diff --git a/.circleci/docker/build.sh b/.circleci/docker/build.sh
index dcd83f7ee0bbc..de3c6ed9b7581 100755
--- a/.circleci/docker/build.sh
+++ b/.circleci/docker/build.sh
@@ -283,6 +283,13 @@ fi
 
 tmp_tag=$(basename "$(mktemp -u)" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
 
+#when using cudnn version 8 install it separately from cuda
+if [[ "$image" == *cuda*  && ${OS} == "ubuntu" ]]; then
+  IMAGE_NAME="nvidia/cuda:${CUDA_VERSION}-cudnn${CUDNN_VERSION}-devel-ubuntu${UBUNTU_VERSION}"
+  if [[ ${CUDNN_VERSION} == 8 ]]; then
+    IMAGE_NAME="nvidia/cuda:${CUDA_VERSION}-devel-ubuntu${UBUNTU_VERSION}"
+  fi
+fi
 
 # Build image
 # TODO: build-arg THRIFT is not turned on for any image, remove it once we confirm
@@ -321,6 +328,7 @@ docker build \
        --build-arg "KATEX=${KATEX:-}" \
        --build-arg "ROCM_VERSION=${ROCM_VERSION:-}" \
        --build-arg "PYTORCH_ROCM_ARCH=${PYTORCH_ROCM_ARCH:-gfx900;gfx906}" \
+       --build-arg "IMAGE_NAME=${IMAGE_NAME}" \
        -f $(dirname ${DOCKERFILE})/Dockerfile \
        -t "$tmp_tag" \
        "$@" \
diff --git a/.circleci/docker/common/install_cudnn.sh b/.circleci/docker/common/install_cudnn.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..1f1c34ea200d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.circleci/docker/common/install_cudnn.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+if [[ ${CUDNN_VERSION} == 8 ]]; then
+    # cuDNN license: https://developer.nvidia.com/cudnn/license_agreement
+    mkdir tmp_cudnn && cd tmp_cudnn
+    CUDNN_NAME="cudnn-linux-x86_64-8.3.2.44_cuda11.5-archive"
+    curl -OLs  https://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/redist/cudnn/v8.3.2/local_installers/11.5/${CUDNN_NAME}.tar.xz
+    tar xf ${CUDNN_NAME}.tar.xz
+    cp -a ${CUDNN_NAME}/include/* /usr/include/
+    cp -a ${CUDNN_NAME}/include/* /usr/local/cuda/include/
+    cp -a ${CUDNN_NAME}/include/* /usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu/
+
+    cp -a ${CUDNN_NAME}/lib/* /usr/local/cuda/lib64/
+    cp -a ${CUDNN_NAME}/lib/* /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
+    cd ..
+    rm -rf tmp_cudnn
+    ldconfig
+fi
diff --git a/.circleci/docker/ubuntu-cuda/Dockerfile b/.circleci/docker/ubuntu-cuda/Dockerfile
index 326fa66deef50..241b91cff394d 100644
--- a/.circleci/docker/ubuntu-cuda/Dockerfile
+++ b/.circleci/docker/ubuntu-cuda/Dockerfile
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 ARG UBUNTU_VERSION
 ARG CUDA_VERSION
-ARG CUDNN_VERSION
+ARG IMAGE_NAME
 
-FROM nvidia/cuda:${CUDA_VERSION}-cudnn${CUDNN_VERSION}-devel-ubuntu${UBUNTU_VERSION}
+FROM ${IMAGE_NAME}
 
 ARG UBUNTU_VERSION
 ARG CUDA_VERSION
-ARG CUDNN_VERSION
 
 ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive
 
@@ -101,5 +100,11 @@ ENV CUDA_PATH /usr/local/cuda
 # Install LLVM dev version (Defined in the pytorch/builder github repository)
 COPY --from=pytorch/llvm:9.0.1 /opt/llvm /opt/llvm
 
+# Install CUDNN
+ARG CUDNN_VERSION
+ADD ./common/install_cudnn.sh install_cudnn.sh
+RUN if [ "${CUDNN_VERSION}" -eq 8 ]; then bash install_cudnn.sh; fi
+RUN rm install_cudnn.sh
+
 USER jenkins
 CMD ["bash"]