diff --git a/pkg/dockerfile/dockerfile.go b/pkg/dockerfile/dockerfile.go
index 8e3f1b6e1..7279b7b3b 100644
--- a/pkg/dockerfile/dockerfile.go
+++ b/pkg/dockerfile/dockerfile.go
@@ -230,23 +230,40 @@ func ResolveCrossStageCommands(cmds []instructions.Command, stageNameToIdx map[s
 	}
 }
 
+// resolveStagesArgs resolves all the args from list of stages
+func resolveStagesArgs(stages []instructions.Stage, args []string) error {
+	for i, s := range stages {
+		resolvedBaseName, err := util.ResolveEnvironmentReplacement(s.BaseName, args, false)
+		if err != nil {
+			return errors.Wrap(err, fmt.Sprintf("resolving base name %s", s.BaseName))
+		}
+		if s.BaseName != resolvedBaseName {
+			stages[i].BaseName = resolvedBaseName
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func MakeKanikoStages(opts *config.KanikoOptions, stages []instructions.Stage, metaArgs []instructions.ArgCommand) ([]config.KanikoStage, error) {
 	targetStage, err := targetStage(stages, opts.Target)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "Error finding target stage")
 	}
+	args := unifyArgs(metaArgs, opts.BuildArgs)
+	if err := resolveStagesArgs(stages, args); err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "resolving args")
+	}
 	var kanikoStages []config.KanikoStage
 	for index, stage := range stages {
-		resolvedBaseName, err := util.ResolveEnvironmentReplacement(stage.BaseName, opts.BuildArgs, false)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "resolving base name")
+		if len(stage.Name) > 0 {
+			logrus.Infof("Resolved base name %s to %s", stage.BaseName, stage.Name)
 		}
-		stage.Name = resolvedBaseName
-		logrus.Infof("Resolved base name %s to %s", stage.BaseName, stage.Name)
+		baseImageIndex := baseImageIndex(index, stages)
+
 		kanikoStages = append(kanikoStages, config.KanikoStage{
 			Stage:                  stage,
-			BaseImageIndex:         baseImageIndex(index, stages),
-			BaseImageStoredLocally: (baseImageIndex(index, stages) != -1),
+			BaseImageIndex:         baseImageIndex,
+			BaseImageStoredLocally: (baseImageIndex != -1),
 			SaveStage:              saveStage(index, stages),
 			Final:                  index == targetStage,
 			MetaArgs:               metaArgs,
@@ -273,3 +290,26 @@ func GetOnBuildInstructions(config *v1.Config, stageNameToIdx map[string]string)
 	ResolveCrossStageCommands(cmds, stageNameToIdx)
 	return cmds, nil
 }
+
+// unifyArgs returns the unified args between metaArgs and --build-arg
+// by default --build-arg overrides metaArgs except when --build-arg is empty
+func unifyArgs(metaArgs []instructions.ArgCommand, buildArgs []string) []string {
+	argsMap := make(map[string]string)
+	for _, a := range metaArgs {
+		if a.Value != nil {
+			argsMap[a.Key] = *a.Value
+		}
+	}
+	splitter := "="
+	for _, a := range buildArgs {
+		s := strings.Split(a, splitter)
+		if len(s) > 1 && s[1] != "" {
+			argsMap[s[0]] = s[1]
+		}
+	}
+	var args []string
+	for k, v := range argsMap {
+		args = append(args, fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", k, v))
+	}
+	return args
+}
diff --git a/pkg/dockerfile/dockerfile_test.go b/pkg/dockerfile/dockerfile_test.go
index 334b8008b..7055eaf00 100644
--- a/pkg/dockerfile/dockerfile_test.go
+++ b/pkg/dockerfile/dockerfile_test.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 package dockerfile
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"reflect"
@@ -427,3 +428,72 @@ func Test_baseImageIndex(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func Test_ResolveStagesArgs(t *testing.T) {
+	dockerfile := `
+	ARG IMAGE="ubuntu:16.04"
+	ARG LAST_STAGE_VARIANT
+	FROM ${IMAGE} as base
+	RUN echo hi > /hi
+	FROM base AS base-dev
+	RUN echo dev >> /hi
+	FROM base AS base-prod
+	RUN echo prod >> /hi
+	FROM base-${LAST_STAGE_VARIANT}
+	RUN cat /hi
+	`
+
+	buildArgLastVariants := []string{"dev", "prod"}
+	buildArgImages := []string{"alpine:3.11", ""}
+	var expectedImage string
+
+	for _, buildArgLastVariant := range buildArgLastVariants {
+		for _, buildArgImage := range buildArgImages {
+			if buildArgImage != "" {
+				expectedImage = buildArgImage
+			} else {
+				expectedImage = "ubuntu:16.04"
+			}
+			buildArgs := []string{fmt.Sprintf("IMAGE=%s", buildArgImage), fmt.Sprintf("LAST_STAGE_VARIANT=%s", buildArgLastVariant)}
+
+			stages, metaArgs, err := Parse([]byte(dockerfile))
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			stagesLen := len(stages)
+
+			args := unifyArgs(metaArgs, buildArgs)
+			if err := resolveStagesArgs(stages, args); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("fail to resolves args %v: %v", buildArgs, err)
+			}
+			tests := []struct {
+				name               string
+				actualSourceCode   string
+				actualBaseName     string
+				expectedSourceCode string
+				expectedBaseName   string
+			}{
+				{
+					name:               "Test_BuildArg_From_First_Stage",
+					actualSourceCode:   stages[0].SourceCode,
+					actualBaseName:     stages[0].BaseName,
+					expectedSourceCode: "FROM ${IMAGE} as base",
+					expectedBaseName:   expectedImage,
+				},
+				{
+					name:               "Test_BuildArg_From_Last_Stage",
+					actualSourceCode:   stages[stagesLen-1].SourceCode,
+					actualBaseName:     stages[stagesLen-1].BaseName,
+					expectedSourceCode: "FROM base-${LAST_STAGE_VARIANT}",
+					expectedBaseName:   fmt.Sprintf("base-%s", buildArgLastVariant),
+				},
+			}
+			for _, test := range tests {
+				t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+					testutil.CheckDeepEqual(t, test.expectedSourceCode, test.actualSourceCode)
+					testutil.CheckDeepEqual(t, test.expectedBaseName, test.actualBaseName)
+				})
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}