diff --git a/Dockerfile-localnet b/Dockerfile-localnet
index f9ff74d48a..24b98adf53 100644
--- a/Dockerfile-localnet
+++ b/Dockerfile-localnet
@@ -59,13 +59,9 @@ FROM base-runtime AS latest-runtime
 COPY --from=cosmovisor-build /go/bin/cosmovisor /usr/local/bin
 COPY --from=latest-build /go/bin/zetacored /go/bin/zetaclientd /go/bin/zetaclientd-supervisor /go/bin/zetae2e /usr/local/bin
 
-# optional old version build. This old build is used as the genesis version in the upgrade tests.
-# use --target latest-runtime to skip
-# 
-# TODO: just download binaries from github release now that we're using glibc
-# we can't do this right now since we do not have a v16 release candidate
-# https://github.com/zeta-chain/node/issues/2179
-FROM base-build as old-build
+# Optional old version build (from source). This old build is used as the genesis version in the upgrade tests. 
+# Use --target latest-runtime to skip.
+FROM base-build as old-build-source
 
 ARG OLD_VERSION
 RUN git clone https://github.com/zeta-chain/node.git
@@ -74,8 +70,22 @@ RUN cd node && git fetch
 RUN cd node && git checkout ${OLD_VERSION}
 RUN cd node && make install
 
+FROM base-runtime AS old-runtime-source
+
+COPY --from=cosmovisor-build /go/bin/cosmovisor /usr/local/bin
+COPY --from=old-build-source /go/bin/zetacored /go/bin/zetaclientd /usr/local/bin
+COPY --from=latest-build /go/bin/zetaclientd-supervisor /usr/local/bin
+
+# Optional old version build (from binary).
+# Use --target latest-runtime to skip.
 FROM base-runtime AS old-runtime
 
+ARG OLD_VERSION
+ARG BUILDARCH
+
 COPY --from=cosmovisor-build /go/bin/cosmovisor /usr/local/bin
-COPY --from=old-build /go/bin/zetacored /go/bin/zetaclientd /usr/local/bin
-COPY --from=latest-build /go/bin/zetaclientd-supervisor /usr/local/bin
\ No newline at end of file
+COPY --from=latest-build /go/bin/zetaclientd-supervisor /usr/local/bin
+RUN curl -Lo /usr/local/bin/zetacored ${OLD_VERSION}/zetacored-linux-${BUILDARCH} && \
+    chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/zetacored && \
+    curl -Lo /usr/local/bin/zetaclientd ${OLD_VERSION}/zetaclientd-linux-${BUILDARCH} && \
+    chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/zetaclientd
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 177f064722..471c9af947 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -258,12 +258,18 @@ start-stress-test: zetanode
 ###                         Upgrade Tests              						###
 ###############################################################################
 
-
+# build from source only if requested
+ifdef UPGRADE_TEST_FROM_SOURCE
 zetanode-upgrade: zetanode
-	@echo "Building zetanode-upgrade"
-	$(DOCKER) build -t zetanode:old -f Dockerfile-localnet --target old-runtime --build-arg OLD_VERSION='release/v17' .
-	$(DOCKER) build -t orchestrator -f contrib/localnet/orchestrator/Dockerfile.fastbuild .
+	@echo "Building zetanode-upgrade from source"
+	$(DOCKER) build -t zetanode:old -f Dockerfile-localnet --target old-runtime-source --build-arg OLD_VERSION='release/v17' .
+.PHONY: zetanode-upgrade
+else
+zetanode-upgrade: zetanode
+	@echo "Building zetanode-upgrade from binaries"
+	$(DOCKER) build -t zetanode:old -f Dockerfile-localnet --target old-runtime --build-arg OLD_VERSION='https://github.com/zeta-chain/ci-testing-node/releases/download/v17.0.1-internal' .
 .PHONY: zetanode-upgrade
+endif
 
 start-upgrade-test: zetanode-upgrade
 	@echo "--> Starting upgrade test"