diff --git a/.github/workflows/s390x-wheel.yml b/.github/workflows/s390x-wheel.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..cd24c3e5cd59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/s390x-wheel.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+name: s390x Wheel (experimental)
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      version:
+        description: PyPI version to build (leave empty to build from the checked-out ref)
+        required: false
+        type: string
+      openssl_version:
+        description: OpenSSL version for static linking
+        required: false
+        default: "3.4.6"
+        type: string
+
+env:
+  IMAGE: cryptography-s390x-builder
+  WHEELHOUSE: wheelhouse
+
+jobs:
+  s390x-wheel:
+    name: s390x manylinux wheel
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 180
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false
+
+      - name: Set up QEMU
+        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@3b5aeead8caba617bcda9a68a66745a079fc368 # v3.6.0
+        with:
+          platforms: all
+
+      - name: Build s390x builder image
+        run: |
+          docker build --platform linux/s390x \
+            -f docker/Dockerfile.s390x \
+            -t "${IMAGE}" \
+            .
+
+      - name: Build cryptography wheel on s390x
+        env:
+          VERSION: ${{ github.event.inputs.version }}
+          OPENSSL_VERSION: ${{ github.event.inputs.openssl_version }}
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p "${WHEELHOUSE}"
+          args=(
+            --rm
+            --platform linux/s390x
+            -v "$PWD:/src:ro"
+            -v "$PWD/${WHEELHOUSE}:/wheelhouse"
+            -e SOURCE_DIR=/src
+            -e WHEELHOUSE=/wheelhouse
+            -e OPENSSL_VERSION="${OPENSSL_VERSION}"
+          )
+          if [ -n "${VERSION}" ]; then
+            args+=(-e "VERSION=${VERSION}")
+          fi
+          docker run "${args[@]}" "${IMAGE}"
+
+      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
+        with:
+          name: cryptography-s390x-wheel
+          path: wheelhouse/*.whl
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile.s390x b/docker/Dockerfile.s390x
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d666e1ec397c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile.s390x
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+# Minimal s390x wheel builder for cryptography.
+#
+# Derived from a proven UBI9-based builder; keeps only deps required to compile
+# cryptography (Rust/maturin + static OpenSSL + auditwheel), not generic
+# packages like Pillow/NumPy.
+#
+# Build (on any host with QEMU/binfmt for s390x):
+#   docker build --platform linux/s390x -f docker/Dockerfile.s390x -t cryptography-s390x-builder .
+#
+# Or use scripts/s390x/build.sh from the repository root.
+
+FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9/ubi
+
+ENV LANG=C.UTF-8 \
+    LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 \
+    PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1 \
+    CARGO_HOME=/root/.cargo \
+    RUSTUP_HOME=/root/.rustup \
+    PATH="/root/.cargo/bin:/usr/local/bin:${PATH}"
+
+WORKDIR /io
+
+# ---- cryptography build toolchain ----
+RUN dnf install -y --allowerasing \
+    gcc gcc-c++ \
+    make \
+    git curl \
+    tar gzip xz \
+    autoconf automake libtool \
+    pkgconf-pkg-config \
+    python3.12 python3.12-devel python3.12-pip \
+    openssl-devel \
+    libffi-devel \
+    zlib-devel \
+    perl \
+    && dnf clean all
+
+# auditwheel needs patchelf; not packaged on UBI9.
+RUN git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/NixOS/patchelf.git /tmp/patchelf \
+    && cd /tmp/patchelf \
+    && ./bootstrap.sh \
+    && ./configure \
+    && make -j"$(nproc)" \
+    && make install \
+    && rm -rf /tmp/patchelf
+
+RUN python3.12 -m pip install --upgrade pip \
+    && python3.12 -m pip install \
+       uv \
+       maturin \
+       auditwheel \
+       wheel \
+       build
+
+RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs \
+    | sh -s -- -y --profile minimal --default-toolchain stable
+
+RUN mkdir -p /wheelhouse
+
+COPY scripts/s390x/build-wheel.sh /io/build-wheel.sh
+RUN chmod +x /io/build-wheel.sh
+
+ENTRYPOINT ["/io/build-wheel.sh"]
diff --git a/scripts/s390x/build-wheel.sh b/scripts/s390x/build-wheel.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..a9f957b954ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/s390x/build-wheel.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Build a manylinux-compatible cryptography wheel on s390x.
