diff --git a/src/Aspire.Hosting.Azure/AppIdentityResource.cs b/src/Aspire.Hosting.Azure/AppIdentityResource.cs
deleted file mode 100644
index c5bcc29f6cc..00000000000
--- a/src/Aspire.Hosting.Azure/AppIdentityResource.cs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
-// Licensed to the .NET Foundation under one or more agreements.
-// The .NET Foundation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
-
-using Azure.Provisioning;
-using Azure.Provisioning.Roles;
-
-namespace Aspire.Hosting.Azure;
-
-/// <summary>
-/// An Azure Provisioning resource that represents an Azure user assigned managed identity.
-/// </summary>
-internal sealed class AppIdentityResource(string name)
-    : AzureProvisioningResource(name, ConfigureAppIdentityInfrastructure), IAppIdentityResource
-{
-    public BicepOutputReference Id => new("id", this);
-    public BicepOutputReference ClientId => new("clientId", this);
-    public BicepOutputReference PrincipalId => new("principalId", this);
-    public BicepOutputReference PrincipalName => new("principalName", this);
-
-    private static void ConfigureAppIdentityInfrastructure(AzureResourceInfrastructure infra)
-    {
-        var identityName = Infrastructure.NormalizeBicepIdentifier(infra.AspireResource.Name);
-        var userAssignedIdentity = new UserAssignedIdentity(identityName);
-        infra.Add(userAssignedIdentity);
-
-        infra.Add(new ProvisioningOutput("id", typeof(string)) { Value = userAssignedIdentity.Id });
-        infra.Add(new ProvisioningOutput("clientId", typeof(string)) { Value = userAssignedIdentity.ClientId });
-        infra.Add(new ProvisioningOutput("principalId", typeof(string)) { Value = userAssignedIdentity.PrincipalId });
-        infra.Add(new ProvisioningOutput("principalName", typeof(string)) { Value = userAssignedIdentity.Name });
-    }
-}
diff --git a/src/Aspire.Hosting.Azure/AzureResourcePreparer.cs b/src/Aspire.Hosting.Azure/AzureResourcePreparer.cs
index f0fc63b99b0..eb3a0ce9aa5 100644
--- a/src/Aspire.Hosting.Azure/AzureResourcePreparer.cs
+++ b/src/Aspire.Hosting.Azure/AzureResourcePreparer.cs
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ private async Task BuildRoleAssignmentAnnotations(DistributedApplicationModel ap
                     continue;
                 }
 
-                if (!resource.IsContainer() && resource is not ProjectResource)
+                if (!IsResourceValidForRoleAssignments(resource))
                 {
                     continue;
                 }
@@ -179,10 +179,13 @@ private async Task BuildRoleAssignmentAnnotations(DistributedApplicationModel ap
                     {
                         var (identityResource, roleAssignmentResources) = CreateIdentityAndRoleAssignmentResources(options, resource, roleAssignments);
 
-                        // attach the identity resource to compute resource so it can be used by the compute environment
-                        resource.Annotations.Add(new AppIdentityAnnotation(identityResource));
-
-                        appModel.Resources.Add(identityResource);
+                        if (resource != identityResource)
+                        {
+                            // attach the identity resource to compute resource so it can be used by the compute environment
+                            resource.Annotations.Add(new AppIdentityAnnotation(identityResource));
+                            // add the identity resource to the resource collection so it can be provisioned
+                            appModel.Resources.Add(identityResource);
+                        }
                         foreach (var roleAssignmentResource in roleAssignmentResources)
                         {
                             appModel.Resources.Add(roleAssignmentResource);
@@ -209,6 +212,13 @@ private async Task BuildRoleAssignmentAnnotations(DistributedApplicationModel ap
         {
             await CreateGlobalRoleAssignments(appModel, globalRoleAssignments, options).ConfigureAwait(false);
         }
+
+        // We can derive role assignments for compute resources and declared
+        // AzureUserAssignedIdentityResources
+        static bool IsResourceValidForRoleAssignments(IResource resource)
+        {
+            return resource.IsContainer() || resource is ProjectResource || resource is AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource;
+        }
     }
 
     private static Dictionary<AzureProvisioningResource, IEnumerable<RoleDefinition>> GetAllRoleAssignments(IResource resource)
@@ -224,15 +234,17 @@ private static Dictionary<AzureProvisioningResource, IEnumerable<RoleDefinition>
         return result;
     }
 
-    private static (AppIdentityResource IdentityResource, List<AzureBicepResource> RoleAssignmentResources) CreateIdentityAndRoleAssignmentResources(
+    private static (AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource IdentityResource, List<AzureBicepResource> RoleAssignmentResources) CreateIdentityAndRoleAssignmentResources(
         AzureProvisioningOptions provisioningOptions,
         IResource resource,
         Dictionary<AzureProvisioningResource, IEnumerable<RoleDefinition>> roleAssignments)
     {
-        var identityResource = new AppIdentityResource($"{resource.Name}-identity")
-        {
-            ProvisioningBuildOptions = provisioningOptions.ProvisioningBuildOptions
-        };
+        var identityResource = resource is AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource existingIdentityResource
+            ? existingIdentityResource
+            : new AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource($"{resource.Name}-identity")
