diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 072a83a2..d8c46037 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -7,9 +7,14 @@ ARG TARGETOS
 ARG TARGETARCH
 ARG TARGETVARIANT
 
+# The following three arg/env vars get used by the platform specific "install-packages" script
+ARG EXTRA_DEB_PACKAGES=""
+ARG EXTRA_DNF_PACKAGES=""
+ARG EXTRA_ALPINE_PACKAGES=""
 ARG FORCE_INSTALL_PACKAGES=1
 RUN --mount=target=/build,source=build \
-    TARGET=${TARGETARCH}${TARGETVARIANT} /build/run.sh install-packages
+    TARGET=${TARGETARCH}${TARGETVARIANT} \
+    /build/run.sh install-packages
 
 RUN --mount=target=/build,source=build \
     /build/run.sh setup-user
diff --git a/build/alpine/install-packages.sh b/build/alpine/install-packages.sh
index d045b302..c4509adc 100755
--- a/build/alpine/install-packages.sh
+++ b/build/alpine/install-packages.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ set -e
 set -o pipefail
 
 # Install necessary packages
+# shellcheck disable=SC2086
 apk add --no-cache -U \
     openssl \
     imagemagick \
@@ -29,7 +30,8 @@ apk add --no-cache -U \
     nfs-utils \
     libpcap \
     libwebp \
-    libcap
+    libcap \
+    ${EXTRA_ALPINE_PACKAGES}
 
 # Download and install patched knockd
 curl -fsSL -o /tmp/knock.tar.gz https://github.com/Metalcape/knock/releases/download/0.8.1/knock-0.8.1-alpine-amd64.tar.gz
diff --git a/build/ol/install-packages.sh b/build/ol/install-packages.sh
index d7dca7f1..96c09da2 100755
--- a/build/ol/install-packages.sh
+++ b/build/ol/install-packages.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ EOF
 dnf update -y
 
 # Install necessary packages
+# shellcheck disable=SC2086
 dnf install -y \
   ImageMagick \
   file \
@@ -44,7 +45,8 @@ dnf install -y \
   libpcap \
   libwebp \
   findutils \
-  which
+  which \
+  ${EXTRA_DNF_PACKAGES}
 
 # Install Git LFS
 curl -s https://packagecloud.io/install/repositories/github/git-lfs/script.rpm.sh | sudo bash
diff --git a/build/ubuntu/install-packages.sh b/build/ubuntu/install-packages.sh
index 8b8421f4..5ff34d26 100755
--- a/build/ubuntu/install-packages.sh
+++ b/build/ubuntu/install-packages.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 # Update and install packages
 apt-get update
+# shellcheck disable=SC2086
 DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
 apt-get install -y \
   imagemagick \
@@ -26,7 +27,8 @@ apt-get install -y \
   zstd \
   lbzip2 \
   nfs-common \
-  libpcap0.8
+  libpcap0.8 \
+  ${EXTRA_DEB_PACKAGES}
 
 # Install Git LFS
 curl -s https://packagecloud.io/install/repositories/github/git-lfs/script.deb.sh | sudo bash
diff --git a/docs/misc/contributing/building.md b/docs/misc/contributing/building.md
index c1cfbb5a..dfb13fac 100644
--- a/docs/misc/contributing/building.md
+++ b/docs/misc/contributing/building.md
@@ -26,3 +26,11 @@ or just a plain build
 ```shell
 docker build -t IMG_PREFIX/minecraft-server .
 ```
+
+## Installing extra packages
+
+The following build args can be set to install additional packages for the respective base image distro:
+
+- `EXTRA_DEB_PACKAGES`
+- `EXTRA_DNF_PACKAGES`
+- `EXTRA_ALPINE_PACKAGES`