diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 21f41da7dbc..140ea427053 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -178,6 +178,16 @@ shellcheck:
 #################################
 ## docker targets
 
+.PHONY: build-image-%
+build-image-%:
+	nix-build ./nix -A wireServer.imagesNoDocs.$(*) && \
+	./result | docker load | tee /tmp/imageName-$(*) && \
+	imageName=$$(grep quay.io /tmp/imageName-$(*) | awk '{print $$3}') && \
+	echo 'You can run your image locally using' && \
+	echo "  docker run -it --entrypoint bash $$imageName" && \
+	echo 'or upload it using' && \
+	echo "  docker push $$imageName"
+
 .PHONY: upload-images
 upload-images:
 	./hack/bin/upload-images.sh imagesNoDocs
diff --git a/changelog.d/5-internal/debugging-tools b/changelog.d/5-internal/debugging-tools
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ffffed013ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/5-internal/debugging-tools
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Nix-created docker images: add some debugging tools in the containers, and add 'make build-image-<packagename>' for convenience
diff --git a/nix/wire-server.nix b/nix/wire-server.nix
index 03005e5bc02..0f36d942b15 100644
--- a/nix/wire-server.nix
+++ b/nix/wire-server.nix
@@ -194,6 +194,20 @@ let lib = pkgs.lib;
       galley-integration= [pkgs.mls-test-cli];
     };
 
+    # useful to poke around a container during a 'kubectl exec'
+    debugUtils = with pkgs; [
+      bashInteractive
+      gnugrep
+      coreutils
+      dig
+      curl
+      less
+      gnutar
+      gzip
+      openssl
+      which
+    ];
+
     images = localMods@{enableOptimization, enableDocs, enableTests}:
       attrsets.mapAttrs (execName: drv:
         pkgs.dockerTools.streamLayeredImage {
@@ -202,12 +216,10 @@ let lib = pkgs.lib;
           contents = [
             pkgs.cacert
             pkgs.iana-etc
-            pkgs.coreutils
-            pkgs.bashInteractive
             pkgs.dumb-init
             drv
             tmpDir
-          ] ++ pkgs.lib.optionals (builtins.hasAttr execName extraContents) (builtins.getAttr execName extraContents);
+          ] ++ debugUtils ++ pkgs.lib.optionals (builtins.hasAttr execName extraContents) (builtins.getAttr execName extraContents);
           # Any mkdir running in this step won't actually make it to the image,
           # hence we use the tmpDir derivation in the contents
           fakeRootCommands = ''