diff --git a/.github/actions/fetch-obi/action.yml b/.github/actions/fetch-obi/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6ec880918
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/fetch-obi/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+name: Fetch OBI source
+description: |
+  Downloads the OBI (opentelemetry-ebpf-instrumentation) release tarball
+  (obi-vX.Y.Z-source-generated.tar.gz), which includes all pre-generated BPF
+  source files, verifies its SHA256 checksum, and extracts it to
+  internal/obi-src. The tarball is cached by OBI version so re-runs are instant
+  when the version has not changed.
+
+  No BPF toolchain (Docker, clang, bpf2go) is required.
+
+  The version is read from distributions/otelcol-contrib/manifest.yaml unless
+  obi-version is explicitly provided.
+
+inputs:
+  obi-version:
+    description: |
+      OBI version to fetch (e.g., v0.5.0). When empty (default), the version is
+      resolved from distributions/otelcol-contrib/manifest.yaml.
+    required: false
+    default: ""
+
+runs:
+  using: composite
+  steps:
+    - name: Resolve OBI version
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        VERSION="${{ inputs.obi-version }}"
+        if [[ -z "${VERSION}" ]]; then
+          VERSION=$(awk '/- gomod: go\.opentelemetry\.io\/obi / {print $NF; exit}' distributions/otelcol-contrib/manifest.yaml)
+        fi
+        if [[ -z "${VERSION}" ]]; then
+          echo "ERROR: failed to resolve OBI version from manifest.yaml" >&2
+          exit 1
+        fi
+        echo "OBI_VERSION=${VERSION}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+
+    - name: Cache OBI source
+      id: cache-obi
+      uses: actions/cache@v4
+      with:
+        path: |
+          .local/obi-${{ env.OBI_VERSION }}-source-generated.tar.gz
+          internal/obi-src
+        key: obi-source-${{ env.OBI_VERSION }}
+
+    - name: Fetch OBI source tarball (Linux/macOS)
+      if: steps.cache-obi.outputs.cache-hit != 'true' && runner.os != 'Windows'
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        TARBALL="obi-${OBI_VERSION}-source-generated.tar.gz"
+        BASE_URL="https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ebpf-instrumentation/releases/download/${OBI_VERSION}"
+        DEST="internal/obi-src"
+
+        # Download tarball to .local/ — same location the script uses — so the
+        # version-keyed stamp file check in prepare-obi.sh finds it cached.
+        mkdir -p .local
+        curl -fL -o ".local/${TARBALL}" "${BASE_URL}/${TARBALL}"
+
+        # Verify checksum via the upstream SHA256SUMS release asset.
+        # Use uname to distinguish Linux (GNU sha256sum) from macOS (BSD sha256sum
+        # lacks --check; use perl shasum instead).
+        if [[ "$(uname -s)" == "Linux" ]]; then
+          curl -fsSL "${BASE_URL}/SHA256SUMS" | grep -F "${TARBALL}" | (cd .local && sha256sum --check)
+        else
+          curl -fsSL "${BASE_URL}/SHA256SUMS" | grep -F "${TARBALL}" | (cd .local && shasum -a 256 --check)
+        fi
+
+        # Extract verified tarball.
+        mkdir -p "${DEST}"
+        tar xzf ".local/${TARBALL}" --strip-components=1 -C "${DEST}"
+
+        # Create the version-keyed stamp file so prepare-obi.sh exits immediately
+        # on subsequent Make invocations (matches OBI_STAMP in the Makefile).
+        touch "${DEST}/.obi-${OBI_VERSION}"
+
+    - name: Fetch OBI source tarball (Windows)
+      if: steps.cache-obi.outputs.cache-hit != 'true' && runner.os == 'Windows'
+      shell: pwsh
+      run: |
+        $Version = $env:OBI_VERSION
+        $Tarball = "obi-${Version}-source-generated.tar.gz"
+        $BaseUrl = "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ebpf-instrumentation/releases/download/${Version}"
+        $Dest = "internal\obi-src"
+
+        # Download tarball to .local\ — same location the script uses.
+        New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path ".local" | Out-Null
+        $LocalTarball = ".local\$Tarball"
+        curl.exe -fL -o $LocalTarball "${BaseUrl}/${Tarball}"
+
+        # Download SHA256SUMS and extract the expected hash for our tarball.
+        $SumsFile = ".local\SHA256SUMS.tmp"
+        curl.exe -fsSL -o $SumsFile "${BaseUrl}/SHA256SUMS"
+        $Expected = (Get-Content $SumsFile | Where-Object { $_ -match [regex]::Escape($Tarball) } | Select-Object -First 1)
+        Remove-Item $SumsFile
+        if (-not $Expected) {
+          Write-Error "ERROR: ${Tarball} not found in SHA256SUMS"
+          exit 1
+        }
+        $Expected = $Expected.Split(' ')[0].Trim()
+
+        # Verify hash.
+        $Actual = (Get-FileHash $LocalTarball -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLower()
+        if ($Actual -ne $Expected) {
+          Write-Error "ERROR: SHA256 checksum verification failed for ${Tarball}`n  Expected: ${Expected}`n  Actual:   ${Actual}"
+          exit 1
+        }
+        Write-Host "SHA256 verified: ${Tarball}"
+
+        # Extract verified tarball.
+        New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $Dest | Out-Null
+        tar xzf $LocalTarball --strip-components=1 -C $Dest
+
+        # Create the version-keyed stamp file so prepare-obi.sh exits immediately.
+        New-Item -ItemType File -Force -Path "$Dest\.obi-$Version" | Out-Null
+
diff --git a/.github/workflows/base-ci-goreleaser.yaml b/.github/workflows/base-ci-goreleaser.yaml
index a23ff4b76..a5506ad9a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/base-ci-goreleaser.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/base-ci-goreleaser.yaml
@@ -119,6 +119,10 @@ jobs:
           go-version: "~1.26.0"
           check-latest: true
 
