diff --git a/config/env.ini b/config/env.ini
index 4b9f294ad..8b5a58d41 100644
--- a/config/env.ini
+++ b/config/env.ini
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ SPC_SKIP_PHP_VERSION_CHECK="no"
 ; Ignore some check item for bin/spc doctor command, comma separated (e.g. SPC_SKIP_DOCTOR_CHECK_ITEMS="if homebrew has installed")
 SPC_SKIP_DOCTOR_CHECK_ITEMS=""
 ; extra modules that xcaddy will include in the FrankenPHP build
-SPC_CMD_VAR_FRANKENPHP_XCADDY_MODULES="--with github.com/dunglas/frankenphp/caddy --with github.com/dunglas/mercure/caddy --with github.com/dunglas/vulcain/caddy --with github.com/dunglas/caddy-cbrotli"
+SPC_CMD_VAR_FRANKENPHP_XCADDY_MODULES="--with github.com/dunglas/mercure/caddy --with github.com/dunglas/vulcain/caddy --with github.com/dunglas/caddy-cbrotli"
 ; The display message for php version output (PHP >= 8.4 available)
 PHP_BUILD_PROVIDER="static-php-cli ${SPC_VERSION}"
 
diff --git a/config/lib.json b/config/lib.json
index bda0baad2..eccda3043 100644
--- a/config/lib.json
+++ b/config/lib.json
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@
         "source": "php-src",
         "lib-depends": [
             "lib-base",
-            "micro"
+            "micro",
+            "frankenphp"
         ],
         "lib-suggests-linux": [
             "libacl",
@@ -940,5 +941,9 @@
             "liburing/",
             "liburing.h"
         ]
+    },
+    "frankenphp": {
+        "source": "frankenphp",
+        "type": "target"
     }
 }
diff --git a/config/source.json b/config/source.json
index 4a0e0fdb5..f020ae06e 100644
--- a/config/source.json
+++ b/config/source.json
@@ -343,6 +343,16 @@
             "path": "LICENSE"
         }
     },
+    "frankenphp": {
+        "type": "ghtar",
+        "repo": "php/frankenphp",
+        "prefer-stable":  true,
+        "provide-pre-build": false,
+        "license": {
+            "type": "file",
+            "path": "LICENSE"
+        }
+    },
     "icu-static-win": {
         "type": "url",
         "url": "https://dl.static-php.dev/static-php-cli/deps/icu-static-windows-x64/icu-static-windows-x64.zip",
diff --git a/src/SPC/builder/unix/UnixBuilderBase.php b/src/SPC/builder/unix/UnixBuilderBase.php
index 5309636fc..341a15bc1 100644
--- a/src/SPC/builder/unix/UnixBuilderBase.php
+++ b/src/SPC/builder/unix/UnixBuilderBase.php
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 use SPC\store\Config;
 use SPC\store\FileSystem;
 use SPC\store\pkg\GoXcaddy;
+use SPC\store\SourceManager;
 use SPC\toolchain\GccNativeToolchain;
 use SPC\toolchain\ToolchainManager;
 use SPC\util\DependencyUtil;
@@ -264,22 +265,70 @@ protected function patchPhpScripts(): void
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Process the --with-frankenphp-app option
+     * Creates app.tar and app.checksum in source/frankenphp directory
+     */
+    protected function processFrankenphpApp(): void
+    {
+        $frankenphpSourceDir = SOURCE_PATH . '/frankenphp';
+        SourceManager::initSource(['frankenphp'], ['frankenphp']);
+        $frankenphpAppPath = $this->getOption('with-frankenphp-app');
+
+        if ($frankenphpAppPath) {
+            if (!is_dir($frankenphpAppPath)) {
+                throw new WrongUsageException("The path provided to --with-frankenphp-app is not a valid directory: {$frankenphpAppPath}");
+            }
+            $appTarPath = $frankenphpSourceDir . '/app.tar';
+            logger()->info("Creating app.tar from {$frankenphpAppPath}");
+
+            shell()->exec('tar -cf ' . escapeshellarg($appTarPath) . ' -C ' . escapeshellarg($frankenphpAppPath) . ' .');
+
+            $checksum = hash_file('md5', $appTarPath);
+            file_put_contents($frankenphpSourceDir . '/app_checksum.txt', $checksum);
+        } else {
+            FileSystem::removeFileIfExists($frankenphpSourceDir . '/app.tar');
+            FileSystem::removeFileIfExists($frankenphpSourceDir . '/app_checksum.txt');
+            file_put_contents($frankenphpSourceDir . '/app.tar', '');
+            file_put_contents($frankenphpSourceDir . '/app_checksum.txt', '');
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected function getFrankenPHPVersion(): string
+    {
+        $goModPath = SOURCE_PATH . '/frankenphp/caddy/go.mod';
+
+        if (!file_exists($goModPath)) {
+            throw new SPCInternalException("FrankenPHP caddy/go.mod file not found at {$goModPath}, why did we not download FrankenPHP?");
+        }
+
+        $content = file_get_contents($goModPath);
+        if (preg_match('/github\.com\/dunglas\/frankenphp\s+v?(\d+\.\d+\.\d+)/', $content, $matches)) {
+            return $matches[1];
+        }
+
+        throw new SPCInternalException('Could not find FrankenPHP version in caddy/go.mod');
+    }
+
     protected function buildFrankenphp(): void
     {
         GlobalEnvManager::addPathIfNotExists(GoXcaddy::getEnvironment()['PATH']);
+        $this->processFrankenphpApp();
         $nobrotli = $this->getLib('brotli') === null ? ',nobrotli' : '';
         $nowatcher = $this->getLib('watcher') === null ? ',nowatcher' : '';
         $xcaddyModules = getenv('SPC_CMD_VAR_FRANKENPHP_XCADDY_MODULES');
-        // make it possible to build from a different frankenphp directory!