+            {
+                ProvisioningBuildOptions = provisioningOptions.ProvisioningBuildOptions
+            };
 
         var roleAssignmentResources = CreateRoleAssignmentsResources(provisioningOptions, resource, roleAssignments, identityResource);
         return (identityResource, roleAssignmentResources);
@@ -242,7 +254,7 @@ private static List<AzureBicepResource> CreateRoleAssignmentsResources(
         AzureProvisioningOptions provisioningOptions,
         IResource resource,
         Dictionary<AzureProvisioningResource, IEnumerable<RoleDefinition>> roleAssignments,
-        AppIdentityResource appIdentityResource)
+        AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource appIdentityResource)
     {
         var roleAssignmentResources = new List<AzureBicepResource>();
         foreach (var (targetResource, roles) in roleAssignments)
@@ -271,7 +283,7 @@ private static void AddRoleAssignmentsInfrastructure(
         AzureResourceInfrastructure infra,
         AzureProvisioningResource azureResource,
         IEnumerable<RoleDefinition> roles,
-        AppIdentityResource appIdentityResource)
+        AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource appIdentityResource)
     {
         var context = new AddRoleAssignmentsContext(
             infra,
diff --git a/src/Aspire.Hosting.Azure/AzureUserAssignedIdentityExtensions.cs b/src/Aspire.Hosting.Azure/AzureUserAssignedIdentityExtensions.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5ee34e3349b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Aspire.Hosting.Azure/AzureUserAssignedIdentityExtensions.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// Licensed to the .NET Foundation under one or more agreements.
+// The .NET Foundation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+
+using Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel;
+
+namespace Aspire.Hosting.Azure;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Provides extension methods for working with Azure user‑assigned identities.
+/// </summary>
+public static class AzureUserAssignedIdentityExtensions
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Adds an Azure user‑assigned identity resource to the application model.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="builder">The builder for the distributed application.</param>
+    /// <param name="name">The name of the resource.</param>
+    /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException">Thrown when <paramref name="builder"/> is null.</exception>
+    /// <exception cref="ArgumentException">Thrown when <paramref name="name"/> is null or empty.</exception>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// This method adds an Azure user‑assigned identity resource to the application model. It configures the
+    /// infrastructure for the resource and returns a builder for the resource.
+    /// The resource is added to the infrastructure only if the application is not in run mode.
+    /// </remarks>
+    /// <returns>A reference to the <see cref="IResourceBuilder{AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource}"/> builder.</returns>
+    public static IResourceBuilder<AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource> AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity(
+        this IDistributedApplicationBuilder builder,
+        string name)
+    {
+        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(builder);
+        ArgumentException.ThrowIfNullOrEmpty(name);
+
+        builder.AddAzureProvisioning();
+
+        var resource = new AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource(name);
+        // Don't add the resource to the infrastructure if we're in run mode.
+        if (builder.ExecutionContext.IsRunMode)
+        {
+            return builder.CreateResourceBuilder(resource);
+        }
+
+        return builder.AddResource(resource);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Aspire.Hosting.Azure/AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource.cs b/src/Aspire.Hosting.Azure/AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a15f83b48ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Aspire.Hosting.Azure/AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+// Licensed to the .NET Foundation under one or more agreements.
+// The .NET Foundation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+
+using Azure.Provisioning;
+using Azure.Provisioning.Primitives;
+using Azure.Provisioning.Roles;
+
+namespace Aspire.Hosting.Azure;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// An Azure Provisioning resource that represents an Azure user assigned managed identity.
+/// </summary>
+public sealed class AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource(string name)
+    : AzureProvisioningResource(name, ConfigureAppIdentityInfrastructure), IAppIdentityResource
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// The identifier associated with the user assigned identity.
+    /// </summary>
+    public BicepOutputReference Id => new("id", this);
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// The client ID of the user assigned identity.
+    /// </summary>
+    public BicepOutputReference ClientId => new("clientId", this);
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// The principal ID of the user assigned identity.
+    /// </summary>
+    public BicepOutputReference PrincipalId => new("principalId", this);
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// The principal name of the user assigned identity.