+      - name: Fetch OBI source
+        if: inputs.distribution == 'otelcol-contrib' && inputs.nightly != true
+        uses: ./.github/actions/fetch-obi
+
       - name: Create artifacts directory to store build artifacts
         if: inputs.distribution == 'otelcol-contrib'
         run: mkdir -p distributions/otelcol-contrib/artifacts
diff --git a/.github/workflows/base-release.yaml b/.github/workflows/base-release.yaml
index 0a169c2e1..8a4c49792 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/base-release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/base-release.yaml
@@ -108,6 +108,10 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           echo "NIGHTLY_FLAG=--nightly" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
+      - name: Fetch OBI source
+        if: inputs.distribution == 'otelcol-contrib'
+        uses: ./.github/actions/fetch-obi
+
       - name: Generate distribution sources
         run: make generate-sources
         env:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index bfe4c5013..8ca56efe6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ jobs:
           go-version: "~1.26.0"
           check-latest: true
 
+      - name: Fetch OBI source
+        if: matrix.distro == 'otelcol-contrib'
+        uses: ./.github/actions/fetch-obi
+
       - name: Tidy go.mod files
         run: go mod tidy
 
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 9d76ce30e..c8c631845 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -9,3 +9,7 @@ dist/
 .tools
 .DS_Store
 .zed
+distributions/*/windows-installer.wxs
+internal/obi/
+internal/obi-src/
+.local/
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 731cdb641..28d1f0c7d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ BINARIES ?= "builder,opampsupervisor"
 ci: check build
 check: ensure-goreleaser-up-to-date validate-components validate-version-consistency
 
-build: go ocb
+build: go ocb prepare-obi
 	@./scripts/build.sh -d "${DISTRIBUTIONS}" -b ${OTELCOL_BUILDER}
 
 generate: generate-sources generate-goreleaser
@@ -33,9 +33,21 @@ generate: generate-sources generate-goreleaser
 generate-goreleaser: go
 	@./scripts/generate-goreleaser.sh -d "${DISTRIBUTIONS}" -b "${BINARIES}" -g ${GO}
 
-generate-sources: go ocb generate-msi
+generate-sources: go ocb generate-msi prepare-obi
 	@./scripts/build.sh -d "${DISTRIBUTIONS}" -s true -b ${OTELCOL_BUILDER}
 
+# OBI (opentelemetry-ebpf-instrumentation) configuration.
+# The version is kept here and in distributions/otelcol-contrib/manifest.yaml;
+# they must stay in sync. The stamp file is version-keyed so that changing
+# OBI_VERSION automatically triggers a re-download on the next build.
+OBI_VERSION := $(shell awk '/- gomod: go\.opentelemetry\.io\/obi / { print $$NF; exit }' $(SRC_ROOT)/distributions/otelcol-contrib/manifest.yaml)
+OBI_DIR     := $(SRC_ROOT)/internal/obi-src
+OBI_STAMP   := $(OBI_DIR)/.obi-$(OBI_VERSION)
+
+.PHONY: prepare-obi
+prepare-obi:
+	@./scripts/prepare-obi.sh "${DISTRIBUTIONS}"
+
 generate-msi: go ocb
 	$(GO) run cmd/msi-generator/main.go -d "${DISTRIBUTIONS}"
 
