diff --git a/changelog.d/18039.docker b/changelog.d/18039.docker
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..380fee90235
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/18039.docker
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Use a [`distroless`](https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/distroless) base runtime image.