diff --git a/hack/latest-base-images.sh b/hack/latest-base-images.sh
index 6fb12c6aa..cda6d941e 100755
--- a/hack/latest-base-images.sh
+++ b/hack/latest-base-images.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ set -eu -o pipefail
 # This in turn allows us to easily update all base images to their latest versions, while mantaining the use
 # of digests rather than tags when we refer to these base images.
 
+CRANE=crane
+
 TARGET=make/base_images.mk
 
 STATIC_BASE=gcr.io/distroless/static
diff --git a/make/tools.mk b/make/tools.mk
index 5d44d6323..920061b3e 100644
--- a/make/tools.mk
+++ b/make/tools.mk
@@ -417,3 +417,7 @@ tools: $(TOOLS_PATHS) $(K8S_CODEGEN_TOOLS_PATHS) ## install all tools
 .PHONY: update-kind-images
 update-kind-images: $(BINDIR)/tools/crane
 	CRANE=./$(BINDIR)/tools/crane ./hack/latest-kind-images.sh
+
+.PHONY: update-base-images
+update-base-images: $(BINDIR)/tools/crane
+	CRANE=./$(BINDIR)/tools/crane ./hack/latest-base-images.sh