diff --git a/24/cli/Dockerfile b/24/cli/Dockerfile
index f385b9608..73a5ac15b 100644
--- a/24/cli/Dockerfile
+++ b/24/cli/Dockerfile
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ RUN apk add --no-cache \
 # - docker run --rm debian:stretch grep '^hosts:' /etc/nsswitch.conf
 RUN [ -e /etc/nsswitch.conf ] && grep '^hosts: files dns' /etc/nsswitch.conf
 
+# pre-add a "docker" group for socket usage
+RUN set -eux; \
+	addgroup -g 2375 -S docker
+
 ENV DOCKER_VERSION 24.0.7
 
 RUN set -eux; \
diff --git a/25-rc/cli/Dockerfile b/25-rc/cli/Dockerfile
index 3911b9993..f0528e022 100644
--- a/25-rc/cli/Dockerfile
+++ b/25-rc/cli/Dockerfile
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ RUN apk add --no-cache \
 # - docker run --rm debian:stretch grep '^hosts:' /etc/nsswitch.conf
 RUN [ -e /etc/nsswitch.conf ] && grep '^hosts: files dns' /etc/nsswitch.conf
 
+# pre-add a "docker" group for socket usage
+RUN set -eux; \
+	addgroup -g 2375 -S docker
+
 ENV DOCKER_VERSION 25.0.0-beta.3
 
 RUN set -eux; \
diff --git a/Dockerfile-cli.template b/Dockerfile-cli.template
index 05c75697b..83622f12b 100644
--- a/Dockerfile-cli.template
+++ b/Dockerfile-cli.template
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ RUN apk add --no-cache \
 # - docker run --rm debian:stretch grep '^hosts:' /etc/nsswitch.conf
 RUN [ -e /etc/nsswitch.conf ] && grep '^hosts: files dns' /etc/nsswitch.conf
 
+# pre-add a "docker" group for socket usage
+RUN set -eux; \
+	addgroup -g 2375 -S docker
+
 ENV DOCKER_VERSION {{ .version }}
 
 RUN set -eux; \