diff --git a/core/src/commands/self-update.ts b/core/src/commands/self-update.ts
index 1585c4752a..2b00424d03 100644
--- a/core/src/commands/self-update.ts
+++ b/core/src/commands/self-update.ts
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ const selfUpdateOpts = {
     help: `Specify an installation directory, instead of using the directory of the Garden CLI being used. Implies --force.`,
   }),
   "platform": new ChoicesParameter({
-    choices: ["macos", "linux", "windows"],
+    choices: ["macos", "linux", "alpine", "windows"],
     help: `Override the platform, instead of detecting it automatically.`,
   }),
   "architecture": new ChoicesParameter({
@@ -332,7 +332,11 @@ export class SelfUpdateCommand extends Command<SelfUpdateArgs, SelfUpdateOpts> {
 
     try {
       if (!platform) {
-        platform = getPlatform() === "darwin" ? "macos" : getPlatform()
+        platform = getPlatform()
+
+        if (platform === "darwin") {
+          platform = "macos"
+        }
       }
 
       let architecture: Architecture = opts.architecture ? (opts.architecture as Architecture) : getArchitecture()
diff --git a/core/src/plugin/tools.ts b/core/src/plugin/tools.ts
index 335577ebdf..b7d49ac603 100644
--- a/core/src/plugin/tools.ts
+++ b/core/src/plugin/tools.ts
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ const toolBuildSchema = createSchema({
   keys: () => ({
     platform: joi
       .string()
-      .allow("darwin", "linux", "windows")
+      .allow("darwin", "linux", "alpine", "windows")
       .required()
       .example("linux")
       .description("The platform this build is for."),
diff --git a/core/src/util/arch-platform.ts b/core/src/util/arch-platform.ts
index 0afa97f2ca..5239f04e71 100644
--- a/core/src/util/arch-platform.ts
+++ b/core/src/util/arch-platform.ts
@@ -8,21 +8,50 @@
 
 import { memoize } from "lodash-es"
 import { execSync } from "child_process"
+import { InternalError } from "../exceptions.js"
 
-const platformMap = {
-  win32: "windows" as const,
-}
 const archMap = {
   x32: "386" as const,
   x64: "amd64" as const,
-}
-export type Architecture = Exclude<NodeJS.Architecture, keyof typeof archMap> | (typeof archMap)[keyof typeof archMap]
-export type Platform =
-  | Exclude<NodeJS.Platform, keyof typeof platformMap>
-  | (typeof platformMap)[keyof typeof platformMap]
+} as const
+const supportedArchitectures = ["386", "amd64", "arm64"] as const
+const supportedPlatforms = ["darwin", "windows", "linux", "alpine"] as const
+export type Platform = (typeof supportedPlatforms)[number]
+export type Architecture = (typeof supportedArchitectures)[number]
 
 export function getPlatform(): Platform {
-  return platformMap[process.platform] || process.platform
+  const platform = process.platform
+
+  if (platform === "win32") {
+    return "windows"
+  }
+
+  if (platform === "linux") {
+    if (getRustTargetEnv() === "musl") {
+      return "alpine"
+    }
+
+    return "linux"
+  }
+
+  if (platform === "darwin") {
+    return "darwin"
+  }
+
+  throw new InternalError({ message: `Unsupported platform: ${platform}` })
+}
+
+// rust target env
+// The Garden SEA rust wrapper will set an environment variable called GARDEN_SEA_TARGET_ENV on linux so we can download Alpine binaries if needed.
+type RustTargetEnv = undefined | "musl" | "gnu"
+export function getRustTargetEnv(): RustTargetEnv {
+  const targetEnv = process.env.GARDEN_SEA_TARGET_ENV
+
+  if (targetEnv === undefined || targetEnv === "musl" || targetEnv === "gnu") {
+    return targetEnv
+  }
+
+  throw new InternalError({ message: `Invalid value for GARDEN_SEA_TARGET_ENV: ${targetEnv}` })
 }
 
 export function getArchitecture(): Architecture {
@@ -30,8 +59,13 @@ export function getArchitecture(): Architecture {
   // process.arch is always x64 even though the underlying CPU architecture may be arm64
   // To check if we are running under Rosetta,
   // use the `isDarwinARM` function below
-  const arch = process.arch
-  return archMap[arch] || arch
+  const arch = archMap[process.arch] || process.arch
+
+  if (!supportedArchitectures.includes(arch)) {
+    throw new InternalError({ message: `Unsupported architecture: ${arch}` })
+  }
+
+  return arch
 }
 
