diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index e57c00b69e92..962c73834222 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -340,7 +340,11 @@ if(USE_OPENMP)
   find_package(OpenMP REQUIRED)
   # This should build on Windows, but there's some problem and I don't have a Windows box, so
   # could a Windows user please fix?
-  if(EXISTS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/3rdparty/openmp/CMakeLists.txt AND SYSTEM_ARCHITECTURE STREQUAL "x86_64" AND NOT MSVC)
+  if(EXISTS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/3rdparty/openmp/CMakeLists.txt
+     AND SYSTEM_ARCHITECTURE STREQUAL "x86_64"
+     AND NOT MSVC
+     AND NOT CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING)
+
     # Intel/llvm OpenMP: https://github.com/llvm-mirror/openmp
     set(OPENMP_STANDALONE_BUILD TRUE)
     set(LIBOMP_ENABLE_SHARED TRUE)
diff --git a/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.arm64 b/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.arm64
index a1f752bbf64a..d88b3805fb29 100755
--- a/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.arm64
+++ b/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.arm64
@@ -37,13 +37,16 @@ ENV FC /usr/bin/${CROSS_TRIPLE}-gfortran
 ENV HOSTCC gcc
 ENV TARGET ARMV8
 
-WORKDIR /work
+WORKDIR /work/deps
 
-# Build OpenBLAS
-RUN git clone --recursive -b v0.2.20 https://github.com/xianyi/OpenBLAS.git && \
-    cd OpenBLAS && \
-    make -j$(nproc) && \
-    PREFIX=${CROSS_ROOT} make install
+COPY install/ubuntu_arm.sh /work/
+RUN /work/ubuntu_arm.sh
+
+COPY install/arm_openblas.sh /work/
+RUN /work/arm_openblas.sh
+
+ENV OpenBLAS_HOME=${CROSS_ROOT}
+ENV OpenBLAS_DIR=${CROSS_ROOT}
 
 COPY runtime_functions.sh /work/
 WORKDIR /work/mxnet
diff --git a/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.armv6 b/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.armv6
index c073992406fb..93be54025f42 100755
--- a/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.armv6
+++ b/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.armv6
@@ -36,11 +36,14 @@ ENV TARGET ARMV6
 
 WORKDIR /work/deps
 
-# Build OpenBLAS
-RUN git clone --recursive -b v0.2.20 https://github.com/xianyi/OpenBLAS.git && \
-    cd OpenBLAS && \
-    make -j$(nproc) && \
-    make PREFIX=$CROSS_ROOT install
+COPY install/ubuntu_arm.sh /work/
+RUN /work/ubuntu_arm.sh
+
+COPY install/arm_openblas.sh /work/
+RUN /work/arm_openblas.sh
+
+ENV OpenBLAS_HOME=${CROSS_ROOT}
+ENV OpenBLAS_DIR=${CROSS_ROOT}
 
 COPY runtime_functions.sh /work/
 WORKDIR /work/mxnet
diff --git a/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.armv7 b/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.armv7
index 627486c0537d..17df945893f7 100755
--- a/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.armv7
+++ b/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.armv7
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 # specific language governing permissions and limitations
 # under the License.
 #
-# Dockerfile to build MXNet for Android ARMv7
+# Dockerfile to build MXNet for ARMv7 (Android & RPi)
 
 FROM ubuntu:16.04 as ccachebuilder
 
@@ -30,13 +30,21 @@ FROM dockcross/linux-armv7
 # extract ccache binary into latest context
 COPY --from=ccachebuilder /usr/local/bin/ccache /usr/local/bin/ccache
 
-ENV ARCH armv71
-ENV CC /usr/bin/arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc
-ENV CXX /usr/bin/arm-linux-gnueabihf-g++
+ENV ARCH armv7l
+ENV HOSTCC gcc
+ENV TARGET ARMV7
+ENV FC /usr/bin/${CROSS_TRIPLE}-gfortran
 
-RUN apt-get update && \
-    apt-get install -y libopenblas-dev:armhf && \
-    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+WORKDIR /work/deps
+
+COPY install/ubuntu_arm.sh /work/
+RUN /work/ubuntu_arm.sh
+
+COPY install/arm_openblas.sh /work/
+RUN /work/arm_openblas.sh
+
+ENV OpenBLAS_HOME=${CROSS_ROOT}
+ENV OpenBLAS_DIR=${CROSS_ROOT}
 
 COPY runtime_functions.sh /work/
-WORKDIR /work/build
+WORKDIR /work/mxnet
diff --git a/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.jetson b/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.jetson
index 8a8bb97aa156..4867bb5421de 100755
--- a/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.jetson
+++ b/ci/docker/Dockerfile.build.jetson
@@ -41,13 +41,16 @@ ENV FC /usr/bin/${CROSS_TRIPLE}-gfortran
 ENV HOSTCC gcc
 ENV TARGET ARMV8
 
-WORKDIR /work
+WORKDIR /work/deps
 
-# Build OpenBLAS
-RUN git clone --recursive -b v0.2.20 https://github.com/xianyi/OpenBLAS.git && \
-    cd OpenBLAS && \
-    make -j$(nproc) && \
-    PREFIX=${CROSS_ROOT} make install
+COPY install/ubuntu_arm.sh /work/
+RUN /work/ubuntu_arm.sh
+
+COPY install/arm_openblas.sh /work/
+RUN /work/arm_openblas.sh
+
+ENV OpenBLAS_HOME=${CROSS_ROOT}
+ENV OpenBLAS_DIR=${CROSS_ROOT}
 
