diff --git a/client/driver/docker.go b/client/driver/docker.go
index 2b4fdd78e..0fbf64714 100644
--- a/client/driver/docker.go
+++ b/client/driver/docker.go
@@ -37,11 +37,36 @@ func NewDockerDriver(ctx *DriverContext) Driver {
 	return &DockerDriver{*ctx}
 }
 
+// dockerClient creates *docker.Client. In test / dev mode we can use ENV vars
+// to connect to the docker daemon. In production mode we will read
+// docker.endpoint from the config file.
+func (d *DockerDriver) dockerClient() (*docker.Client, error) {
+	// In dev mode, read DOCKER_* environment variables DOCKER_HOST,
+	// DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY, and DOCKER_CERT_PATH. This allows you to run tests and
+	// demo against boot2docker or a VM on OSX and Windows. This falls back on
+	// the default unix socket on linux if tests are run on linux.
+	//
+	// Also note that we need to turn on DevMode in the test configs.
+	if d.config.DevMode {
+		return docker.NewClientFromEnv()
+	}
+
+	// In prod mode we'll read the docker.endpoint configuration and fall back
+	// on the host-specific default. We do not read from the environment.
+	defaultEndpoint, err := docker.DefaultDockerHost()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unable to determine default docker endpoint: %s", err)
+	}
+	dockerEndpoint := d.config.ReadDefault("docker.endpoint", defaultEndpoint)
+
+	return docker.NewClient(dockerEndpoint)
+}
+
 func (d *DockerDriver) Fingerprint(cfg *config.Config, node *structs.Node) (bool, error) {
 	// Initialize docker API client
-	dockerEndpoint := d.config.ReadDefault("docker.endpoint", "unix:///var/run/docker.sock")
-	client, err := docker.NewClient(dockerEndpoint)
+	client, err := d.dockerClient()
 	if err != nil {
+		d.logger.Printf("[DEBUG] driver.docker: could not connect to docker daemon: %v", err)
 		return false, nil
 	}
 
@@ -56,6 +81,7 @@ func (d *DockerDriver) Fingerprint(cfg *config.Config, node *structs.Node) (bool
 
 	env, err := client.Version()
 	if err != nil {
+		d.logger.Printf("[DEBUG] driver.docker: could not read version from daemon: %v", err)
 		// Check the "no such file" error if the unix file is missing
 		if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "no such file") {
 			return false, nil
@@ -212,10 +238,9 @@ func (d *DockerDriver) Start(ctx *ExecContext, task *structs.Task) (DriverHandle
 	}
 
 	// Initialize docker API client
-	dockerEndpoint := d.config.ReadDefault("docker.endpoint", "unix:///var/run/docker.sock")
-	client, err := docker.NewClient(dockerEndpoint)
+	client, err := d.dockerClient()
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Failed to connect to docker.endpoint (%s): %s", dockerEndpoint, err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Failed to connect to docker daemon: %s", err)
 	}
 
 	repo, tag := docker.ParseRepositoryTag(image)
@@ -309,10 +334,9 @@ func (d *DockerDriver) Open(ctx *ExecContext, handleID string) (DriverHandle, er
 	d.logger.Printf("[INFO] driver.docker: re-attaching to docker process: %s", handleID)
 
 	// Initialize docker API client
-	dockerEndpoint := d.config.ReadDefault("docker.endpoint", "unix:///var/run/docker.sock")
-	client, err := docker.NewClient(dockerEndpoint)
+	client, err := d.dockerClient()
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Failed to connect to docker.endpoint (%s): %s", dockerEndpoint, err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Failed to connect to docker daemon: %s", err)
 	}
 
 	// Look for a running container with this ID
@@ -401,6 +425,7 @@ func (h *dockerHandle) Kill() error {
 		err = h.client.RemoveImage(h.imageID)
 		if err != nil {
 			containers, err := h.client.ListContainers(docker.ListContainersOptions{
+				// The image might be in use by a stopped container, so check everything
 				All: true,
 				Filters: map[string][]string{
 					"image": []string{h.imageID},
diff --git a/client/driver/docker_test.go b/client/driver/docker_test.go
index 6af8e28d1..3f526b66f 100644
--- a/client/driver/docker_test.go
+++ b/client/driver/docker_test.go
@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/nomad/structs"
 )
 
+func testDockerDriverContext(task string) *DriverContext {
+	cfg := testConfig()
+	cfg.DevMode = true
+	return NewDriverContext(task, cfg, cfg.Node, testLogger())
+}
+
 // dockerLocated looks to see whether docker is available on this system before
 // we try to run tests. We'll keep it simple and just check for the CLI.
 func dockerLocated() bool {
@@ -33,7 +39,7 @@ func TestDockerDriver_Handle(t *testing.T) {
 