+    /// </summary>
+    public BicepOutputReference PrincipalName => new("principalName", this);
+
+    private static void ConfigureAppIdentityInfrastructure(AzureResourceInfrastructure infrastructure)
+    {
+        var userAssignedIdentity = CreateExistingOrNewProvisionableResource(infrastructure,
+            (identifier, name) =>
+            {
+                var resource = UserAssignedIdentity.FromExisting(identifier);
+                resource.Name = name;
+                return resource;
+            },
+            (infrastructure) =>
+            {
+                var identityName = Infrastructure.NormalizeBicepIdentifier(infrastructure.AspireResource.Name);
+                var resource = new UserAssignedIdentity(identityName);
+                return resource;
+            });
+
+        infrastructure.Add(userAssignedIdentity);
+
+        infrastructure.Add(new ProvisioningOutput("id", typeof(string)) { Value = userAssignedIdentity.Id });
+        infrastructure.Add(new ProvisioningOutput("clientId", typeof(string)) { Value = userAssignedIdentity.ClientId });
+        infrastructure.Add(new ProvisioningOutput("principalId", typeof(string)) { Value = userAssignedIdentity.PrincipalId });
+        infrastructure.Add(new ProvisioningOutput("principalName", typeof(string)) { Value = userAssignedIdentity.Name });
+    }
+
+    /// <inheritdoc/>
+    public override ProvisionableResource AddAsExistingResource(AzureResourceInfrastructure infra)
+    {
+        var store = UserAssignedIdentity.FromExisting(this.GetBicepIdentifier());
+        store.Name = PrincipalName.AsProvisioningParameter(infra);
+        infra.Add(store);
+        return store;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.cs b/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3e4a2967b7d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+// Licensed to the .NET Foundation under one or more agreements.
+// The .NET Foundation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+
+using Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel;
+using Aspire.Hosting.Azure.AppContainers;
+using Aspire.Hosting.Azure.ContainerRegistry;
+using Aspire.Hosting.Utils;
+using Azure.Provisioning.ContainerRegistry;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
+using static Aspire.Hosting.Utils.AzureManifestUtils;
+
+namespace Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests;
+
+public class AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests
+{
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_GeneratesExpectedResourcesAndBicep()
+    {
+        // Arrange
+        var builder = TestDistributedApplicationBuilder.Create(DistributedApplicationOperation.Publish);
+
+        builder.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity("myidentity");
+
+        using var app = builder.Build();
+        await ExecuteBeforeStartHooksAsync(app, default);
+
+        var model = app.Services.GetRequiredService<DistributedApplicationModel>();
+
+        // Act
+        var resource = Assert.Single(model.Resources.OfType<AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource>());
+
+        var (_, bicep) = await GetManifestWithBicep(resource);
+
+        await Verifier.Verify(bicep, extension: "bicep")
+            .UseHelixAwareDirectory("Snapshots")
+            .AutoVerify();
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_PublishAsExisting_Works()
+    {
+        var builder = TestDistributedApplicationBuilder.Create(DistributedApplicationOperation.Publish);
+
+        builder.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity("myidentity")
+               .PublishAsExisting("existingidentity", "my-rg");
+
+        using var app = builder.Build();
+        var model = app.Services.GetRequiredService<DistributedApplicationModel>();
+
+        var resource = Assert.Single(model.Resources.OfType<AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource>());
+
+        var (_, bicep) = await GetManifestWithBicep(resource);
+
+        await Verifier.Verify(bicep, extension: "bicep")
+            .UseHelixAwareDirectory("Snapshots")
+            .AutoVerify();
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_WithRoleAssignments_Works()
+    {
+        var builder = TestDistributedApplicationBuilder.Create(DistributedApplicationOperation.Publish);
+
+        builder.AddAzureContainerAppEnvironment("cae");
+
+        var registry = builder.AddAzureContainerRegistry("myregistry");
+        builder.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity("myidentity")
+            .WithRoleAssignments(registry, [ContainerRegistryBuiltInRole.AcrPush]);
+
+        using var app = builder.Build();
+        var model = app.Services.GetRequiredService<DistributedApplicationModel>();
+        await ExecuteBeforeStartHooksAsync(app, default);
+
+        Assert.Collection(model.Resources.OrderBy(r => r.Name),
+            r => Assert.IsType<AzureContainerAppEnvironmentResource>(r),
+            r => Assert.IsType<AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource>(r),
+            r =>
+            {
+                Assert.IsType<AzureProvisioningResource>(r);
+                Assert.Equal("myidentity-roles-myregistry", r.Name);
+            },
+            r => Assert.IsType<AzureContainerRegistryResource>(r));
+
+        var identityResource = Assert.Single(model.Resources.OfType<AzureUserAssignedIdentityResource>());
+        var (_, identityBicep) = await GetManifestWithBicep(identityResource, skipPreparer: true);
+
+        var registryResource = Assert.Single(model.Resources.OfType<AzureContainerRegistryResource>());
+        var (_, registryBicep) = await GetManifestWithBicep(registryResource, skipPreparer: true);
+
+        var identityRoleAssignments = Assert.Single(model.Resources.OfType<AzureProvisioningResource>(), r => r.Name == "myidentity-roles-myregistry");
+        var (_, identityRoleAssignmentsBicep) = await GetManifestWithBicep(identityRoleAssignments, skipPreparer: true);
+
+        Target[] targets = [
+            new Target("bicep", identityBicep),
+            new Target("bicep", registryBicep),
+            new Target("bicep", identityRoleAssignmentsBicep)
+        ];
+        await Verifier.Verify(targets)
+            .UseHelixAwareDirectory("Snapshots")
+            .AutoVerify();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/Snapshots/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_GeneratesExpectedResourcesAndBicep.verified.bicep b/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/Snapshots/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_GeneratesExpectedResourcesAndBicep.verified.bicep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0440636c115
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/Snapshots/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_GeneratesExpectedResourcesAndBicep.verified.bicep
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+@description('The location for the resource(s) to be deployed.')