 export const isDarwinARM = memoize(() => {
diff --git a/core/src/util/ext-tools.ts b/core/src/util/ext-tools.ts
index bc26fd4346..c7c0e49f14 100644
--- a/core/src/util/ext-tools.ts
+++ b/core/src/util/ext-tools.ts
@@ -216,6 +216,8 @@ export class PluginTool extends CliWrapper {
     if (darwinARM) {
       // first look for native arch, if not found, then try (potentially emulated) arch
       buildSpec = findBuildSpec(spec, platform, "arm64") || findBuildSpec(spec, platform, "amd64")
+    } else if (platform === "alpine") {
+      buildSpec = findBuildSpec(spec, "alpine", architecture) || findBuildSpec(spec, "linux", architecture)
     } else {
       buildSpec = findBuildSpec(spec, platform, architecture)!
     }
diff --git a/docs/reference/commands.md b/docs/reference/commands.md
index a8d3f7a6cc..dfd31bcefb 100644
--- a/docs/reference/commands.md
+++ b/docs/reference/commands.md
@@ -4938,7 +4938,7 @@ Examples:
 | -------- | ----- | ---- | ----------- |
   | `--force` |  | boolean | Install the Garden CLI even if the specified or detected latest version is the same as the current version.
   | `--install-dir` |  | string | Specify an installation directory, instead of using the directory of the Garden CLI being used. Implies --force.
-  | `--platform` |  | `macos` `linux` `windows`  | Override the platform, instead of detecting it automatically.
+  | `--platform` |  | `macos` `linux` `alpine` `windows`  | Override the platform, instead of detecting it automatically.
   | `--architecture` |  | `arm64` `amd64`  | Override the architecture, instead of detecting it automatically.
   | `--major` |  | boolean | Install the latest major version of Garden. Falls back to the current version if the greater major version does not exist.
 
diff --git a/garden-sea/src/artifacts.rs b/garden-sea/src/artifacts.rs
index 7d8a62fb15..91261dae30 100644
--- a/garden-sea/src/artifacts.rs
+++ b/garden-sea/src/artifacts.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@ pub struct GardenArtifact {
     pub sha256: &'static [u8],
 }
 
+// needed to tell the self-updater to download alpine binaries on linux
+#[cfg(all(target_os = "linux", target_env = "musl"))]
+pub static TARGET_ENV: &str = "musl";
+
+#[cfg(all(target_os = "linux", target_env = "gnu"))]
+pub static TARGET_ENV: &str = "gnu";
+
 // source
 
 pub static SOURCE: GardenArtifact = GardenArtifact {
diff --git a/garden-sea/src/node.rs b/garden-sea/src/node.rs
index bb37c13e44..7d11697ceb 100644
--- a/garden-sea/src/node.rs
+++ b/garden-sea/src/node.rs
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ use eyre::{Result, WrapErr};
 
 use crate::{log::debug, signal};
 
+#[cfg(all(target_os = "linux"))]
+use crate::artifacts::TARGET_ENV;
+
 pub(crate) fn spawn_garden<T>(path: &Path, sea_args: T) -> Result<Child>
 where
     T: Iterator<Item = String>,
@@ -31,12 +34,20 @@ where
     command.env("GARDEN_SEA_EXTRACTED_ROOT", OsString::from(path));
     command.env("GARDEN_SEA_EXECUTABLE_PATH", executable_path);
 
+    // exposes GARDEN_SEA_TARGET_ENV variable to self-update command, so it can decide to download alpine
+    // binaries on linux.
+    #[cfg(all(target_os = "linux"))]
+    command.env("GARDEN_SEA_TARGET_ENV", TARGET_ENV);
+
     // Libuv 1.45.0 is affected by a kernel bug on certain kernels (Ubuntu 22)
     // This leads to errors where Garden tool downloading errors with ETXTBSY
     // Apparently file descriptor accounting is broken when using USE_IO_URING on older kernels
     // See also: https://github.com/libuv/libuv/pull/4141/files
     // TODO: Remove this once libuv 1.47 landed in a future NodeJS version, and we upgraded to it.
-    command.env("UV_USE_IO_URING", env::var("GARDEN_SEA_UV_USE_IO_URING").unwrap_or("0".into()));
+    command.env(
+        "UV_USE_IO_URING",
+        env::var("GARDEN_SEA_UV_USE_IO_URING").unwrap_or("0".into()),
+    );
 
     // Allow users to override the heap size if needed.
     let max_old_space_size = env::var("GARDEN_MAX_OLD_SPACE_SIZE").unwrap_or("4096".into());