diff --git a/pkg/commands/base_command.go b/pkg/commands/base_command.go
index 698b72821..fe6a45c71 100644
--- a/pkg/commands/base_command.go
+++ b/pkg/commands/base_command.go
@@ -39,3 +39,7 @@ func (b *BaseCommand) FilesUsedFromContext(_ *v1.Config, _ *dockerfile.BuildArgs
 func (b *BaseCommand) MetadataOnly() bool {
 	return true
 }
+
+func (b *BaseCommand) RequiresUnpackedFS() bool {
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/pkg/commands/commands.go b/pkg/commands/commands.go
index d6ed04b59..b8acade2c 100644
--- a/pkg/commands/commands.go
+++ b/pkg/commands/commands.go
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ type DockerCommand interface {
 	FilesUsedFromContext(*v1.Config, *dockerfile.BuildArgs) ([]string, error)
 
 	MetadataOnly() bool
+
+	RequiresUnpackedFS() bool
 }
 
 func GetCommand(cmd instructions.Command, buildcontext string) (DockerCommand, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/commands/run.go b/pkg/commands/run.go
index 72772922b..5295cab82 100644
--- a/pkg/commands/run.go
+++ b/pkg/commands/run.go
@@ -165,6 +165,10 @@ func (r *RunCommand) MetadataOnly() bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+func (r *RunCommand) RequiresUnpackedFS() bool {
+	return true
+}
+
 type CachingRunCommand struct {
 	BaseCommand
 	img            v1.Image
diff --git a/pkg/executor/build.go b/pkg/executor/build.go
index 62ad15629..f039fb5ca 100644
--- a/pkg/executor/build.go
+++ b/pkg/executor/build.go
@@ -86,14 +86,11 @@ func newStageBuilder(opts *config.KanikoOptions, stage config.KanikoStage) (*sta
 	}, nil
 }
 
-func (s *stageBuilder) optimize(compositeKey CompositeCache, cfg v1.Config, cmds []commands.DockerCommand) error {
+func (s *stageBuilder) optimize(compositeKey CompositeCache, cfg v1.Config, cmds []commands.DockerCommand, args *dockerfile.BuildArgs) error {
 	if !s.opts.Cache {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	args := dockerfile.NewBuildArgs(s.opts.BuildArgs)
-	args.AddMetaArgs(s.stage.MetaArgs)
-
 	layerCache := &cache.RegistryCache{
 		Opts: s.opts,
 	}
@@ -144,15 +141,6 @@ func (s *stageBuilder) optimize(compositeKey CompositeCache, cfg v1.Config, cmds
 }
 
 func (s *stageBuilder) build() error {
-	// Unpack file system to root
-	if _, err := util.GetFSFromImage(constants.RootDir, s.image); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	// Take initial snapshot
-	if err := s.snapshotter.Init(); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
 	// Set the initial cache key to be the base image digest, the build args and the SrcContext.
 	compositeKey := NewCompositeCache(s.baseImageDigest)
 	compositeKey.AddKey(s.opts.BuildArgs...)
@@ -170,9 +158,32 @@ func (s *stageBuilder) build() error {
 	args.AddMetaArgs(s.stage.MetaArgs)
 
 	// Apply optimizations to the instructions.
-	if err := s.optimize(*compositeKey, s.cf.Config, cmds); err != nil {
+	if err := s.optimize(*compositeKey, s.cf.Config, cmds, args); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
+	// Unpack file system to root if we need to.
+	shouldUnpack := false
+	for _, cmd := range cmds {
+		if cmd.RequiresUnpackedFS() {
+			logrus.Infof("Unpacking rootfs as cmd %s requires it.", cmd.String())
+			shouldUnpack = true
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	if shouldUnpack {
+		if _, err := util.GetFSFromImage(constants.RootDir, s.image); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	if err := util.DetectFilesystemWhitelist(constants.WhitelistPath); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	// Take initial snapshot
+	if err := s.snapshotter.Init(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	for index, command := range cmds {
 		if command == nil {
 			continue
diff --git a/pkg/util/fs_util.go b/pkg/util/fs_util.go
index fd53ee7bf..a0778bb18 100644
--- a/pkg/util/fs_util.go
+++ b/pkg/util/fs_util.go
@@ -62,8 +62,7 @@ var whitelist = []WhitelistEntry{
 // GetFSFromImage extracts the layers of img to root
 // It returns a list of all files extracted
 func GetFSFromImage(root string, img v1.Image) ([]string, error) {
-	whitelist, err := fileSystemWhitelist(constants.WhitelistPath)
-	if err != nil {
+	if err := DetectFilesystemWhitelist(constants.WhitelistPath); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	logrus.Debugf("Mounted directories: %v", whitelist)
@@ -303,10 +302,10 @@ func checkWhitelistRoot(root string) bool {
 // (1)(2)(3)   (4)   (5)      (6)      (7)   (8) (9)   (10)         (11)
 // Where (5) is the mount point relative to the process's root
 // From: https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/filesystems/proc.txt
-func fileSystemWhitelist(path string) ([]WhitelistEntry, error) {
+func DetectFilesystemWhitelist(path string) error {
 	f, err := os.Open(path)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return err
 	}
 	defer f.Close()
 	reader := bufio.NewReader(f)
@@ -314,7 +313,7 @@ func fileSystemWhitelist(path string) ([]WhitelistEntry, error) {
 		line, err := reader.ReadString('\n')
 		logrus.Debugf("Read the following line from %s: %s", path, line)
 		if err != nil && err != io.EOF {
-			return nil, err
+			return err
 		}
 		lineArr := strings.Split(line, " ")
 		if len(lineArr) < 5 {
@@ -336,7 +335,7 @@ func fileSystemWhitelist(path string) ([]WhitelistEntry, error) {
 			break
 		}
 	}
-	return whitelist, nil
+	return nil
 }
 
 // RelativeFiles returns a list of all files at the filepath relative to root
diff --git a/pkg/util/fs_util_test.go b/pkg/util/fs_util_test.go
index 968cacf99..20f80820e 100644
--- a/pkg/util/fs_util_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/fs_util_test.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/kaniko/testutil"
 )
 
-func Test_fileSystemWhitelist(t *testing.T) {
+func Test_DetectFilesystemWhitelist(t *testing.T) {
 	testDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Error creating tempdir: %s", err)
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func Test_fileSystemWhitelist(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("Error writing file contents to %s: %s", path, err)
 	}
 
-	actualWhitelist, err := fileSystemWhitelist(path)
+	err = DetectFilesystemWhitelist(path)
 	expectedWhitelist := []WhitelistEntry{
 		{"/kaniko", false},
 		{"/proc", false},
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ func Test_fileSystemWhitelist(t *testing.T) {
 		{"/var/run", false},
 		{"/etc/mtab", false},
 	}
+	actualWhitelist := whitelist
 	sort.Slice(actualWhitelist, func(i, j int) bool {
 		return actualWhitelist[i].Path < actualWhitelist[j].Path
 	})