diff --git a/OBI_RECEIVER.md b/OBI_RECEIVER.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8a89c4bfa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/OBI_RECEIVER.md
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+# OBI Receiver Integration
+
+This document explains how OBI (eBPF-based zero-code instrumentation) is integrated into OpenTelemetry Collector distributions, why the integration is structured this way, and how to build and maintain it.
+
+## Overview
+
+The OBI receiver is included in the `otelcol-contrib` distribution as an external component. It is maintained in its own repository at [opentelemetry-ebpf-instrumentation](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ebpf-instrumentation).
+
+To avoid git submodules, this repository downloads the OBI release tarball (`obi-vX.Y.Z-source-generated.tar.gz`) during builds. This tarball is published alongside each OBI release and already contains all pre-generated BPF source files.
+
+## Architecture
+
+Build preparation does the following:
+
+1. Reads the OBI version from `distributions/otelcol-contrib/manifest.yaml`
+2. Downloads `obi-vX.Y.Z-source-generated.tar.gz` from the OBI GitHub release
+3. Verifies the SHA256 checksum against the `SHA256SUMS` release asset
+4. Extracts the tarball to `internal/obi-src` (untracked)
+5. Creates a version-keyed stamp file (`internal/obi-src/.obi-vX.Y.Z`) so subsequent builds skip the download
+
+No BPF toolchain (Docker, clang, bpf2go) is required. The pre-generated files are included in the `source-generated` tarball.
+
+### Integration Pattern
+
+The `otelcol-contrib` distribution manifest includes:
+
+```yaml
+receivers:
+  - gomod: go.opentelemetry.io/obi v0.5.0
+    import: go.opentelemetry.io/obi/collector
+
+replaces:
+  - go.opentelemetry.io/obi => ../../../internal/obi-src
+```
+
+This keeps the pinned module version in the manifest while using a locally prepared source tree for builds.
+
+## Building with OBI
+
+### Prerequisites
+
+- Standard Go build tools (no Docker required)
+
+### Build Commands
+
+```bash
+# Build all distributions (includes OBI preparation for otelcol-contrib)
+make build
+
+# Build only otelcol-contrib
+make build DISTRIBUTIONS="otelcol-contrib"
+```
+
+`make build` and `make generate` call `scripts/prepare-obi.sh` automatically when `otelcol-contrib` is selected.
+
+## CI/CD Integration
+
+CI jobs that build `otelcol-contrib` should run the `.github/actions/fetch-obi` composite action **before** any `make` target that triggers source generation. The action:
+
+1. Checks the Actions cache for the OBI version (cache key: `obi-source-vX.Y.Z`)
+2. On a cache miss: downloads and verifies the tarball, extracts it, and writes the stamp file
+3. On a cache hit: restores from cache (stamp file already present → `prepare-obi.sh` exits immediately)
+
+This means no Docker or network access is needed during the actual `make` build step.
+
+```yaml
+- name: Fetch OBI source
+  if: inputs.distribution == 'otelcol-contrib'
+  uses: ./.github/actions/fetch-obi
+```
+
+## Maintenance
+
+### Updating the OBI Version
+
+1. Update `distributions/otelcol-contrib/manifest.yaml`:
+   - `gomod: go.opentelemetry.io/obi vX.Y.Z`
+2. Build contrib to verify:
+   ```bash
+   make build DISTRIBUTIONS="otelcol-contrib"
+   ```
+3. Commit both the manifest change and any `go.sum` updates.
+
+No repository submodule updates are required. The CI cache is invalidated automatically because the cache key is version-keyed.
+
+## Platform Support
+
+- Linux amd64/arm64: full OBI support (eBPF receiver active)
+- All other platforms (Linux ppc64le/s390x/riscv64, Windows, macOS): OBI's non-eBPF stubs are compiled; the receiver registers but does not activate eBPF collection
+
+The `go.opentelemetry.io/obi/collector` package uses build tags (`//go:build linux && (amd64 || arm64)`) to select the appropriate implementation. No cross-compilation guards are needed in this repository.
+
+## References
+
+- OBI repository: https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ebpf-instrumentation
+- OBI collector example: https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ebpf-instrumentation/tree/main/examples/otel-collector
+- Collector builder docs: https://opentelemetry.io/docs/collector/custom-collector/
+
diff --git a/distributions/otelcol-contrib/manifest.yaml b/distributions/otelcol-contrib/manifest.yaml
index b5b48d685..93eae35c3 100644
--- a/distributions/otelcol-contrib/manifest.yaml
+++ b/distributions/otelcol-contrib/manifest.yaml
@@ -133,6 +133,9 @@ processors:
