diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index b8e239e4049..4f5b33de167 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 # the files we need to build the QA image are in these folders.
 # Following are the files we need:
 # - ./config/initializers/0_inject_enterprise_edition_module.rb
+# - ./ee/app/models/license.rb
 # - ./lib/gitlab.rb
 # - ./qa/
 # - ./INSTALLATION_TYPE
@@ -23,7 +24,14 @@
 /db/
 /doc/
 /docker/
-/ee/
+/ee/bin/
+/ee/changelogs/
+/ee/config/
+/ee/db/
+/ee/fixtures/
+/ee/lib/
+/ee/locale/
+/ee/spec/
 /fixtures/
 /templates/
 /lint/
diff --git a/qa/Dockerfile b/qa/Dockerfile
index 3309f5b6ce3..84dbfae1008 100644
--- a/qa/Dockerfile
+++ b/qa/Dockerfile
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ RUN export CLOUD_SDK_REPO="cloud-sdk-$(lsb_release -c -s)" && \
 WORKDIR /home/gitlab/qa
 COPY ./qa/Gemfile* /home/gitlab/qa/
 COPY ./config/initializers/0_inject_enterprise_edition_module.rb /home/gitlab/config/initializers/
+# Copy VERSION to ensure the COPY succeeds to copy at least one file since ee/app/models/license.rb isn't present in CE
+COPY VERSION ./ee/app/models/license.r[b] /home/gitlab/ee/app/models/
 COPY ./lib/gitlab.rb /home/gitlab/lib/
 COPY ./INSTALLATION_TYPE /home/gitlab/
 COPY ./VERSION /home/gitlab/