diff --git a/images/build/cross/Makefile b/images/build/cross/Makefile
index 7287b1e9cf8..31789cbca25 100644
--- a/images/build/cross/Makefile
+++ b/images/build/cross/Makefile
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ STAGING_REGISTRY?=gcr.io/k8s-staging-build-image
 PROD_REGISTRY?=us.gcr.io/k8s-artifacts-prod/build-image
 IMAGE=kube-cross
 
-TAG?=kubernetes-$(shell git describe --tags --match='v*' --abbrev=14)
-KUBE_CROSS_VERSION=$(shell cat VERSION)
+TAG?=$(shell git describe --tags --always --dirty)
+VERSION=$(shell cat VERSION)
 # TODO: Support multi-arch kube-cross images
 #       ref:
 #       - https://github.com/kubernetes/release/pull/1140/commits/e96924f58d9ce2bb73045fbba13f259b4345c0d9#r395056830
@@ -32,16 +32,16 @@ all: build push
 build:
 	docker build \
 		-t $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE)-$(ARCH):$(TAG) \
-		-t $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE)-$(ARCH):$(KUBE_CROSS_VERSION) \
-		-t $(PROD_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE)-$(ARCH):$(KUBE_CROSS_VERSION) \
+		-t $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE)-$(ARCH):$(VERSION) \
+		-t $(PROD_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE)-$(ARCH):$(VERSION) \
 		.
 
 push:
 	docker push $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE)-$(ARCH):$(TAG)
-	docker push $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE)-$(ARCH):$(KUBE_CROSS_VERSION)
-	docker manifest create --amend $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE):$(KUBE_CROSS_VERSION) \
-		$(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE)-$(ARCH):$(KUBE_CROSS_VERSION)
-	docker manifest annotate $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE):$(KUBE_CROSS_VERSION) \
-		$(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE)-$(ARCH):$(KUBE_CROSS_VERSION) \
+	docker push $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE)-$(ARCH):$(VERSION)
+	docker manifest create --amend $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE):$(VERSION) \
+		$(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE)-$(ARCH):$(VERSION)
+	docker manifest annotate $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE):$(VERSION) \
+		$(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE)-$(ARCH):$(VERSION) \
 		--arch $(ARCH)
-	docker manifest push -p $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE):$(KUBE_CROSS_VERSION)
+	docker manifest push -p $(STAGING_REGISTRY)/$(IMAGE):$(VERSION)
diff --git a/images/build/cross/VERSION b/images/build/cross/VERSION
index 5dedc1849ba..83b672bbe4d 100644
--- a/images/build/cross/VERSION
+++ b/images/build/cross/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-v1.13.9-1
+v1.13.9-2
diff --git a/images/build/cross/cloudbuild.yaml b/images/build/cross/cloudbuild.yaml
index 9b698c43349..bfdfd555090 100644
--- a/images/build/cross/cloudbuild.yaml
+++ b/images/build/cross/cloudbuild.yaml
@@ -7,7 +7,12 @@ steps:
     entrypoint: make
     env:
     - DOCKER_CLI_EXPERIMENTAL=enabled
+    - TAG=$_GIT_TAG
+    - PULL_BASE_REF=$_PULL_BASE_REF
     args:
     - all
-images:
-  - 'gcr.io/$PROJECT_ID/kube-cross:kubernetes-${_GIT_TAG}'
+substitutions:
+  # _GIT_TAG will be filled with a git-based tag for the image, of the form vYYYYMMDD-hash, and
+  # can be used as a substitution
+  _GIT_TAG: '12345'
+  _PULL_BASE_REF: 'dev'