diff --git a/bentoml/cli/bento_service.py b/bentoml/cli/bento_service.py
index 72a06659e1e..469154338eb 100644
--- a/bentoml/cli/bento_service.py
+++ b/bentoml/cli/bento_service.py
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ def containerize(bento, push, tag, build_arg, yatai_url):
         docker_build_args = {}
         if build_arg:
             for arg in build_arg:
-                key, value = arg.split("=")
+                key, value = arg.split("=", 1)
                 docker_build_args[key] = value
         if yatai_url is not None:
             spinner_message = f'Sending containerize RPC to YataiService at {yatai_url}'
diff --git a/bentoml/yatai/yatai_service_impl.py b/bentoml/yatai/yatai_service_impl.py
index d20db7bdf0a..2eafa9b65c6 100644
--- a/bentoml/yatai/yatai_service_impl.py
+++ b/bentoml/yatai/yatai_service_impl.py
@@ -500,7 +500,9 @@ def ContainerizeBento(self, request, context=None):
                     safe_retrieve(bento_service_bundle_path, temp_bundle_path)
                     try:
                         docker_client.images.build(
-                            path=temp_bundle_path, tag=tag, buildargs=request.build_args
+                            path=temp_bundle_path,
+                            tag=tag,
+                            buildargs=dict(request.build_args),
                         )
                     except (docker.errors.APIError, docker.errors.BuildError) as error:
                         logger.error(f'Encounter container building issue: {error}')
diff --git a/tests/integration/yatai_server/test_containerize.py b/tests/integration/yatai_server/test_containerize.py
index fa789a15457..f1f0faead89 100644
--- a/tests/integration/yatai_server/test_containerize.py
+++ b/tests/integration/yatai_server/test_containerize.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import logging
+import subprocess
 
 from bentoml.yatai.client import get_yatai_client
 from tests.bento_service_examples.example_bento_service import ExampleBentoService
@@ -16,3 +17,27 @@ def test_yatai_server_containerize_without_push():
     tag = 'mytag'
     built_tag = yc.repository.containerize(bento=f'{svc.name}:{svc.version}', tag=tag)
     assert built_tag == f'{tag}:{svc.version}'
+
+
+def test_yatai_server_containerize_from_cli():
+    svc = ExampleBentoService()
+    svc.pack('model', [1, 2, 3])
+    logger.info('Saving bento service to local yatai server')
+    svc.save()
+    bento_tag = f'{svc.name}:{svc.version}'
+    tag = 'mytagfoo'
+
+    command = [
+        'bentoml',
+        'containerize',
+        bento_tag,
+        '--build-arg',
+        'EXTRA_PIP_INSTALL_ARGS=--extra-index-url=https://pypi.org',
+        '-t',
+        tag,
+    ]
+    docker_proc = subprocess.Popen(
+        command, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE
+    )
+    stdout = docker_proc.stdout.read().decode('utf-8')
+    assert f'{tag}:{svc.version}' in stdout, 'Failed to build container'