diff --git a/.github/workflows/elasticsearch-image-builder.yml b/.github/workflows/elasticsearch-image-builder.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..27fb4f50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/elasticsearch-image-builder.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+name: Build Docker Images
+on:
+  push:
+    paths:
+      - "images/elasticsearch/**"
+      - ".github/workflows/**"
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        elastic-version:
+          - "7.17.15"
+    env:
+      DOCKER_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_USERNAME }}
+      DOCKER_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 100
+      - name: "Build elasticsearch@${{ matrix.elastic-version }}"
+        run: |
+          cd images/elasticsearch/${{ matrix.elastic-version }}
+          curl "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pelias/ci-tools/master/build-docker-images.sh" | bash -
diff --git a/images/elasticsearch/7.17.15/Dockerfile b/images/elasticsearch/7.17.15/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9825ac65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/images/elasticsearch/7.17.15/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# see: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/docker.html
+
+# base image
+FROM docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch:7.17.15
+USER root
+
+# environmental settings
+ENV ES_JAVA_OPTS '-Xms512m -Xmx512m'
+ENV cluster.name 'pelias-dev'
+ENV discovery.type 'single-node'
+ENV bootstrap.memory_lock 'true'
+RUN echo 'vm.max_map_count=262144' >> /etc/sysctl.conf
+
+# configure plugins
+RUN /usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-plugin install analysis-icu
+RUN /usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-plugin install repository-s3 --batch
+
+# elasticsearch config
+ADD elasticsearch.yml /usr/share/elasticsearch/config/
+RUN chown elasticsearch:elasticsearch config/elasticsearch.yml
+
+## set permissions so any user can run elasticsearch
+# add read permissions to all files in dir
+RUN chmod go+r /usr/share/elasticsearch -R
+
+# add write permissions to config, log & data dirs
+RUN chmod go+w /usr/share/elasticsearch \
+  /usr/share/elasticsearch/config \
+  /usr/share/elasticsearch/logs \
+  /usr/share/elasticsearch/data
+
+# add list permissions to directories
+RUN chmod go+x /usr/share/elasticsearch \
+  /usr/share/elasticsearch/config \
+  /usr/share/elasticsearch/config/repository-s3
+
+# add execute permissions to bins
+RUN chmod go+x /usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/*
+
+# run as elasticsearch user
+USER elasticsearch
diff --git a/images/elasticsearch/7.17.15/elasticsearch.yml b/images/elasticsearch/7.17.15/elasticsearch.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6086c701
--- /dev/null
+++ b/images/elasticsearch/7.17.15/elasticsearch.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+bootstrap.memory_lock: true
+network.host: 0.0.0.0
+http.port: 9200
+node.master: true
+node.data: true
+thread_pool:
+  write:
+    queue_size: 1000
+indices.query.bool.max_clause_count: 4000