diff --git a/changelog.d/15543.misc b/changelog.d/15543.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ba1dc7597e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/15543.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Allow running Complement tests using [podman](https://podman.io/) by adding a `PODMAN` environment variable to `scripts-dev/complement.sh`.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docs/development/contributing_guide.md b/docs/development/contributing_guide.md
index 925dcd8933..56cf4ba81e 100644
--- a/docs/development/contributing_guide.md
+++ b/docs/development/contributing_guide.md
@@ -346,6 +346,7 @@ The above will run a monolithic (single-process) Synapse with SQLite as the data
     A safe example would be `WORKER_TYPES="federation_inbound, federation_sender, synchrotron"`.
     See the [worker documentation](../workers.md) for additional information on workers.
 - Passing `ASYNCIO_REACTOR=1` as an environment variable to use the Twisted asyncio reactor instead of the default one.
+- Passing `PODMAN=1` will use the [podman](https://podman.io/) container runtime, instead of docker.
 
 To increase the log level for the tests, set `SYNAPSE_TEST_LOG_LEVEL`, e.g:
 ```sh
diff --git a/scripts-dev/complement.sh b/scripts-dev/complement.sh
index 1b1761202f..cba2799f15 100755
--- a/scripts-dev/complement.sh
+++ b/scripts-dev/complement.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@
 # filepath of a local Complement checkout or by setting the COMPLEMENT_REF
 # environment variable to pull a different branch or commit.
 #
+# To use the 'podman' command instead 'docker', set the PODMAN environment
+# variable. Example:
+#
+# PODMAN=1 ./complement.sh
+#
 # By default Synapse is run in monolith mode. This can be overridden by
 # setting the WORKERS environment variable.
 #
@@ -30,7 +35,6 @@
 # Exit if a line returns a non-zero exit code
 set -e
 
-
 # Helper to emit annotations that collapse portions of the log in GitHub Actions
 echo_if_github() {
   if [[ -n "$GITHUB_WORKFLOW" ]]; then
@@ -100,6 +104,16 @@ done
 # enable buildkit for the docker builds
 export DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1
 
+# Determine whether to use the docker or podman container runtime.
+if [ -n "$PODMAN" ]; then
+  export CONTAINER_RUNTIME=podman
+  export DOCKER_HOST=unix://$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/podman/podman.sock
+  export BUILDAH_FORMAT=docker
+  export COMPLEMENT_HOSTNAME_RUNNING_COMPLEMENT=host.containers.internal
+else
+  export CONTAINER_RUNTIME=docker
+fi
+
 # Change to the repository root
 cd "$(dirname $0)/.."
 
@@ -126,16 +140,16 @@ if [ -n "$use_editable_synapse" ]; then
     editable_mount="$(realpath .):/editable-src:z"
     if [ -n "$rebuild_editable_synapse" ]; then
         unset skip_docker_build
-    elif docker inspect complement-synapse-editable &>/dev/null; then
+    elif $CONTAINER_RUNTIME inspect complement-synapse-editable &>/dev/null; then
         # complement-synapse-editable already exists: see if we can still use it:
         # - The Rust module must still be importable; it will fail to import if the Rust source has changed.
         # - The Poetry lock file must be the same (otherwise we assume dependencies have changed)
 
         # First set up the module in the right place for an editable installation.
-        docker run --rm -v $editable_mount --entrypoint 'cp' complement-synapse-editable -- /synapse_rust.abi3.so.bak /editable-src/synapse/synapse_rust.abi3.so
+        $CONTAINER_RUNTIME run --rm -v $editable_mount --entrypoint 'cp' complement-synapse-editable -- /synapse_rust.abi3.so.bak /editable-src/synapse/synapse_rust.abi3.so
 
-        if (docker run --rm -v $editable_mount --entrypoint 'python' complement-synapse-editable -c 'import synapse.synapse_rust' \
-            && docker run --rm -v $editable_mount --entrypoint 'diff' complement-synapse-editable --brief /editable-src/poetry.lock /poetry.lock.bak); then
+        if ($CONTAINER_RUNTIME run --rm -v $editable_mount --entrypoint 'python' complement-synapse-editable -c 'import synapse.synapse_rust' \
+            && $CONTAINER_RUNTIME run --rm -v $editable_mount --entrypoint 'diff' complement-synapse-editable --brief /editable-src/poetry.lock /poetry.lock.bak); then
             skip_docker_build=1
         else
             echo "Editable Synapse image is stale. Will rebuild."
@@ -149,25 +163,25 @@ if [ -z "$skip_docker_build" ]; then
 
         # Build a special image designed for use in development with editable
         # installs.
-        docker build -t synapse-editable \
+        $CONTAINER_RUNTIME build -t synapse-editable \
             -f "docker/editable.Dockerfile" .
 
-        docker build -t synapse-workers-editable \
+        $CONTAINER_RUNTIME build -t synapse-workers-editable \
             --build-arg FROM=synapse-editable \
             -f "docker/Dockerfile-workers" .
 
-        docker build -t complement-synapse-editable \
+        $CONTAINER_RUNTIME build -t complement-synapse-editable \
             --build-arg FROM=synapse-workers-editable \
             -f "docker/complement/Dockerfile" "docker/complement"
 
         # Prepare the Rust module
-        docker run --rm -v $editable_mount --entrypoint 'cp' complement-synapse-editable -- /synapse_rust.abi3.so.bak /editable-src/synapse/synapse_rust.abi3.so
+        $CONTAINER_RUNTIME run --rm -v $editable_mount --entrypoint 'cp' complement-synapse-editable -- /synapse_rust.abi3.so.bak /editable-src/synapse/synapse_rust.abi3.so
 
     else
 
         # Build the base Synapse image from the local checkout
         echo_if_github "::group::Build Docker image: matrixdotorg/synapse"
-        docker build -t matrixdotorg/synapse \
+        $CONTAINER_RUNTIME build -t matrixdotorg/synapse \
         --build-arg TEST_ONLY_SKIP_DEP_HASH_VERIFICATION \
         --build-arg TEST_ONLY_IGNORE_POETRY_LOCKFILE \
         -f "docker/Dockerfile" .
@@ -175,12 +189,12 @@ if [ -z "$skip_docker_build" ]; then
 
         # Build the workers docker image (from the base Synapse image we just built).
         echo_if_github "::group::Build Docker image: matrixdotorg/synapse-workers"
-        docker build -t matrixdotorg/synapse-workers -f "docker/Dockerfile-workers" .
+        $CONTAINER_RUNTIME build -t matrixdotorg/synapse-workers -f "docker/Dockerfile-workers" .
         echo_if_github "::endgroup::"
 
         # Build the unified Complement image (from the worker Synapse image we just built).
         echo_if_github "::group::Build Docker image: complement/Dockerfile"
-        docker build -t complement-synapse \
+        $CONTAINER_RUNTIME build -t complement-synapse \
             -f "docker/complement/Dockerfile" "docker/complement"
         echo_if_github "::endgroup::"