diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3b1be945..3e8d8650 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 ## HEAD (Unreleased)
 * Upgrade to v2.7.0 of the Docker Terraform Provider
+* Ensure that we check that docker is available earlier in the build process
 
 ## 1.2.0 (2020-01-29)
 * Upgrade to pulumi-terraform-bridge v1.6.4
diff --git a/sdk/dotnet/Docker.cs b/sdk/dotnet/Docker.cs
index c0a2e6c7..b954856d 100644
--- a/sdk/dotnet/Docker.cs
+++ b/sdk/dotnet/Docker.cs
@@ -540,7 +540,7 @@ private static string GetFailureMessage(
         /// when an error happens.  In general reporting the full command line is fine.  But it should be set
         /// to false if it might contain sensitive information (like a username/password)
         /// </summary>
-        private static async Task<string> RunCommandThatMustSucceed(
+        public static async Task<string> RunCommandThatMustSucceed(
             string cmd,
             string[] args,
             Resource logResource,
@@ -692,4 +692,4 @@ private static async Task WaitForExitAsync(Process process)
             void ProcessExited(object? sender, EventArgs e) => tcs.TrySetResult(true);
         }
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/sdk/dotnet/Image.cs b/sdk/dotnet/Image.cs
index c8a41b45..657578c1 100644
--- a/sdk/dotnet/Image.cs
+++ b/sdk/dotnet/Image.cs
@@ -129,6 +129,8 @@ public Image(string name, ImageArgs args, ComponentResourceOptions? options = nu
             {
                 var imageName = imageArgs.Item1;
 
+                Docker.RunCommandThatMustSucceed("docker", new[] { "ps"}, this).ConfigureAwait(false);
+
                 // If there is no localImageName set it equal to imageName.  Note: this means
                 // that if imageName contains a tag, localImageName will contain the same tag.
                 var localImageName = imageArgs.Item2 ?? imageName;
@@ -177,4 +179,4 @@ public Image(string name, ImageArgs args, ComponentResourceOptions? options = nu
                 });
         }
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/sdk/nodejs/docker.ts b/sdk/nodejs/docker.ts
index a055a895..f7d76805 100644
--- a/sdk/nodejs/docker.ts
+++ b/sdk/nodejs/docker.ts
@@ -563,7 +563,7 @@ function getFailureMessage(
 // [reportFullCommandLine] is used to determine if the full command line should be reported
 // when an error happens.  In general reporting the full command line is fine.  But it should be set
 // to false if it might contain sensitive information (like a username/password)
-async function runCommandThatMustSucceed(
+export async function runCommandThatMustSucceed(
     cmd: string,
     args: string[],
     logResource: pulumi.Resource,
diff --git a/sdk/nodejs/image.ts b/sdk/nodejs/image.ts
index eeaa1c2e..b8cc2ad3 100644
--- a/sdk/nodejs/image.ts
+++ b/sdk/nodejs/image.ts
@@ -110,6 +110,8 @@ export class Image extends pulumi.ComponentResource {
         const imageData = pulumi.output(args).apply(async (imageArgs) => {
             const imageName = imageArgs.imageName;
 
+            await docker.runCommandThatMustSucceed( "docker", ["ps"], this);
+
             // If there is no localImageName set it equal to imageName.  Note: this means
             // that if imageName contains a tag, localImageName will contain the same tag.
             const localImageName = imageArgs.localImageName || imageName;