diff --git a/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/build.go b/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/build.go
index 11269d671f..a060c7e876 100644
--- a/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/build.go
+++ b/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/build.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/cmdutil"
@@ -144,14 +145,20 @@ func buildFunc(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		cmdError.ExitWithError(cmdError.ExitBadArgs, fmt.Errorf("build command needs exactly 1 argument"))
 	}
 
+	cmdutil.MustInProjectRoot()
+	goBuildEnv := append(os.Environ(), "GOOS=linux", "GOARCH=amd64", "CGO_ENABLED=0")
+	wd, err := os.Getwd()
+	if err != nil {
+		cmdError.ExitWithError(cmdError.ExitError, fmt.Errorf("could not identify current working directory: %v", err))
+	}
+
 	// Don't need to buld go code if Ansible Operator
 	if mainExists() {
-		bcmd := exec.Command(build)
-		bcmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), fmt.Sprintf("TEST_LOCATION=%v", testLocationBuild))
-		bcmd.Env = append(bcmd.Env, fmt.Sprintf("ENABLE_TESTS=%v", enableTests))
-		o, err := bcmd.CombinedOutput()
+		buildCmd := exec.Command("go", "build", "-o", filepath.Join(wd, "tmp/_output/bin", filepath.Base(wd)), filepath.Join(cmdutil.GetCurrPkg(), "cmd", filepath.Base(wd)))
+		buildCmd.Env = goBuildEnv
+		o, err := buildCmd.CombinedOutput()
 		if err != nil {
-			cmdError.ExitWithError(cmdError.ExitError, fmt.Errorf("failed to build: (%v)", string(o)))
+			log.Fatalf("failed to build operator binary: %v (%v)", err, string(o))
 		}
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stdout, string(o))
 	}
@@ -173,6 +180,18 @@ func buildFunc(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stdout, string(o))
 
 	if enableTests {
+		buildTestCmd := exec.Command("go", "test", "-c", "-o", filepath.Join(wd, "tmp/_output/bin", filepath.Base(wd)+"-test"), testLocationBuild+"/...")
+		buildTestCmd.Env = goBuildEnv
+		o, err := buildTestCmd.CombinedOutput()
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatalf("failed to build test binary: %v (%v)", err, string(o))
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stdout, string(o))
+		// if a user is using an older sdk repo as their library, make sure they have required build files
+		_, err = os.Stat("tmp/build/test-framework/Dockerfile")
+		if err != nil {
+			generator.RenderTestingContainerFiles(filepath.Join(wd, "tmp/build"), filepath.Base(wd))
+		}
 		testDbcmd := exec.Command("docker", "build", ".", "-f", "tmp/build/test-framework/Dockerfile", "-t", image, "--build-arg", "NAMESPACEDMAN="+namespacedManBuild, "--build-arg", "BASEIMAGE="+baseImageName)
 		o, err = testDbcmd.CombinedOutput()
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/cmdutil/util.go b/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/cmdutil/util.go
index 29816eefc8..b109799d7e 100644
--- a/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/cmdutil/util.go
+++ b/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/cmdutil/util.go
@@ -15,9 +15,13 @@
 package cmdutil
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	gobuild "go/build"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 
 	cmdError "github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/commands/operator-sdk/error"
 	"github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/pkg/generator"
@@ -49,3 +53,23 @@ func GetConfig() *generator.Config {
 	}
 	return c
 }
+
+// GetCurrPkg returns the current directory's import path
+// e.g: "github.com/example-inc/app-operator"
+func GetCurrPkg() string {
+	gopath := os.Getenv("GOPATH")
+	if len(gopath) == 0 {
+		gopath = gobuild.Default.GOPATH
+	}
+	goSrc := filepath.Join(gopath, "src")
+
+	wd, err := os.Getwd()
+	if err != nil {
+		cmdError.ExitWithError(cmdError.ExitError, fmt.Errorf("failed to get working directory: (%v)", err))
+	}
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(filepath.Dir(wd), goSrc) {
+		cmdError.ExitWithError(cmdError.ExitError, errors.New("must run from gopath"))
+	}
+	currPkg := strings.Replace(wd, goSrc+string(filepath.Separator), "", 1)
+	return currPkg
+}
diff --git a/pkg/generator/generator.go b/pkg/generator/generator.go
index a10eb5999a..1d11ffc142 100644
--- a/pkg/generator/generator.go
+++ b/pkg/generator/generator.go
@@ -503,22 +503,10 @@ func (g *Generator) renderVersion() error {
 }
 
