diff --git a/scripts/build/plugins b/scripts/build/plugins
index fa78b9536bd1..634d3f9db740 100755
--- a/scripts/build/plugins
+++ b/scripts/build/plugins
@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@
 
 set -eu -o pipefail
 
+# Disable CGO - we don't need it for these plugins.
+#
+# Important: this must be done before sourcing "./scripts/build/.variables",
+# because some other variables are conditionally set whether CGO is enabled.
+export CGO_ENABLED=0
+
 source ./scripts/build/.variables
 
 for p in cli-plugins/examples/* "$@" ; do
@@ -15,5 +21,5 @@ for p in cli-plugins/examples/* "$@" ; do
     mkdir -p "$(dirname "${TARGET_PLUGIN}")"
 
     echo "Building $GO_LINKMODE $(basename "${TARGET_PLUGIN}")"
-    (set -x ; CGO_ENABLED=0 GO111MODULE=auto go build -o "${TARGET_PLUGIN}" -tags "${GO_BUILDTAGS}" -ldflags "${GO_LDFLAGS}" ${GO_BUILDMODE} "github.com/docker/cli/${p}")
+    (set -x ; GO111MODULE=auto go build -o "${TARGET_PLUGIN}" -tags "${GO_BUILDTAGS}" -ldflags "${GO_LDFLAGS}" ${GO_BUILDMODE} "github.com/docker/cli/${p}")
 done