-        if (!str_contains($xcaddyModules, '--with github.com/dunglas/frankenphp')) {
-            $xcaddyModules = '--with github.com/dunglas/frankenphp ' . $xcaddyModules;
-        }
+        $frankenphpSourceDir = SOURCE_PATH . '/frankenphp';
+
+        $xcaddyModules = preg_replace('#--with github.com/dunglas/frankenphp(=\S+)?#', '', $xcaddyModules);
+        $xcaddyModules = preg_replace('#--with github.com/dunglas/frankenphp/caddy(=\S+)?#', '', $xcaddyModules);
+        $xcaddyModules = "--with github.com/dunglas/frankenphp={$frankenphpSourceDir} " .
+            "--with github.com/dunglas/frankenphp/caddy={$frankenphpSourceDir}/caddy {$xcaddyModules}";
         if ($this->getLib('brotli') === null && str_contains($xcaddyModules, '--with github.com/dunglas/caddy-cbrotli')) {
             logger()->warning('caddy-cbrotli module is enabled, but brotli library is not built. Disabling caddy-cbrotli.');
             $xcaddyModules = str_replace('--with github.com/dunglas/caddy-cbrotli', '', $xcaddyModules);
         }
-        [, $out] = shell()->execWithResult('go list -m github.com/dunglas/frankenphp@latest');
-        $frankenPhpVersion = str_replace('github.com/dunglas/frankenphp v', '', $out[0]);
+
+        $frankenPhpVersion = $this->getFrankenPHPVersion();
         $libphpVersion = $this->getPHPVersion();
         $dynamic_exports = '';
         if (getenv('SPC_CMD_VAR_PHP_EMBED_TYPE') === 'shared') {
@@ -317,7 +366,7 @@ protected function buildFrankenphp(): void
             'XCADDY_GO_BUILD_FLAGS' => '-buildmode=pie ' .
                 '-ldflags \"-linkmode=external ' . $extLdFlags . ' ' . $debugFlags .
                 '-X \'github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2.CustomVersion=FrankenPHP ' .
-                "{$frankenPhpVersion} PHP {$libphpVersion} Caddy'\\\" " .
+                "v{$frankenPhpVersion} PHP {$libphpVersion} Caddy'\\\" " .
                 "-tags={$muslTags}nobadger,nomysql,nopgx{$nobrotli}{$nowatcher}",
             'LD_LIBRARY_PATH' => BUILD_LIB_PATH,
         ];
diff --git a/src/SPC/command/BuildPHPCommand.php b/src/SPC/command/BuildPHPCommand.php
index 3ffc54cef..f8ab384b0 100644
--- a/src/SPC/command/BuildPHPCommand.php
+++ b/src/SPC/command/BuildPHPCommand.php
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ public function configure(): void
         $this->addOption('with-upx-pack', null, null, 'Compress / pack binary using UPX tool (linux/windows only)');
         $this->addOption('with-micro-logo', null, InputOption::VALUE_REQUIRED, 'Use custom .ico for micro.sfx (windows only)');
         $this->addOption('enable-micro-win32', null, null, 'Enable win32 mode for phpmicro (Windows only)');
+        $this->addOption('with-frankenphp-app', null, InputOption::VALUE_REQUIRED, 'Path to a folder to be embedded in FrankenPHP');
     }
 
     public function handle(): int