diff --git a/cmake/emu/custom.cmake b/cmake/emu/custom.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bd4462206a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/emu/custom.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+# ${ZEPHYR_BASE}/CMakeLists.txt looks for ${ZEPHYR_BASE}/cmake/emu/${EMU_PLATFORM}.cmake
+# when building the `run` target. Create this placeholder file so it doesn't complain.
+# The real 'run' custom_target should be defined in `board.cmake` instead.
+#
+# See https://docs.zephyrproject.org/latest/develop/test/twister.html#running-tests-on-custom-emulator
+#
diff --git a/doc/develop/test/twister.rst b/doc/develop/test/twister.rst
index 0c2e81cd48b..a9ecbc98c94 100644
--- a/doc/develop/test/twister.rst
+++ b/doc/develop/test/twister.rst
@@ -643,6 +643,42 @@ integration keyword in the testcase definition file (testcase.yaml and
 sample.yaml).
 
 
+Running tests on custom emulator
+********************************
+
+Apart from the already supported QEMU and other simulated environments, Twister
+supports running any out-of-tree custom emulator defined in the board's :file:`board.cmake`.
+To use this type of simulation, add the following properties to
+:file:`custom_board/custom_board.yaml`:
+
+::
+
+   simulation: custom
+   simulation_exec: <name_of_emu_binary>
+
+This tells Twister that the board is using a custom emulator called ``<name_of_emu_binary>``,
+make sure this binary exists in the PATH.
+
+Then, in :file:`custom_board/board.cmake`, set the supported emulation platforms to ``custom``:
+
+::
+
+   set(SUPPORTED_EMU_PLATFORMS custom)
+
+Finally, implement the ``run_custom`` target in :file:`custom_board/board.cmake`.
+It should look something like this:
+
+::
+
+   add_custom_target(run_custom
+     COMMAND
+     <name_of_emu_binary to invoke during 'run'>
+     <any args to be passed to the command, i.e. ${BOARD}, ${APPLICATION_BINARY_DIR}/zephyr/zephyr.elf>
+     WORKING_DIRECTORY ${APPLICATION_BINARY_DIR}
+     DEPENDS ${logical_target_for_zephyr_elf}
+     USES_TERMINAL
+     )
+
 Running Tests on Hardware
 *************************
 
diff --git a/scripts/pylib/twister/twisterlib/handlers.py b/scripts/pylib/twister/twisterlib/handlers.py
index 9a74cc2cb5c..a89e82b1bb1 100755
--- a/scripts/pylib/twister/twisterlib/handlers.py
+++ b/scripts/pylib/twister/twisterlib/handlers.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ except ImportError as capture_error:
 logger = logging.getLogger('twister')
 logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
 
-SUPPORTED_SIMS = ["mdb-nsim", "nsim", "renode", "qemu", "tsim", "armfvp", "xt-sim", "native"]
+SUPPORTED_SIMS = ["mdb-nsim", "nsim", "renode", "qemu", "tsim", "armfvp", "xt-sim", "native", "custom"]
 SUPPORTED_SIMS_IN_PYTEST = ['native', 'qemu']
 
 
diff --git a/scripts/schemas/twister/platform-schema.yaml b/scripts/schemas/twister/platform-schema.yaml
index 6e94218e69b..6524e5f8769 100644
--- a/scripts/schemas/twister/platform-schema.yaml
+++ b/scripts/schemas/twister/platform-schema.yaml
@@ -24,7 +24,19 @@ mapping:
     enum: ["mcu", "qemu", "sim", "unit", "native"]
   "simulation":
     type: str
-    enum: ["qemu", "simics", "xt-sim", "renode", "nsim", "mdb-nsim", "tsim", "armfvp", "native"]
+    enum:
+      [
+        "qemu",
+        "simics",
+        "xt-sim",
+        "renode",
+        "nsim",
+        "mdb-nsim",
+        "tsim",
+        "armfvp",
+        "native",
+        "custom",
+      ]
   "simulation_exec":
     type: str
   "arch":