 // The fingerprinter test should always pass, even if Docker is not installed.
 func TestDockerDriver_Fingerprint(t *testing.T) {
-	d := NewDockerDriver(testDriverContext(""))
+	d := NewDockerDriver(testDockerDriverContext(""))
 	node := &structs.Node{
 		Attributes: make(map[string]string),
 	}
@@ -56,14 +62,14 @@ func TestDockerDriver_StartOpen_Wait(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	task := &structs.Task{
-		Name: "python-demo",
+		Name: "redis-demo",
 		Config: map[string]string{
 			"image": "redis",
 		},
 		Resources: basicResources,
 	}
 
-	driverCtx := testDriverContext(task.Name)
+	driverCtx := testDockerDriverContext(task.Name)
 	ctx := testDriverExecContext(task, driverCtx)
 	defer ctx.AllocDir.Destroy()
 	d := NewDockerDriver(driverCtx)
@@ -93,7 +99,7 @@ func TestDockerDriver_Start_Wait(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	task := &structs.Task{
-		Name: "python-demo",
+		Name: "redis-demo",
 		Config: map[string]string{
 			"image":   "redis",
 			"command": "redis-server -v",
@@ -104,7 +110,7 @@ func TestDockerDriver_Start_Wait(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	}
 
-	driverCtx := testDriverContext(task.Name)
+	driverCtx := testDockerDriverContext(task.Name)
 	ctx := testDriverExecContext(task, driverCtx)
 	defer ctx.AllocDir.Destroy()
 	d := NewDockerDriver(driverCtx)
@@ -140,7 +146,7 @@ func TestDockerDriver_Start_Kill_Wait(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	task := &structs.Task{
-		Name: "python-demo",
+		Name: "redis-demo",
 		Config: map[string]string{
 			"image":   "redis",
 			"command": "sleep 10",
@@ -148,7 +154,7 @@ func TestDockerDriver_Start_Kill_Wait(t *testing.T) {
 		Resources: basicResources,
 	}
 
-	driverCtx := testDriverContext(task.Name)
+	driverCtx := testDockerDriverContext(task.Name)
 	ctx := testDriverExecContext(task, driverCtx)
 	defer ctx.AllocDir.Destroy()
 	d := NewDockerDriver(driverCtx)
@@ -222,7 +228,7 @@ func TestDocker_StartN(t *testing.T) {
 	// Let's spin up a bunch of things
 	var err error
 	for idx, task := range taskList {
-		driverCtx := testDriverContext(task.Name)
+		driverCtx := testDockerDriverContext(task.Name)
 		ctx := testDriverExecContext(task, driverCtx)
 		defer ctx.AllocDir.Destroy()
 		d := NewDockerDriver(driverCtx)
@@ -271,7 +277,7 @@ func TestDocker_StartNVersions(t *testing.T) {
 	// Let's spin up a bunch of things
 	var err error
 	for idx, task := range taskList {
-		driverCtx := testDriverContext(task.Name)
+		driverCtx := testDockerDriverContext(task.Name)
 		ctx := testDriverExecContext(task, driverCtx)
 		defer ctx.AllocDir.Destroy()
 		d := NewDockerDriver(driverCtx)
@@ -309,7 +315,7 @@ func TestDockerHostNet(t *testing.T) {
 			CPU:      512,
 		},
 	}
-	driverCtx := testDriverContext(task.Name)
+	driverCtx := testDockerDriverContext(task.Name)
 	ctx := testDriverExecContext(task, driverCtx)
 	defer ctx.AllocDir.Destroy()
 	d := NewDockerDriver(driverCtx)
diff --git a/website/source/docs/drivers/docker.html.md b/website/source/docs/drivers/docker.html.md
index 78ca25e45..c6ea40a77 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/drivers/docker.html.md
+++ b/website/source/docs/drivers/docker.html.md
@@ -111,11 +111,21 @@ The `docker` driver has the following configuration options:
 * `docker.endpoint` - Defaults to `unix:///var/run/docker.sock`. You will need
   to customize this if you use a non-standard socket (http or another location).
 
+* `docker.cleanup.container` Defaults to `true`. Changing this to `false` will
+  prevent Nomad from removing containers from stopped tasks.
+
+* `docker.cleanup.image` Defaults to `true`. Changing this to `false` will
+  prevent Nomad from removing images from stopped tasks.
+
+Note: When testing or using the `-dev` flag you can use `DOCKER_HOST`,
+`DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY`, and `DOCKER_CERT_PATH` to customize Nomad's behavior. In
+production Nomad will always read `docker.endpoint`.
+
 ## Client Attributes
 
 The `docker` driver will set the following client attributes:
 
-* `driver.Docker` - This will be set to "1", indicating the
+* `driver.docker` - This will be set to "1", indicating the
   driver is available.
 
 ## Resource Isolation