+param location string = resourceGroup().location
+
+resource myidentity 'Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities@2023-01-31' = {
+  name: take('myidentity-${uniqueString(resourceGroup().id)}', 128)
+  location: location
+}
+
+output id string = myidentity.id
+
+output clientId string = myidentity.properties.clientId
+
+output principalId string = myidentity.properties.principalId
+
+output principalName string = myidentity.name
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/Snapshots/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_PublishAsExisting_Works.verified.bicep b/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/Snapshots/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_PublishAsExisting_Works.verified.bicep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4a9e46c5446
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/Snapshots/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_PublishAsExisting_Works.verified.bicep
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+@description('The location for the resource(s) to be deployed.')
+param location string = resourceGroup().location
+
+resource myidentity 'Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities@2023-01-31' existing = {
+  name: 'existingidentity'
+}
+
+output id string = myidentity.id
+
+output clientId string = myidentity.properties.clientId
+
+output principalId string = myidentity.properties.principalId
+
+output principalName string = myidentity.name
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/Snapshots/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_WithRoleAssignments_Works#00.verified.bicep b/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/Snapshots/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_WithRoleAssignments_Works#00.verified.bicep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0440636c115
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/Snapshots/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_WithRoleAssignments_Works#00.verified.bicep
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+@description('The location for the resource(s) to be deployed.')
+param location string = resourceGroup().location
+
+resource myidentity 'Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities@2023-01-31' = {
+  name: take('myidentity-${uniqueString(resourceGroup().id)}', 128)
+  location: location
+}
+
+output id string = myidentity.id
+
+output clientId string = myidentity.properties.clientId
+
+output principalId string = myidentity.properties.principalId
+
+output principalName string = myidentity.name
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/Snapshots/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_WithRoleAssignments_Works#01.verified.bicep b/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/Snapshots/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_WithRoleAssignments_Works#01.verified.bicep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..30678bba273
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/Snapshots/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_WithRoleAssignments_Works#01.verified.bicep
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+@description('The location for the resource(s) to be deployed.')
+param location string = resourceGroup().location
+
+resource myregistry 'Microsoft.ContainerRegistry/registries@2023-07-01' = {
+  name: take('myregistry${uniqueString(resourceGroup().id)}', 50)
+  location: location
+  sku: {
+    name: 'Basic'
+  }
+  tags: {
+    'aspire-resource-name': 'myregistry'
+  }
+}
+
+output name string = myregistry.name
+
+output loginServer string = myregistry.properties.loginServer
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/Snapshots/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_WithRoleAssignments_Works#02.verified.bicep b/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/Snapshots/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_WithRoleAssignments_Works#02.verified.bicep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c1beeaf2a96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Aspire.Hosting.Azure.Tests/Snapshots/AzureUserAssignedIdentityTests.AddAzureUserAssignedIdentity_WithRoleAssignments_Works#02.verified.bicep
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+@description('The location for the resource(s) to be deployed.')
+param location string = resourceGroup().location
+
+param myregistry_outputs_name string
+
+param principalId string
+
+resource myregistry 'Microsoft.ContainerRegistry/registries@2023-07-01' existing = {
+  name: myregistry_outputs_name
+}
+
+resource myregistry_AcrPush 'Microsoft.Authorization/roleAssignments@2022-04-01' = {
+  name: guid(myregistry.id, principalId, subscriptionResourceId('Microsoft.Authorization/roleDefinitions', '8311e382-0749-4cb8-b61a-304f252e45ec'))
+  properties: {
+    principalId: principalId
+    roleDefinitionId: subscriptionResourceId('Microsoft.Authorization/roleDefinitions', '8311e382-0749-4cb8-b61a-304f252e45ec')
+    principalType: 'ServicePrincipal'
+  }
+  scope: myregistry
+}
\ No newline at end of file