diff --git a/doc/catalog-format-spec.md b/doc/catalog-format-spec.md
index 40a153d4b..2307460d6 100644
--- a/doc/catalog-format-spec.md
+++ b/doc/catalog-format-spec.md
@@ -455,6 +455,12 @@ static, i.e. they cannot depend on the context.
         several crates from the same repository (sometimes referred to as a
         *monorepo*).
 
+      - `binary`: optional (defauts to false) boolean used to design the origin
+        as binary. Binary origins are not compiled and can use dynamic
+        expressions to narrow down the platform to which they apply. An origin
+        using a dynamic expression is implicitly tagged as binary; see the
+        example below.
+
    Examples of origin tables:
 
    ```toml
@@ -479,6 +485,13 @@ static, i.e. they cannot depend on the context.
    subdir = "examples"
    ```
 
+   ```toml
+   # A binary origin denoting a compiler
+   [origin."case(os)".linux."case(host-arch)".x86-64]
+   url = "https://github.com/alire-project/GNAT-FSF-builds/releases/download/gnat-12.1.0-1/gnat-x86_64-linux-12.1.0-1.tar.gz"
+   hashes = ["sha256:df1f36b306359d528799b1de8629a793523347a90c9d4b72efd23c62a7279555"]
+   ```
+
  - `available`: optional dynamic boolean expression.  If it evaluates to
    `false`, the package is not available for the current platform.
 
diff --git a/testsuite/tests/index/origin-binary-explicit/my_index/crates/libhello_1.0.0.tgz b/testsuite/tests/index/origin-binary-explicit/my_index/crates/libhello_1.0.0.tgz
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e0add12ef
Binary files /dev/null and b/testsuite/tests/index/origin-binary-explicit/my_index/crates/libhello_1.0.0.tgz differ
diff --git a/testsuite/tests/index/origin-binary-explicit/my_index/index/he/hello_world/hello_world-0.1.0.toml b/testsuite/tests/index/origin-binary-explicit/my_index/index/he/hello_world/hello_world-0.1.0.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9f485f14f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testsuite/tests/index/origin-binary-explicit/my_index/index/he/hello_world/hello_world-0.1.0.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+description = "\"Hello, world!\" demonstration project"
+name = "hello_world"
+version = "0.1.0"
+licenses = "GPL-3.0-only"
+maintainers = ["user@example.com"]
+maintainers-logins = ["mylogin"]
+
+[origin]
+url = "../../../crates/libhello_1.0.0.tgz"
+hashes = ["sha256:c17d6ce87c6997c5f68ea4bfe6134c318073fed38ec0f81ccb1ae2bfdcc0187a"]
+binary = true
diff --git a/testsuite/tests/index/origin-binary-explicit/my_index/index/index.toml b/testsuite/tests/index/origin-binary-explicit/my_index/index/index.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bad265e4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testsuite/tests/index/origin-binary-explicit/my_index/index/index.toml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+version = "1.1"
diff --git a/testsuite/tests/index/origin-binary-explicit/test.py b/testsuite/tests/index/origin-binary-explicit/test.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4164694d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testsuite/tests/index/origin-binary-explicit/test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+"""
+Test that origins explicitly marked as binary are interpreted as such, even if
+they do not use a dynamic expression.
+"""
+
+from glob import glob
+import os
+from drivers import builds
+from drivers.alr import alr_config_dir, alr_with, run_alr, init_local_crate
+from drivers.asserts import assert_match
+from drivers.helpers import contents
+
+# Check basic loading
+p = run_alr('show', 'hello_world')
+assert "Origin: binary archive" in p.out, \
+    "Unexpected output: " + p.out
+
+init_local_crate()
+alr_with("hello_world")
+run_alr("build")
+
+# Check deployment location
+if builds.are_shared():
+    # Build dir of a binary crate should not exist, as it is used directly from
+    # its download location
+    assert len(glob(f"{builds.path()}/hello_world*")) ==0 , \
+        "Unexpected build dir: " + str(contents(builds.path()))
+else:
+    # Config should not have been generated for a binary crate during build
+    assert os.path.exists(os.path.join("alire", "cache", "dependencies",
+                                       "hello_world_0.1.0_c17d6ce8"))
+    assert not os.path.exists(os.path.join("alire", "cache", "dependencies",
+                                           "hello_world_0.1.0_c17d6ce8",
+                                           "config")), \
+        "Unexpected config dir: " + str(contents("alire"))
+
+print('SUCCESS')
diff --git a/testsuite/tests/index/origin-binary-explicit/test.yaml b/testsuite/tests/index/origin-binary-explicit/test.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9f4d48305
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testsuite/tests/index/origin-binary-explicit/test.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+driver: python-script
+build_mode: both
+indexes:
+    my_index:
+        in_fixtures: false