diff --git a/shared/build/build.go b/shared/build/build.go
index be94904b5..1af2f01bd 100644
--- a/shared/build/build.go
+++ b/shared/build/build.go
@@ -218,10 +218,6 @@ func (b *Builder) setup() error {
 		b.services = append(b.services, info)
 	}
 
-	if err := b.writeIdentifyFile(dir); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
 	if err := b.writeBuildScript(dir); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -455,11 +451,8 @@ func (b *Builder) writeDockerfile(dir string) error {
 		dockerfile.WriteEnv("LOGNAME", "ubuntu")
 		dockerfile.WriteEnv("TERM", "xterm")
 		dockerfile.WriteEnv("SHELL", "/bin/bash")
-		dockerfile.WriteAdd("id_rsa", "/home/ubuntu/.ssh/id_rsa")
-		dockerfile.WriteRun("sudo chown -R ubuntu:ubuntu /home/ubuntu/.ssh")
 		dockerfile.WriteRun("sudo chown -R ubuntu:ubuntu /var/cache/drone")
 		dockerfile.WriteRun("sudo chown -R ubuntu:ubuntu /usr/local/bin/drone")
-		dockerfile.WriteRun("sudo chmod 600 /home/ubuntu/.ssh/id_rsa")
 	default:
 		// all other images are assumed to use
 		// the root user.
@@ -471,9 +464,6 @@ func (b *Builder) writeDockerfile(dir string) error {
 		dockerfile.WriteEnv("TERM", "xterm")
 		dockerfile.WriteEnv("SHELL", "/bin/bash")
 		dockerfile.WriteEnv("GOPATH", "/var/cache/drone")
-		dockerfile.WriteAdd("id_rsa", "/root/.ssh/id_rsa")
-		dockerfile.WriteRun("chmod 600 /root/.ssh/id_rsa")
-		dockerfile.WriteRun("echo 'StrictHostKeyChecking no' > /root/.ssh/config")
 	}
 
 	dockerfile.WriteAdd("proxy.sh", "/etc/drone.d/")
@@ -512,6 +502,8 @@ func (b *Builder) writeBuildScript(dir string) error {
 		f.WriteHost(mapping)
 	}
 
+	f.WriteFile("$HOME/.ssh/id_rsa", b.Key, 600)
+
 	// if the repository is remote then we should
 	// add the commands to the build script to
 	// clone the repository
@@ -554,11 +546,3 @@ func (b *Builder) writeProxyScript(dir string) error {
 	proxyfilePath := filepath.Join(dir, "proxy.sh")
 	return ioutil.WriteFile(proxyfilePath, proxyfile.Bytes(), 0755)
 }
-
-// writeIdentifyFile is a helper function that
-// will generate the id_rsa file in the builder's
-// temp directory to be added to the Image.
-func (b *Builder) writeIdentifyFile(dir string) error {
-	keyfilePath := filepath.Join(dir, "id_rsa")
-	return ioutil.WriteFile(keyfilePath, b.Key, 0700)
-}
diff --git a/shared/build/build_test.go b/shared/build/build_test.go
index bf05a3550..25eee4a15 100644
--- a/shared/build/build_test.go
+++ b/shared/build/build_test.go
@@ -477,26 +477,6 @@ func TestRunErrorWait(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Skip()
 }
 
-func TestWriteIdentifyFile(t *testing.T) {
-	// temporary directory to store file
-	dir, _ := ioutil.TempDir("", "drone-test-")
-	defer os.RemoveAll(dir)
-
-	b := Builder{}
-	b.Key = []byte("ssh-rsa AAA...")
-	b.writeIdentifyFile(dir)
-
-	// persist a dummy id_rsa keyfile to disk
-	keyfile, err := ioutil.ReadFile(filepath.Join(dir, "id_rsa"))
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("Expected id_rsa file saved to disk")
-	}
-
-	if string(keyfile) != string(b.Key) {
-		t.Errorf("Expected id_rsa value saved as %s, got %s", b.Key, keyfile)
-	}
-}
-
 func TestWriteProxyScript(t *testing.T) {
 	// temporary directory to store file
 	dir, _ := ioutil.TempDir("", "drone-test-")
@@ -541,6 +521,7 @@ func TestWriteBuildScript(t *testing.T) {
 	b := Builder{}
 	b.Build = &script.Build{
 		Hosts: []string{"127.0.0.1"}}
+	b.Key = []byte("ssh-rsa AAA...")
 	b.Repo = &repo.Repo{
 		Path:   "git://github.com/drone/drone.git",
 		Branch: "master",
@@ -570,6 +551,7 @@ func TestWriteBuildScript(t *testing.T) {
 	f.WriteEnv("CI_BRANCH", "master")
 	f.WriteEnv("CI_PULL_REQUEST", "123")
 	f.WriteHost("127.0.0.1")
+	f.WriteFile("$HOME/.ssh/id_rsa", []byte("ssh-rsa AAA..."), 600)
 	f.WriteCmd("git clone --depth=0 --recursive git://github.com/drone/drone.git /var/cache/drone/github.com/drone/drone")
 	f.WriteCmd("git fetch origin +refs/pull/123/head:refs/remotes/origin/pr/123")
 	f.WriteCmd("git checkout -qf -b pr/123 origin/pr/123")
diff --git a/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile.go b/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile.go
index c08463808..519356216 100644
--- a/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile.go
+++ b/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile.go
@@ -52,6 +52,12 @@ func (b *Buildfile) WriteHost(mapping string) {
 	b.WriteCmdSilent(fmt.Sprintf("[ -f /usr/bin/sudo ] && echo %q | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts", mapping))
 }
 
+// WriteFile add files as part of the script.
+func (b *Buildfile) WriteFile(path string, file []byte, i int) {
+	b.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("echo %q | tee %s > /dev/null\n", string(file), path))
+	b.WriteCmdSilent(fmt.Sprintf("chmod %d %s", i, path))
+}
+
 // every build script starts with the following
 // code at the start.
 var base = `
@@ -70,6 +76,13 @@ if [ -d /etc/drone.d ]; then
   unset i
 fi
 
+if [ ! -d $HOME/.ssh ]; then
+  mkdir -p $HOME/.ssh
+fi
+
+chmod 0700 $HOME/.ssh
+echo 'StrictHostKeyChecking no' | tee $HOME/.ssh/config > /dev/null
+
 # be sure to exit on error and print out
 # our bash commands, so we can which commands
 # are executing and troubleshoot failures.
diff --git a/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile_test.go b/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile_test.go
index f9e0e942f..a9fa2dd50 100644
--- a/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile_test.go
+++ b/shared/build/buildfile/buildfile_test.go
@@ -46,4 +46,11 @@ func TestWrite(t *testing.T) {
 	if got != want {
 		t.Errorf("Exepected WriteHost returned %s, got %s", want, got)
 	}
+
+	f = &Buildfile{}
+	f.WriteFile("$HOME/.ssh/id_rsa", []byte("ssh-rsa AAA..."), 600)
+	got, want = f.String(), "echo \"ssh-rsa AAA...\" | tee $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa > /dev/null\nchmod 600 $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa\n"
+	if got != want {
+		t.Errorf("Exepected WriteFile returned \n%s, \ngot\n%s", want, got)
+	}
 }