diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 266c78634..c1bf8bd5f 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
 
 ENV DISTRIBUTION_DIR /go/src/github.com/docker/distribution
 ENV GOPATH $DISTRIBUTION_DIR/Godeps/_workspace:$GOPATH
-ENV DOCKER_BUILDTAGS include_rados
+ENV DOCKER_BUILDTAGS include_rados include_azure
 
 WORKDIR $DISTRIBUTION_DIR
 COPY . $DISTRIBUTION_DIR
diff --git a/cmd/registry/main.go b/cmd/registry/main.go
index df1359172..49132bf1b 100644
--- a/cmd/registry/main.go
+++ b/cmd/registry/main.go
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import (
 	_ "github.com/docker/distribution/registry/auth/token"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/registry/handlers"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/registry/listener"
-	_ "github.com/docker/distribution/registry/storage/driver/azure"
 	_ "github.com/docker/distribution/registry/storage/driver/filesystem"
 	_ "github.com/docker/distribution/registry/storage/driver/inmemory"
 	_ "github.com/docker/distribution/registry/storage/driver/middleware/cloudfront"
diff --git a/docs/building.md b/docs/building.md
index 5c40e0eb7..cd534c715 100644
--- a/docs/building.md
+++ b/docs/building.md
@@ -139,3 +139,8 @@ To enable the [Ceph RADOS storage driver](storage-drivers/rados.md)
 ```sh
 export DOCKER_BUILDTAGS='include_rados'
 ```
+
+To enable the [Azure storage driver](storage-drivers/azure.md), use the
+`include_azure` build tag.
+
+
diff --git a/docs/storage-drivers/azure.md b/docs/storage-drivers/azure.md
index fd46ece39..01cba5c37 100644
--- a/docs/storage-drivers/azure.md
+++ b/docs/storage-drivers/azure.md
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ The following parameters must be used to authenticate and configure the storage
 * `container`: Name of the root storage container in which all registry data will be stored. Must comply the storage container name [requirements][create-container-api].
 * `realm`: (optional) Domain name suffix for the Storage Service API endpoint. Defaults to `core.windows.net`. For example realm for "Azure in China" would be `core.chinacloudapi.cn` and realm for "Azure Government" would be `core.usgovcloudapi.net`.
 
+## Developing
+
+To include this driver when building Docker Distribution, use the build tag
+`include_azure`. Please see the [building documentation][building] for details.
 
 [azure-blob-storage]: http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/storage/
-[create-container-api]: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/azure/dd179468.aspx
\ No newline at end of file
+[create-container-api]: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/azure/dd179468.aspx
+[building]: https://github.com/docker/distribution/blob/master/docs/building.md#optional-build-tags