diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ac735138a..cae6cc24a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ Once downloaded, you will have to extract the binary and add it to your PATH
 variable. For detailed instructions for each of our supported platforms, please visit
 [installation documentation](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/mongodb-shell/install#mdb-shell-install).
 
+You can also run `download_latest.sh` to download a `mongosh` binary. You can use
+this script without cloning the repository thus:
+```
+curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mongodb-js/mongosh/refs/heads/main/download_latest.sh | sh
+```
+
 ## CLI Usage
 
 <!-- AUTOMATICALLY_INSERT_CLI_USAGE -->
diff --git a/download_latest.sh b/download_latest.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..d396f59de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/download_latest.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+set -o errexit
+
+MONGOSH_RELEASES_URL=https://downloads.mongodb.com/compass/mongosh.json
+
+show_download_link() {
+    echo >&2 "Download mongosh manually from:"
+    echo >&2
+    printf >&2 "\t%s\n", 'https://www.mongodb.com/try/download/shell'
+}
+
+for tool in jq curl; do
+    which "$tool" >/dev/null || {
+        echo >&2 "This script requires '$tool'."
+        exit 1
+    }
+done
+
+os=$(uname -o | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
+arch=$(uname -m)
+
+case "$os" in
+    *linux)
+        ext=tgz
+        os=linux
+        ;;
+    darwin)
+        ext=zip
+        ;;
+    *)
+        echo >&2 "❌ This script does not support this OS ($os)."
+        show_download_link
+
+        exit 1
+esac
+
+# normalize $arch:
+case "$arch" in
+    amd64|x64)
+        arch=x86_64
+        ;;
+    aarch64)
+        arch=arm64
+        ;;
+    *)
+        # Use uname’s reported architecture in the jq query.
+esac
+
+jq_query=$(cat <<EOF
+.versions[0].downloads[] |
+select(
+    .distro == "$os" and
+    .arch == "$arch" and
+    (has("sharedOpenssl") | not)
+) |
+.archive.url
+EOF
+)
+
+url=$(curl -fsSL $MONGOSH_RELEASES_URL | jq -r "$jq_query")
+
+if [ -z "$url" ]; then
+    echo >&2 "❓ No download found for $os on $arch."
+    show_download_link
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+case "$ext" in
+    zip)
+        file=$(mktemp)
+
+        echo "Downloading $url to $file …"
+        trap 'rm -f "$file"' EXIT
+
+        curl -fsSL "$url" > "$file"
+        echo "Downloaded $ext file; extracting mongosh …"
+
+        unzip -vj "$file" '*/bin/mongosh*'
+        ;;
+    tgz)
+        echo "Downloading & extracting from $url …"
+
+        curl -fsSL "$url" | tar -xzf - \
+            --transform "s/.*\///" \
+            --wildcards "**/bin/mongosh*" \
+        | sed -E 's/^.*[/]//'
+
+        ;;
+    *)
+        echo >&2 "Bad file extension: $ext"
+        show_download_link
+        exit 1
+esac
+
+echo "✅ Success! 'mongosh' and its crypto library are now saved in this directory."