 ENV OpenBLAS_HOME=${CROSS_ROOT}
 ENV OpenBLAS_DIR=${CROSS_ROOT}
diff --git a/ci/docker/install/arm_openblas.sh b/ci/docker/install/arm_openblas.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..fa2e5cae9cba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/docker/install/arm_openblas.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+set -ex
+
+git clone --recursive -b v0.2.20 https://github.com/xianyi/OpenBLAS.git
+
+cd OpenBLAS
+make -j$(nproc)
+PREFIX=${CROSS_ROOT} make install
+
+cd ..
+
+rm -rf OpenBLAS
diff --git a/ci/docker/install/ubuntu_arm.sh b/ci/docker/install/ubuntu_arm.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..becb012bd180
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/docker/install/ubuntu_arm.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+set -ex
+
+apt update
+apt install -y \
+    unzip
diff --git a/ci/docker/runtime_functions.sh b/ci/docker/runtime_functions.sh
index 36e238797059..227805d2acb7 100755
--- a/ci/docker/runtime_functions.sh
+++ b/ci/docker/runtime_functions.sh
@@ -63,34 +63,52 @@ build_ccache_wrappers() {
     export CXX=`pwd`/cxx
 }
 
-# Build commands: Every platform in docker/Dockerfile.build.<platform> should have a corresponding
-# function here with the same suffix:
+build_wheel() {
 
-build_jetson() {
     set -ex
     pushd .
 
-    build_ccache_wrappers
+    PYTHON_DIR=${1:-/work/mxnet/python}
+    BUILD_DIR=${2:-/work/build}
 
-    cp -f make/crosscompile.jetson.mk ./config.mk
+    # build
 
-    make -j$(nproc)
+    export MXNET_LIBRARY_PATH=${BUILD_DIR}/libmxnet.so
 
-    export MXNET_LIBRARY_PATH=`pwd`/libmxnet.so
-    cd /work/mxnet/python
+    cd ${PYTHON_DIR}
     python setup.py bdist_wheel --universal
 
+    # repackage
+
     # Fix pathing issues in the wheel.  We need to move libmxnet.so from the data folder to the
     # mxnet folder, then repackage the wheel.
     WHEEL=`readlink -f dist/*.whl`
     TMPDIR=`mktemp -d`
-    unzip -d $TMPDIR $WHEEL
-    rm $WHEEL
-    cd $TMPDIR
+    unzip -d ${TMPDIR} ${WHEEL}
+    rm ${WHEEL}
+    cd ${TMPDIR}
     mv *.data/data/mxnet/libmxnet.so mxnet
-    zip -r $WHEEL .
-    cp $WHEEL /work/build
-    rm -rf $TMPDIR
+    zip -r ${WHEEL} .
+    cp ${WHEEL} ${BUILD_DIR}
+    rm -rf ${TMPDIR}
+
+    popd
+}
+
+# Build commands: Every platform in docker/Dockerfile.build.<platform> should have a corresponding
+# function here with the same suffix:
+
+build_jetson() {
+    set -ex
+    pushd .
+
+    build_ccache_wrappers
+
+    cp -f make/crosscompile.jetson.mk ./config.mk
+    make -j$(nproc)
+
+    build_wheel /work/mxnet/python /work/mxnet/lib
+
     popd
 }
 
@@ -107,7 +125,7 @@ build_armv6() {
     # We do not need OpenMP, since most armv6 systems have only 1 core
 
     cmake \
-        -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$CROSS_ROOT/Toolchain.cmake \
+        -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=${CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE} \
         -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache \
         -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache \
         -DUSE_CUDA=OFF \
@@ -120,33 +138,43 @@ build_armv6() {
         -DBUILD_CPP_EXAMPLES=OFF \
         -Dmxnet_LINKER_LIBS=-lgfortran \
         -G Ninja /work/mxnet
+
     ninja
-    export MXNET_LIBRARY_PATH=`pwd`/libmxnet.so
-    cd /work/mxnet/python
-    python setup.py bdist_wheel --universal
-    cp dist/*.whl /work/build
+    build_wheel
+
     popd
 }
 
 build_armv7() {
     set -ex
     pushd .
+
     cd /work/build
+
+    # Lapack functionality will be included and statically linked to openblas.
+    # But USE_LAPACK needs to be set to OFF, otherwise the main CMakeLists.txt
+    # file tries to add -llapack. Lapack functionality though, requires -lgfortran
+    # to be linked additionally.
+
     cmake \
+        -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=${CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE} \
+        -DCMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING=ON \
         -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache \
-        -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache \
-        -DUSE_CUDA=OFF\
-        -DUSE_OPENCV=OFF\
-        -DUSE_OPENMP=OFF\
-        -DUSE_SIGNAL_HANDLER=ON\
-        -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo\
-        -DUSE_MKL_IF_AVAILABLE=OFF\
+        -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache \	
+        -DUSE_CUDA=OFF \
+        -DUSE_OPENCV=OFF \
+        -DUSE_OPENMP=ON \
+        -DUSE_SIGNAL_HANDLER=ON \
+        -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
+        -DUSE_MKL_IF_AVAILABLE=OFF \
+        -DUSE_LAPACK=OFF \
+        -DBUILD_CPP_EXAMPLES=OFF \
+        -Dmxnet_LINKER_LIBS=-lgfortran \
         -G Ninja /work/mxnet
+
     ninja
-    export MXNET_LIBRARY_PATH=`pwd`/libmxnet.so
-    cd /work/mxnet/python
-    python setup.py bdist_wheel --universal
-    cp dist/*.whl /work/build
+    build_wheel
+
     popd
 }