 func renderBuildFiles(buildDir, repoPath, projectName, operatorType string, generatePlaybook bool) error {
-	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
-	bTd := tmplData{
-		ProjectName: projectName,
-		RepoPath:    repoPath,
-	}
-
 	var dockerFileTmplName string
 	switch operatorType {
 	case goOperatorType:
 		dockerFileTmplName = dockerFileTmpl
-		if err := renderFile(buf, "tmp/build/build.sh", buildTmpl, bTd); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if err := writeFileAndPrint(filepath.Join(buildDir, build), buf.Bytes(), defaultExecFileMode); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
 	case ansibleOperatorType:
 		dockerFileTmplName = dockerFileAnsibleTmpl
 	}
@@ -532,11 +520,17 @@ func renderBuildFiles(buildDir, repoPath, projectName, operatorType string, gene
 		return err
 	}
 
+	return RenderTestingContainerFiles(buildDir, projectName)
+}
+
+func RenderTestingContainerFiles(buildDir, projectName string) error {
+	dTd := tmplData{
+		ProjectName: projectName,
+	}
 	if err := renderWriteFile(filepath.Join(buildDir, "test-framework", testingDockerfile), "tmp/build/test-framework/Dockerfile", testingDockerFileTmpl, dTd); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-
-	buf = &bytes.Buffer{}
+	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
 	if err := renderFile(buf, filepath.Join(buildDir, goTest), goTestScript, tmplData{}); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/generator/generator_test.go b/pkg/generator/generator_test.go
index b5a619ff06..17e1655eea 100644
--- a/pkg/generator/generator_test.go
+++ b/pkg/generator/generator_test.go
@@ -593,21 +593,6 @@ COPY watches.yaml ${HOME}/watches.yaml
 
 func TestGenBuild(t *testing.T) {
 	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
-	bTd := tmplData{
-		ProjectName: appProjectName,
-		RepoPath:    appRepoPath,
-	}
-	if err := renderFile(buf, "tmp/build/build.sh", buildTmpl, bTd); err != nil {
-		t.Error(err)
-		return
-	}
-	if buildExp != buf.String() {
-		dmp := diffmatchpatch.New()
-		diffs := dmp.DiffMain(buildExp, buf.String(), false)
-		t.Errorf("\nTest failed. Below is the diff of the expected vs actual results.\nRed text is missing and green text is extra.\n\n" + dmp.DiffPrettyText(diffs))
-	}
-
-	buf = &bytes.Buffer{}
 	dTd := tmplData{
 		ProjectName: appProjectName,
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/generator/templates.go b/pkg/generator/templates.go
index 5e4126849c..f1774af24a 100644
--- a/pkg/generator/templates.go
+++ b/pkg/generator/templates.go
@@ -551,30 +551,6 @@ deepcopy \
 {{.APIDirName}}:{{.Version}} \
 --go-header-file "./tmp/codegen/boilerplate.go.txt"
 `
-const buildTmpl = `#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-set -o errexit
-set -o nounset
-set -o pipefail
-
-if ! which go > /dev/null; then
-	echo "golang needs to be installed"
-	exit 1
-fi
-
-BIN_DIR="$(pwd)/tmp/_output/bin"
-mkdir -p ${BIN_DIR}
-PROJECT_NAME="{{.ProjectName}}"
-REPO_PATH="{{.RepoPath}}"
-BUILD_PATH="${REPO_PATH}/cmd/${PROJECT_NAME}"
-TEST_PATH="${REPO_PATH}/${TEST_LOCATION}"
-echo "building "${PROJECT_NAME}"..."
-GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -o ${BIN_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME} $BUILD_PATH
-if $ENABLE_TESTS ; then
-	echo "building "${PROJECT_NAME}-test"..."
-	GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 CGO_ENABLED=0 go test -c -o ${BIN_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME}-test $TEST_PATH
-fi
-`
 
 const goTestScript = `#!/bin/sh