diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-monitor/Dockerfile b/tools/packaging/kata-monitor/Dockerfile
index d71eaaff3d..f23802396e 100644
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-monitor/Dockerfile
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-monitor/Dockerfile
@@ -1,28 +1,74 @@
 # Copyright (c) 2020 Eric Ernst
+# Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
-ARG GO_VERSION
-FROM golang:${GO_VERSION}-alpine AS builder
+#
+# Build context: extracted kata-static shim-v2-go tarball root.
+#
+# Expected file in context:
+#   ./opt/kata/bin/kata-monitor
+#
+# The kata-monitor binary is built inside an Ubuntu (glibc) toolchain
+# as part of the shim-v2-go static build, so it is dynamically linked
+# against glibc. We assemble its runtime dependencies via `ldd` from
+# a glibc base image and copy them into a distroless/static runtime
+# image, matching the same pattern used by
+# tools/packaging/kata-deploy/Dockerfile.
 
-RUN apk add --no-cache bash curl git make build-base
-WORKDIR /go/src/github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/src/runtime
+# Stage 1: discover and copy the glibc libraries the binary needs.
+# hadolint ignore=DL3007
+FROM debian:trixie-slim AS runtime-assembler
 
-COPY src/runtime/go.* .
-RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/go/pkg/mod \
-    --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/go-build \
-    go mod download
+SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-o", "pipefail", "-c"]
 
-COPY . /go/src/github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers
-RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/go/pkg/mod \
-    --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/go-build \
-	make SKIP_GO_VERSION_CHECK=true monitor
+COPY opt/kata/bin/kata-monitor /tmp/kata-monitor
 
-# run tests
-RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/go/pkg/mod \
-    --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/go-build \
-    cd pkg/kata-monitor/ && go test -c -o /tmp/tests
-RUN /tmp/tests
+RUN \
+	set -eux; \
+	mkdir -p /output/lib /output/lib64; \
+	echo "Libraries needed by kata-monitor on $(uname -m):"; \
+	ldd /tmp/kata-monitor || true; \
+	# Copy each shared library reported by ldd ("=>" lines).
+	ldd /tmp/kata-monitor 2>/dev/null | grep "=>" | awk '{print $3}' | sort -u | \
+	while read -r lib; do \
+		if [ -n "${lib}" ] && [ -f "${lib}" ]; then \
+			dest_dir="/output$(dirname "${lib}")"; \
+			mkdir -p "${dest_dir}"; \
+			cp -Ln "${lib}" "${dest_dir}/" || true; \
+			echo "  Copied lib: ${lib}"; \
+		fi; \
+	done; \
+	# Copy the dynamic linker too: ldd does not include it in the "=>"
+	# lines. Cover all four target architectures:
+	#   x86_64  -> /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2
+	#   aarch64 -> /lib/ld-linux-aarch64.so.1
+	#   s390x   -> /lib/ld64.so.1
+	#   ppc64le -> /lib64/ld64.so.2
+	for ld in /lib*/ld-linux-*.so.* /lib*/ld64.so.*; do \
+		[ -f "${ld}" ] || continue; \
+		dest_dir="/output$(dirname "${ld}")"; \
+		mkdir -p "${dest_dir}"; \
+		cp -Ln "${ld}" "${dest_dir}/" || true; \
+		echo "  Copied linker: ${ld}"; \
+	done
+
+# Stage 2: final distroless image.
+#
+# We deliberately track the rolling `latest` tag rather than pinning a
+# digest. distroless/static-debian13 publishes no semver tags and is
+# rebuilt frequently to pick up base-image CVE fixes, so following
+# `latest` keeps the kata-monitor runtime on the newest patched base.
+# The image only carries the handful of glibc libraries we copy in plus
+# the kata-monitor binary, so the blast radius of an unexpected base
+# bump is tiny. hadolint's "pin the version" check is therefore not
+# something we want here.
+# hadolint ignore=DL3007
+FROM gcr.io/distroless/static-debian13:latest
+
+COPY --from=runtime-assembler /output/lib/ /lib/
+COPY --from=runtime-assembler /output/lib64/ /lib64/
+COPY opt/kata/bin/kata-monitor /usr/bin/kata-monitor
+
+EXPOSE 8090
 
-FROM alpine:3.14
-COPY --from=builder /go/src/github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/src/runtime/kata-monitor /usr/bin/kata-monitor
-CMD ["-h"]
 ENTRYPOINT ["/usr/bin/kata-monitor"]
+CMD ["--help"]
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-monitor/build-and-upload-from-tarball.sh b/tools/packaging/kata-monitor/build-and-upload-from-tarball.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..30b2257566
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-monitor/build-and-upload-from-tarball.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+
+set -o errexit
+set -o nounset
+set -o pipefail
+
+script_dir="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+repo_root_dir="$(cd "${script_dir}/../../.." && pwd)"
+
+image_ref="${1:?image ref is required (e.g. quay.io/org/repo:tag)}"
+shim_tarball="${2:?path to kata-static-shim-v2-go.tar.zst is required}"
+push_image="${3:-true}"
+
+case "$(uname -m)" in
+	x86_64) platform_arch="amd64" ;;
+	aarch64) platform_arch="arm64" ;;
+	s390x) platform_arch="s390x" ;;
+	ppc64le) platform_arch="ppc64le" ;;
+	*) echo "Unsupported architecture: $(uname -m)" >&2; exit 1 ;;
+esac
+
+tmpdir="$(mktemp -d)"
+cleanup() {
+	rm -rf "${tmpdir}"
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+tar --zstd -xf "${shim_tarball}" -C "${tmpdir}"
+
+if [[ ! -x "${tmpdir}/opt/kata/bin/kata-monitor" ]]; then
+	echo "kata-monitor binary not found in ${shim_tarball}" >&2
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+push_flag=()
+if [[ "${push_image}" == "true" ]]; then
+	push_flag+=(--push)
+fi
+
+docker buildx build \
+	--platform "linux/${platform_arch}" \
+	--provenance false --sbom false \
+	-f "${repo_root_dir}/tools/packaging/kata-monitor/Dockerfile" \
+	--tag "${image_ref}" \
+	"${push_flag[@]}" \
+	"${tmpdir}"