diff --git a/cmake/PackagingLinux.cmake b/cmake/PackagingLinux.cmake
index 721f872fd..de9babc5a 100644
--- a/cmake/PackagingLinux.cmake
+++ b/cmake/PackagingLinux.cmake
@@ -6,6 +6,46 @@ set(APPDIR_USR ${APPDIR}/usr)
 set(LINUXDEPLOY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/linuxdeploy-x86_64.AppImage)
 set(LINUXDEPLOY_QT ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/linuxdeploy-plugin-qt-x86_64.AppImage)
 
+set(APPIMAGE_ENV_VARS
+    LDAI_OUTPUT=NotepadNext-v${PROJECT_VERSION}-x86_64.AppImage
+)
+
+if(DEFINED ENV{QMAKE} AND NOT "$ENV{QMAKE}" STREQUAL "")
+    set(APPIMAGE_QMAKE "$ENV{QMAKE}")
+else()
+    find_program(APPIMAGE_QMAKE NAMES qmake)
+endif()
+
+if(NOT APPIMAGE_QMAKE)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR
+        "Could not find qmake for AppImage packaging.\n"
+        "Please install the QT 6 qmake or set the QMAKE variable to a Qt 6 qmake and re-run CMake, for example:\n"
+        "  QMAKE=$(which qmake6) cmake -S . -B build -DAPP_DISTRIBUTION=AppImage"
+    )
+endif()
+
+execute_process(
+    COMMAND "${APPIMAGE_QMAKE}" -query QT_VERSION
+    OUTPUT_VARIABLE APPIMAGE_QT_VERSION
+    OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE
+    ERROR_QUIET
+    RESULT_VARIABLE APPIMAGE_QMAKE_RESULT
+)
+
+if(NOT APPIMAGE_QMAKE_RESULT EQUAL 0 OR NOT APPIMAGE_QT_VERSION MATCHES "^6\\.")
+    message(FATAL_ERROR
+        "AppImage packaging requires a Qt 6 qmake, but CMake found:\n"
+        "  ${APPIMAGE_QMAKE}\n"
+        "Reported Qt version:\n"
+        "  ${APPIMAGE_QT_VERSION}\n"
+        "Please set the QMAKE variable to a Qt 6 qmake and re-run CMake, for example:\n"
+        "  QMAKE=$(which qmake6) cmake -S . -B build -DAPP_DISTRIBUTION=AppImage"
+    )
+endif()
+
+message(STATUS "Using qmake for AppImage packaging: ${APPIMAGE_QMAKE}")
+list(APPEND APPIMAGE_ENV_VARS QMAKE=${APPIMAGE_QMAKE})
+
 install(TARGETS NotepadNext
     RUNTIME DESTINATION bin
 )
@@ -40,7 +80,7 @@ add_custom_target(download_linuxdeploy
 
 add_custom_target(appimage
     COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E env
-        LDAI_OUTPUT=NotepadNext-v${PROJECT_VERSION}-x86_64.AppImage
+        ${APPIMAGE_ENV_VARS}
         ${LINUXDEPLOY}
         --appdir ${APPDIR}
         --executable ${APPDIR_USR}/bin/NotepadNext