diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 32e7f7f29c8c..ec3f418b5a60 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -41,13 +41,9 @@ endif
 
 # https://reproducible-builds.org/docs/source-date-epoch/#makefile
 # https://reproducible-builds.org/docs/source-date-epoch/#git
-# https://stackoverflow.com/a/15103333
+SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH ?= $(shell git log -1 --pretty=%ct || date -u +%s)
 BUILD_DATE_FMT = %Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ
-ifdef SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
-	BUILD_DATE ?= $(shell date -u -d "@$(SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH)" "+$(BUILD_DATE_FMT)" 2>/dev/null || date -u -r "$(SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH)" "+$(BUILD_DATE_FMT)" 2>/dev/null || date -u "+$(BUILD_DATE_FMT)")
-else
-	BUILD_DATE ?= $(shell TZ=UTC git log -1 --pretty=%cd --date='format-local:$(BUILD_DATE_FMT)' || date -u +$(BUILD_DATE_FMT))
-endif
+BUILD_DATE ?= $(shell date -u -d "@$(SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH)" "+$(BUILD_DATE_FMT)" 2>/dev/null || date -u -r "$(SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH)" "+$(BUILD_DATE_FMT)" 2>/dev/null || date -u "+$(BUILD_DATE_FMT)")
 
 LD_FLAGS += -X github.com/k0sproject/k0s/pkg/build.Version=$(VERSION)
 LD_FLAGS += -X github.com/k0sproject/k0s/pkg/build.RuncVersion=$(runc_version)
@@ -197,7 +193,9 @@ k0s.exe k0s: $(GO_SRCS) $(codegen_targets) go.sum
 		&& mv $@.tmp $@
 
 .bins.windows.stamp .bins.linux.stamp: embedded-bins/Makefile.variables
-	$(MAKE) -C embedded-bins buildmode=$(EMBEDDED_BINS_BUILDMODE) TARGET_OS=$(patsubst .bins.%.stamp,%,$@)
+	$(MAKE) -C embedded-bins \
+	  TARGET_OS=$(patsubst .bins.%.stamp,%,$@) \
+	  SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$(SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH)
 	touch $@
 
 .PHONY: codegen
diff --git a/embedded-bins/Makefile b/embedded-bins/Makefile
index 5babe263845d..8b833a6d8087 100644
--- a/embedded-bins/Makefile
+++ b/embedded-bins/Makefile
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ export GOOS
 TARGET_OS ?= linux
 export TARGET_OS
 
+# https://reproducible-builds.org/docs/source-date-epoch/#makefile
+# https://reproducible-builds.org/docs/source-date-epoch/#git
+SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH ?= $(shell git log -1 --pretty=%ct || date -u +%s)
+
 bindir = staging/${TARGET_OS}/bin
 posix_bins = runc kubelet containerd containerd-shim containerd-shim-runc-v1 containerd-shim-runc-v2 kube-apiserver kube-scheduler kube-controller-manager etcd kine konnectivity-server xtables-legacy-multi xtables-nft-multi
 windows_bins = kubelet.exe kube-proxy.exe containerd.exe containerd-shim-runhcs-v1.exe
@@ -79,6 +83,7 @@ build_docker_image = \
 	  --build-arg CONTAINERD_BINS="$(containerd_bins)" \
 	  --build-arg KUBERNETES_BINS="$(kubernetes_bins)" \
 	  --build-arg VERSION=$($(patsubst %/Dockerfile,%,$<)_version) \
+	  --build-arg SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$(SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH) \
 	  --build-arg BUILDIMAGE=$($(patsubst %/Dockerfile,%,$<)_buildimage) \
 	  --build-arg BUILD_GO_TAGS=$($(patsubst %/Dockerfile,%,$<)_build_go_tags) \
 	  --build-arg BUILD_GO_CGO_ENABLED=$($(patsubst %/Dockerfile,%,$<)_build_go_cgo_enabled) \
diff --git a/embedded-bins/Makefile.variables b/embedded-bins/Makefile.variables
index a8350b9d3f9c..5e05d5a935cf 100644
--- a/embedded-bins/Makefile.variables
+++ b/embedded-bins/Makefile.variables
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ kubernetes_build_go_tags = "providerless"
 #kubernetes_build_go_cgo_cflags =
 kubernetes_build_go_flags = "-v"
 #kubernetes_build_go_ldflags =
-kubernetes_build_go_ldflags_extra = "-w -s -extldflags=-static"
+kubernetes_build_go_ldflags_extra = "-extldflags=-static"
 
 kine_version = 0.10.3
 kine_buildimage = $(golang_buildimage)
diff --git a/embedded-bins/kubernetes/Dockerfile b/embedded-bins/kubernetes/Dockerfile
index a453ad7c3b9c..99b023fd5b07 100644
--- a/embedded-bins/kubernetes/Dockerfile
+++ b/embedded-bins/kubernetes/Dockerfile
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ RUN git -c advice.detachedHead=false clone -b v$VERSION --depth=1 https://github
 WORKDIR /go/src/github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes
 
 ARG TARGET_OS \
+  SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH \
   BUILD_GO_TAGS \
   BUILD_GO_CGO_ENABLED \
   BUILD_GO_FLAGS \
@@ -17,7 +18,7 @@ ARG TARGET_OS \
   KUBERNETES_BINS
 
 RUN \
-  set -e; \
+  set -ex; \
   export GOPATH=/go; \
   if [ "${TARGET_OS}" = windows ]; then \
     commands="${KUBERNETES_BINS}"; \
@@ -34,7 +35,9 @@ RUN \
     export KUBE_STATIC_OVERRIDES=$commands; \
   fi; \
   mkdir /out; \
+  export SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH; \
   export FORCE_HOST_GO=y; \
+  export KUBE_VERBOSE=9; \
   export KUBE_GIT_VERSION="v$VERSION+k0s"; \
   for cmd in $commands; do \
     make GOFLAGS="${BUILD_GO_FLAGS} -tags=${BUILD_GO_TAGS}" GOLDFLAGS="${BUILD_GO_LDFLAGS_EXTRA}" WHAT=cmd/$cmd; \