+#
+# Runs inside docker/Dockerfile.s390x. Supports:
+#   - local checkout mounted at SOURCE_DIR (default /src)
+#   - PyPI sdist via VERSION when SOURCE_DIR is absent or empty
+#
+# Environment:
+#   SOURCE_DIR      Path to cryptography source tree (optional)
+#   VERSION         PyPI version to build when not using SOURCE_DIR
+#   PYTHON          Python executable (default: python3.12)
+#   WHEELHOUSE      Output directory (default: /wheelhouse)
+#   MANYLINUX_PLAT  auditwheel platform tag (default: manylinux_2_34_s390x)
+#   OPENSSL_VERSION OpenSSL release to build statically (default: 3.4.6)
+#   OPENSSL_DIR     Skip OpenSSL build when already provided
+#   OPENSSL_STATIC  Set to 1 (default) for release-style wheels
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SOURCE_DIR="${SOURCE_DIR:-/src}"
+WHEELHOUSE="${WHEELHOUSE:-/wheelhouse}"
+PYTHON="${PYTHON:-python3.12}"
+MANYLINUX_PLAT="${MANYLINUX_PLAT:-manylinux_2_34_s390x}"
+OPENSSL_VERSION="${OPENSSL_VERSION:-3.4.6}"
+OPENSSL_STATIC="${OPENSSL_STATIC:-1}"
+BUILD_REQUIREMENTS="${BUILD_REQUIREMENTS:-.github/requirements/build-requirements.txt}"
+WORK="${WORK:-/tmp/cryptography-s390x-build}"
+
+mkdir -p "$WHEELHOUSE"
+rm -rf "$WORK"
+mkdir -p "$WORK"
+cd "$WORK"
+
+echo "=== cryptography s390x wheel build ==="
+echo "  python:          $("$PYTHON" --version)"
+echo "  arch:            $(uname -m)"
+echo "  wheelhouse:      $WHEELHOUSE"
+echo "  manylinux plat:  $MANYLINUX_PLAT"
+echo "  openssl static:  $OPENSSL_STATIC"
+
+build_static_openssl() {
+    if [[ -n "${OPENSSL_DIR:-}" && -d "${OPENSSL_DIR}/include/openssl" ]]; then
+        echo "Using prebuilt OpenSSL at ${OPENSSL_DIR}"
+        return
+    fi
+
+    local ossl_path="${WORK}/openssl"
+    echo "Building static OpenSSL ${OPENSSL_VERSION} -> ${ossl_path}"
+
+    export TYPE=openssl
+    export VERSION="${OPENSSL_VERSION}"
+    export OSSL_PATH="${ossl_path}"
+    export CONFIG_FLAGS="${CONFIG_FLAGS:-no-shared no-ssl2 no-ssl3 no-comp no-hw no-engine no-tests}"
+
+    if [[ -f "${SOURCE_DIR}/.github/bin/build_openssl.sh" ]]; then
+        bash "${SOURCE_DIR}/.github/bin/build_openssl.sh"
+    else
+        curl -fsSL \
+            "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/releases/download/openssl-${OPENSSL_VERSION}/openssl-${OPENSSL_VERSION}.tar.gz" \
+            -o "openssl-${OPENSSL_VERSION}.tar.gz"
+        tar xzf "openssl-${OPENSSL_VERSION}.tar.gz"
+        pushd "openssl-${OPENSSL_VERSION}"
+        sed -i "s/^SHLIB_VERSION=.*/SHLIB_VERSION=100/" VERSION.dat
+        ./config ${CONFIG_FLAGS} -fPIC --prefix="${OSSL_PATH}"
+        make depend
+        make -j"$(nproc)"
+        make install_sw install_ssldirs
+        rm -rf "${OSSL_PATH}/bin"
+        popd
+    fi
+
+    export OPENSSL_DIR="${ossl_path}"
+}
+
+resolve_source_tree() {
+    if [[ -d "${SOURCE_DIR}" && -f "${SOURCE_DIR}/pyproject.toml" ]]; then
+        echo "Using local source tree: ${SOURCE_DIR}"
