diff --git a/ci/travis/install-bazel.sh b/ci/travis/install-bazel.sh
index bcdec5bf3..67549e289 100755
--- a/ci/travis/install-bazel.sh
+++ b/ci/travis/install-bazel.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 ROOT_DIR=$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE:-$0}")"; pwd)
 
+arg1="${1-}"
+
 version="3.2.0"
 achitecture="${HOSTTYPE}"
 platform="unknown"
@@ -50,9 +52,9 @@ else
   target="./install.sh"
   curl -f -s -L -R -o "${target}" "https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel/releases/download/${version}/bazel-${version}-installer-${platform}-${achitecture}.sh"
   chmod +x "${target}"
-  if [ "${CI-}" = true ]; then
-    sudo "${target}" > /dev/null  # system-wide install for CI
-    command -V bazel 1>&2
+  if [ "${CI-}" = true ] || [ "${arg1-}" = "--system" ]; then
+    "$(command -v sudo || echo command)" "${target}" > /dev/null  # system-wide install for CI
+    which bazel > /dev/null
   else
     "${target}" --user > /dev/null
   fi
diff --git a/docker/deploy/Dockerfile b/docker/deploy/Dockerfile
index 328cadf96..fc0c510e7 100644
--- a/docker/deploy/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/deploy/Dockerfile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 FROM ray-project/base-deps
 ADD ray.tar /ray
 ADD git-rev /ray/git-rev
-RUN cd /ray && git init && ./ci/travis/install-bazel.sh
+RUN cd /ray && git init && ./ci/travis/install-bazel.sh --system
 ENV PATH=$PATH:/root/bin
 RUN echo 'build --remote_cache="https://storage.googleapis.com/ray-bazel-cache"' >> $HOME/.bazelrc 
 RUN echo 'build --remote_upload_local_results=false' >> $HOME/.bazelrc 
diff --git a/docker/tune_test/build_from_source.Dockerfile b/docker/tune_test/build_from_source.Dockerfile
index c17751700..1779f5f27 100644
--- a/docker/tune_test/build_from_source.Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/tune_test/build_from_source.Dockerfile
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ RUN pip install -r requirements.txt
 ADD ray.tar /ray
 ADD git-rev /ray/git-rev
 
-RUN bash /ray/ci/travis/install-bazel.sh
+RUN bash /ray/ci/travis/install-bazel.sh --system
 RUN echo 'build --remote_cache="https://storage.googleapis.com/ray-bazel-cache"' >> $HOME/.bazelrc
 RUN echo 'build --remote_upload_local_results=false' >> $HOME/.bazelrc
 RUN cd /ray/python; pip install -e . --verbose