diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 19b101a626..d83c546c1c 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ FROM docker.io/golang:1.21.0-alpine3.17 as builder
 RUN apk update && apk add --no-cache \
     gcc \
     git \
+    # linux-headers are needed for Ledger support
+    linux-headers \
     make \
     musl-dev
 COPY . /celestia-app
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 92c0ade341..db9fbe93b8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -5,6 +5,42 @@ DOCKER_BUF := $(DOCKER) run --rm -v $(CURDIR):/workspace --workdir /workspace bu
 IMAGE := ghcr.io/tendermint/docker-build-proto:latest
 DOCKER_PROTO_BUILDER := docker run -v $(shell pwd):/workspace --workdir /workspace $(IMAGE)
 PROJECTNAME=$(shell basename "$(PWD)")
+LEDGER_ENABLED ?= true
+
+
+# process build tags
+build_tags =
+ifeq ($(LEDGER_ENABLED),true)
+  ifeq ($(OS),Windows_NT)
+    GCCEXE = $(shell where gcc.exe 2> NUL)
+    ifeq ($(GCCEXE),)
+      $(error gcc.exe not installed for ledger support, please install or set LEDGER_ENABLED=false)
+    else
+      build_tags += ledger
+    endif
+  else
+    UNAME_S = $(shell uname -s)
+    ifeq ($(UNAME_S),OpenBSD)
+      $(warning OpenBSD detected, disabling ledger support (https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/1988))
+    else
+      GCC = $(shell command -v gcc 2> /dev/null)
+      ifeq ($(GCC),)
+        $(error gcc not installed for ledger support, please install or set LEDGER_ENABLED=false)
+      else
+        build_tags += ledger
+      endif
+    endif
+  endif
+endif
+build_tags := $(strip $(build_tags))
+
+empty :=
+whitespace := $(empty) $(empty)
+comma := ,
+
+# convert build_tags from a whitespace seperated list to a comma seperated list
+build_tags_comma_sep := $(subst $(whitespace),$(comma),$(build_tags))
+
 
 # process linker flags
 ldflags = -X github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.Name=celestia-app \
@@ -14,7 +50,7 @@ ldflags = -X github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.Name=celestia-app \
 		  -X "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.BuildTags=$(build_tags_comma_sep)"
 ldflags += $(LDFLAGS)
 
-BUILD_FLAGS := -ldflags '$(ldflags)'
+BUILD_FLAGS := -tags "$(build_tags)" -ldflags '$(ldflags)'
 
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