+        cp -a "${SOURCE_DIR}/." "${WORK}/cryptography-src/"
+        SRC="${WORK}/cryptography-src"
+        return
+    fi
+
+    if [[ -z "${VERSION:-}" ]]; then
+        echo "ERROR: set SOURCE_DIR to a checkout or VERSION for a PyPI release." >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    echo "Downloading cryptography==${VERSION} from PyPI"
+    "$PYTHON" -m pip download --no-binary ":all:" --no-deps "cryptography==${VERSION}"
+    local archive
+    archive="$(ls cryptography-*.tar.gz | head -n1)"
+    tar xzf "${archive}"
+    SRC="$(find . -maxdepth 1 -type d -name 'cryptography-*' | head -n1)"
+}
+
+build_wheel() {
+    local src="$1"
+    local constraints=()
+    local out="${WORK}/dist"
+    local python_bin
+    local py_config
+
+    mkdir -p "$out"
+
+    if [[ -f "${src}/${BUILD_REQUIREMENTS}" ]]; then
+        constraints=(--require-hashes --build-constraint="${src}/${BUILD_REQUIREMENTS}")
+    fi
+
+    cd "$src"
+
+    python_bin="$(readlink -f "$(command -v "$PYTHON")")"
+    py_config="$(command -v "$(basename "$python_bin")-config" || true)"
+    if [[ -x "$py_config" ]]; then
+        export CFLAGS="${CFLAGS:-} $("$py_config" --includes)"
+        export LDFLAGS="${LDFLAGS:-} $("$py_config" --ldflags)"
+    fi
+
+    export OPENSSL_DIR="${OPENSSL_DIR:-}"
+    export OPENSSL_STATIC="${OPENSSL_STATIC}"
+    export PYO3_PYTHON="${python_bin}"
+
+    if command -v uv >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        uv build --wheel "${constraints[@]}" --python "${python_bin}" -o "$out" .
+    else
+        "$python_bin" -m build --wheel -o "$out" .
+    fi
+
+    local wheel
+    wheel="$(ls "$out"/cryptography-*.whl | head -n1)"
+    echo "Built wheel: ${wheel}"
+
+    auditwheel repair --plat "${MANYLINUX_PLAT}" "${wheel}" -w "$WHEELHOUSE"
+}
+
+smoketest_wheel() {
+    local wheel
+    local src="${WORK}/cryptography-src"
+    wheel="$(ls "${WHEELHOUSE}"/cryptography-*.whl | tail -n1)"
+
+    "$PYTHON" -m venv "${WORK}/venv"
+    # shellcheck disable=SC1091
+    source "${WORK}/venv/bin/activate"
+    pip install -U pip
+
+    if [[ -f "${src}/${BUILD_REQUIREMENTS}" ]]; then
+        pip install --require-hashes -r "${src}/${BUILD_REQUIREMENTS}"
+    else
+        pip install "cffi>=2.0.0"
+    fi
+
+    pip install --no-index --no-deps "${wheel}"
+
+    python - <<'EOF'
+from cryptography.hazmat.backends.openssl.backend import backend
+
+print("Smoketest OK")
+print("Loaded:", backend.openssl_version_text())
+EOF
+}
+
+resolve_source_tree
+build_static_openssl
+build_wheel "${SRC}"
+smoketest_wheel
+
+echo
+echo "=== Wheel ready ==="
+ls -lh "${WHEELHOUSE}"/cryptography-*.whl
diff --git a/scripts/s390x/build.sh b/scripts/s390x/build.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..47350309e789
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/s390x/build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Build cryptography s390x wheels using docker + QEMU.
