diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index a4794d41..706bc056 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -3,3 +3,6 @@
 
 # except these:
 !/target/
+
+# but ignore the reports in /target
+/target/reports/
diff --git a/Dockerfile.native b/Dockerfile.native
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..122a7074
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile.native
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+FROM quay.io/radanalyticsio/ubi-graalvm
+
+ENV JAVA_OPTS="-XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions -XX:+UseCGroupMemoryLimitForHeap -XX:MaxRAMFraction=2 -XshowSettings:vm"
+
+LABEL BASE_IMAGE_2="registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8-minimal:8.0"
+
+ADD target/spark-operator-*-runner /spark-operator
+
+CMD ["/spark-operator", "-Djava.library.path=/lib"]
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d4b2e05f..17a78899 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ IMAGE?=radanalyticsio/spark-operator
 .PHONY: build
 build: package image-build
 
+.PHONY: build-native
+build: package-native image-build-native
+
 .PHONY: build-travis
 build-travis:
 	echo -e "travis_fold:start:mvn\033[33;1mMaven and container build\033[0m"
@@ -21,6 +24,10 @@ install-lib: install-parent
 package:
 	MAVEN_OPTS="-Djansi.passthrough=true -Dplexus.logger.type=ansi $(MAVEN_OPTS)" ./mvnw clean package -DskipTests
 
+.PHONY: package-native
+package:
+	MAVEN_OPTS="-Djansi.passthrough=true -Dplexus.logger.type=ansi $(MAVEN_OPTS)" ./mvnw -Pnative -Dnative-image.docker-build=true -DskipTests
+
 .PHONY: test
 test:
 	MAVEN_OPTS="-Djansi.passthrough=true -Dplexus.logger.type=ansi $(MAVEN_OPTS)" ./mvnw clean test
@@ -30,6 +37,11 @@ image-build:
 	docker build -t $(IMAGE):ubi -f Dockerfile.ubi .
 	docker tag $(IMAGE):ubi $(IMAGE):latest
 
+.PHONY: image-build-native
+image-build-native:
+	docker build -t $(IMAGE):native -f Dockerfile.native .
+	docker tag $(IMAGE):native $(IMAGE):latest-native
+
 .PHONY: image-build-alpine
 image-build-alpine:
 	docker build -t $(IMAGE):alpine -f Dockerfile.alpine .
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index c235d7ca..e26f419a 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>io.radanalytics</groupId>
         <artifactId>operator-parent-pom</artifactId>
-        <version>0.3.22</version>
+        <version>0.3.23-SNAPDHOT</version>
     </parent>
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
     <groupId>io.radanalytics</groupId>
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 
     <properties>
         <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
-        <abstract-operator.version>0.6.8</abstract-operator.version>
+        <abstract-operator.version>0.6.9-SNAPSHOT</abstract-operator.version>
     </properties>
 
     <dependencies>
@@ -44,11 +44,29 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>io.quarkus</groupId>
             <artifactId>quarkus-core</artifactId>
-            <version>0.18.0</version> <!-- todo: move to parent pom -->
+            <version>0.19.1</version> <!-- todo: move to parent pom -->
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>io.quarkus</groupId>
+            <artifactId>quarkus-core-deployment</artifactId>
+            <version>0.19.1</version> <!-- todo: move to parent pom -->
         </dependency>
     </dependencies>
     <build>
         <plugins>
+        <plugin>
+            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+            <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
+            <configuration>
+                <annotationProcessorPaths>
+                    <path>
+                        <groupId>io.quarkus</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>quarkus-extension-processor</artifactId>
+                        <version>0.19.1</version>
+                    </path>
+                </annotationProcessorPaths>
+            </configuration>
+        </plugin>
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>