 receivers:
   - gomod: go.opentelemetry.io/collector/receiver/nopreceiver v0.151.0
   - gomod: go.opentelemetry.io/collector/receiver/otlpreceiver v0.151.0
+  # OBI (eBPF Instrumentation)
+  - gomod: go.opentelemetry.io/obi v0.5.0
+    import: go.opentelemetry.io/obi/collector
   - gomod: github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/activedirectorydsreceiver v0.151.0
   - gomod: github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/aerospikereceiver v0.151.0
   - gomod: github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/apachereceiver v0.151.0
@@ -264,3 +267,7 @@ providers:
   - gomod: github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/confmap/provider/s3provider v0.151.0
   - gomod: github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/confmap/provider/secretsmanagerprovider v0.151.0
   - gomod: github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/confmap/provider/googlesecretmanagerprovider v0.151.0
+
+replaces:
+  # Prepared by scripts/prepare-obi.sh from a tagged upstream source archive.
+  - go.opentelemetry.io/obi => ../../../internal/obi-src
diff --git a/scripts/prepare-obi.sh b/scripts/prepare-obi.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..b3e1eafd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/prepare-obi.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+# Downloads the OBI (opentelemetry-ebpf-instrumentation) release tarball
+# (obi-vX.Y.Z-source-generated.tar.gz), which includes all pre-generated BPF
+# source files, verifies its SHA256 checksum, and extracts it to internal/obi-src.
+#
+# No BPF toolchain (Docker, clang, bpf2go) is required.
+#
+# The version is read from distributions/otelcol-contrib/manifest.yaml unless
+# OBI_VERSION is already set in the environment (e.g. by the CI composite action).
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+REPO_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )/.." &> /dev/null && pwd )"
+DISTRIBUTIONS="${1:-}"
+MANIFEST="${REPO_DIR}/distributions/otelcol-contrib/manifest.yaml"
+OBI_DIR="${REPO_DIR}/internal/obi-src"
+
+needs_obi=false
+if [[ "$DISTRIBUTIONS" == *"otelcol-contrib"* ]]; then
+  needs_obi=true
+fi
+
+if [[ "${needs_obi}" != "true" ]]; then
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+if [[ ! -f "${MANIFEST}" ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: OBI manifest not found at ${MANIFEST}" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+OBI_VERSION="${OBI_VERSION:-$(
+  awk '/- gomod: go\.opentelemetry\.io\/obi / {print $NF; exit}' "${MANIFEST}"
+)}"
+
+if [[ -z "${OBI_VERSION}" ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: failed to resolve OBI version from ${MANIFEST}" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+TARBALL="obi-${OBI_VERSION}-source-generated.tar.gz"
+BASE_URL="https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ebpf-instrumentation/releases/download/${OBI_VERSION}"
+TARBALL_CACHE="${REPO_DIR}/.local/${TARBALL}"
+OBI_STAMP="${OBI_DIR}/.obi-${OBI_VERSION}"
+
+# Fast path: version-keyed stamp file already exists → nothing to do.
+if [[ -f "${OBI_STAMP}" ]]; then
+  echo "OBI ${OBI_VERSION} already prepared at ${OBI_DIR}"
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+echo "Fetching OBI ${OBI_VERSION} source-generated tarball..."
+
+# Download the tarball to .local/ if it is not already cached there.
+mkdir -p "${REPO_DIR}/.local"
+if [[ ! -f "${TARBALL_CACHE}" ]]; then
+  curl --fail --show-error --location --retry 3 --retry-delay 1 \
+    --output "${TARBALL_CACHE}" "${BASE_URL}/${TARBALL}"
+fi
+
+# Verify checksum against the upstream SHA256SUMS release asset.
+echo "Verifying OBI ${OBI_VERSION} tarball checksum..."
+if [[ "$(uname -s)" == "Linux" ]]; then
+  curl -fsSL "${BASE_URL}/SHA256SUMS" | grep -F "${TARBALL}" \
+    | (cd "${REPO_DIR}/.local" && sha256sum --check) \
+    || { rm -f "${TARBALL_CACHE}"; echo "ERROR: checksum verification failed." >&2; exit 1; }
+else
+  curl -fsSL "${BASE_URL}/SHA256SUMS" | grep -F "${TARBALL}" \
+    | (cd "${REPO_DIR}/.local" && shasum -a 256 --check) \
+    || { rm -f "${TARBALL_CACHE}"; echo "ERROR: checksum verification failed." >&2; exit 1; }
+fi
+
+# Extract to OBI_DIR.
+rm -rf "${OBI_DIR}"
+mkdir -p "${OBI_DIR}"
+tar xzf "${TARBALL_CACHE}" --strip-components=1 -C "${OBI_DIR}"
+
+# Version-keyed stamp file: signals that this OBI version is ready and lets
+# subsequent Make invocations (and the CI composite action) skip the download.
+touch "${OBI_STAMP}"
+echo "OBI ${OBI_VERSION} source prepared at ${OBI_DIR}"