entryPoint>
+          <env>
+            <FOO>BAR</FOO>
+          </env>
+          <exposes>
+            <expose>8081</expose>
+            <expose>8080</expose>
+          </exposes>
+          <cmd>-u</cmd>
+          <!-- same copying tests as pom-build-docker-directory.xml, but make sure it works with auto-generated -->
+          <!-- docker file. pom-build-docker-directory.xml specified its own docker directory-->
+          <resources>
+            <resource>
+              <!-- test we handle all elements correctly -->
+              <targetPath>resources</targetPath>
+              <directory>src/test/resources/copy1</directory>
+              <include>**/*.xml</include>
+              <exclude>**/*exclude*</exclude>
+            </resource>
+            <resource>
+              <!-- test we handle missing elements correctly -->
+              <directory>src/test/resources/copy2</directory>
+            </resource>
+          </resources>
+          <runs>
+             <run>ln -s /a /b</run>
+             <run>wget 127.0.0.1:8080</run>
+          </runs>
+          <squashRunCommands>true</squashRunCommands>
+          <workdir>/opt/app</workdir>
+          <user>app</user>
+        </configuration>
+      </plugin>
+    </plugins>
+  </build>
+</project>