+#
+# Examples:
+#   # From this checkout (recommended while developing the contribution):
+#   ./scripts/s390x/build.sh
+#
+#   # From a tagged PyPI release:
+#   VERSION=44.0.0 ./scripts/s390x/build.sh
+#
+#   # Custom output directory:
+#   WHEELHOUSE=$PWD/wheelhouse ./scripts/s390x/build.sh
+#
+# Environment:
+#   IMAGE           Docker image tag (default: cryptography-s390x-builder)
+#   SETUP_QEMU      Run setup-qemu.sh first when 1 (default on non-s390x hosts)
+#   VERSION         PyPI version when not building from checkout
+#   OPENSSL_VERSION Passed through to build-wheel.sh
+#   PYTHON          Python executable inside the container
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../.." && pwd)"
+cd "$ROOT"
+
+IMAGE="${IMAGE:-cryptography-s390x-builder}"
+WHEELHOUSE="${WHEELHOUSE:-${ROOT}/wheelhouse}"
+PYTHON="${PYTHON:-python3.12}"
+HOST_ARCH="$(uname -m)"
+
+mkdir -p "$WHEELHOUSE"
+
+if [[ "${SETUP_QEMU:-}" == "1" || ( "${HOST_ARCH}" != "s390x" && "${SETUP_QEMU:-}" != "0" ) ]]; then
+    echo "==> Host arch is ${HOST_ARCH}; ensuring QEMU binfmt for s390x"
+    bash "${ROOT}/scripts/s390x/setup-qemu.sh"
+fi
+
+echo "==> Building ${IMAGE} for linux/s390x"
+docker build --platform linux/s390x \
+    -f docker/Dockerfile.s390x \
+    -t "${IMAGE}" \
+    .
+
+RUN_ARGS=(
+    --rm
+    --platform linux/s390x
+    -v "${ROOT}:/src:ro"
+    -v "${WHEELHOUSE}:/wheelhouse"
+    -e "SOURCE_DIR=/src"
+    -e "WHEELHOUSE=/wheelhouse"
+    -e "PYTHON=${PYTHON}"
+)
+
+if [[ -n "${VERSION:-}" ]]; then
+    RUN_ARGS+=(-e "VERSION=${VERSION}")
+fi
+if [[ -n "${OPENSSL_VERSION:-}" ]]; then
+    RUN_ARGS+=(-e "OPENSSL_VERSION=${OPENSSL_VERSION}")
+fi
+if [[ -n "${MANYLINUX_PLAT:-}" ]]; then
+    RUN_ARGS+=(-e "MANYLINUX_PLAT=${MANYLINUX_PLAT}")
+fi
+
+echo "==> Running s390x wheel build"
+docker run "${RUN_ARGS[@]}" "${IMAGE}"
+
+echo
+echo "Done. Wheels:"
+ls -lh "${WHEELHOUSE}"/cryptography-*.whl
diff --git a/scripts/s390x/setup-qemu.sh b/scripts/s390x/setup-qemu.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..4d616607df72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/s390x/setup-qemu.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Register QEMU user-mode handlers so docker can run linux/s390x images
+# on x86_64, aarch64, or macOS hosts.
+#
+# Usage: scripts/s390x/setup-qemu.sh
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+if ! command -v docker >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "ERROR: docker is required." >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "==> Installing binfmt handlers via tonistiigi/binfmt"
+docker run --privileged --rm tonistiigi/binfmt --install all
+
+echo "==> Verifying s390x emulation"
+docker run --rm --platform linux/s390x quay.io/pypa/manylinux_2_28_s390x uname -m
+
+echo "QEMU s390x is ready."