diff --git a/services/backup/Dockerfile b/services/backup/Dockerfile
--- a/services/backup/Dockerfile
+++ b/services/backup/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-FROM commapp/services-base:1.1
+ARG COMM_BASE_IMAGE_M1_SUFFIX
+FROM commapp/services-base:1.1${COMM_BASE_IMAGE_M1_SUFFIX}
 
 RUN apt-get update && \
   apt-get install -y uuid-dev && \
diff --git a/services/blob/Dockerfile b/services/blob/Dockerfile
--- a/services/blob/Dockerfile
+++ b/services/blob/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-FROM commapp/services-base:1.1
+ARG COMM_BASE_IMAGE_M1_SUFFIX
+FROM commapp/services-base:1.1${COMM_BASE_IMAGE_M1_SUFFIX}
 
 RUN apt-get update && \
   apt-get install -y uuid-dev && \
diff --git a/services/docker-compose.yml b/services/docker-compose.yml
--- a/services/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/services/docker-compose.yml
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
       dockerfile: services/tunnelbroker/Dockerfile
       context: ../
       args:
+        - COMM_BASE_IMAGE_M1_SUFFIX=${COMM_BASE_IMAGE_M1_SUFFIX}
         - COMM_TEST_SERVICES=${COMM_TEST_SERVICES}
         - COMM_SERVICES_SANDBOX=${COMM_SERVICES_SANDBOX}
     image: commapp/tunnelbroker-server:0.2
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@
       dockerfile: services/backup/Dockerfile
       context: ../
       args:
+        - COMM_BASE_IMAGE_M1_SUFFIX=${COMM_BASE_IMAGE_M1_SUFFIX}
         - COMM_TEST_SERVICES=${COMM_TEST_SERVICES}
         - COMM_SERVICES_SANDBOX=${COMM_SERVICES_SANDBOX}
     image: commapp/backup-server:0.1
@@ -44,6 +46,7 @@
       dockerfile: services/blob/Dockerfile
       context: ../
       args:
+        - COMM_BASE_IMAGE_M1_SUFFIX=${COMM_BASE_IMAGE_M1_SUFFIX}
         - COMM_TEST_SERVICES=${COMM_TEST_SERVICES}
         - COMM_SERVICES_SANDBOX=${COMM_SERVICES_SANDBOX}
     image: commapp/blob-server:0.1
diff --git a/services/scripts/build_base_image.sh b/services/scripts/build_base_image.sh
--- a/services/scripts/build_base_image.sh
+++ b/services/scripts/build_base_image.sh
@@ -7,5 +7,10 @@
   exit 1
 fi
 
-tag=${1:-"1.1"}
+TAG="1.1"
+if [[ $(uname -m) == 'arm64' ]]; then
+  TAG="$TAG.m1"
+fi
+
+tag=${1:-"$TAG"}
 docker build -t commapp/services-base:"${tag}" base-image
diff --git a/services/scripts/run_server_image.sh b/services/scripts/run_server_image.sh
--- a/services/scripts/run_server_image.sh
+++ b/services/scripts/run_server_image.sh
@@ -29,5 +29,9 @@
   exit 1
 fi
 
+if [[ $(uname -m) == 'arm64' ]]; then
+  export COMM_BASE_IMAGE_M1_SUFFIX=".m1"
+fi
+
 docker-compose build "$SERVICE"-server
 docker-compose up "$SERVICE"-server
diff --git a/services/scripts/run_unit_tests.sh b/services/scripts/run_unit_tests.sh
--- a/services/scripts/run_unit_tests.sh
+++ b/services/scripts/run_unit_tests.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@
 run_unit_test () {
   echo "unit tests will be run for the $1 service"
 
+  if [[ $(uname -m) == 'arm64' ]]; then
+    export COMM_BASE_IMAGE_M1_SUFFIX=".m1"
+  fi
+
   docker-compose build "$1"-server
   docker-compose run "$1"-server
 }
diff --git a/services/tunnelbroker/Dockerfile b/services/tunnelbroker/Dockerfile
--- a/services/tunnelbroker/Dockerfile
+++ b/services/tunnelbroker/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-FROM commapp/services-base:1.1
+ARG COMM_BASE_IMAGE_M1_SUFFIX
+FROM commapp/services-base:1.1${COMM_BASE_IMAGE_M1_SUFFIX}
 
 ARG MAKE_JOBS=4
 ENV MAKEFLAGS="-j${MAKE_JOBS}"