diff --git a/.changeset/silver-carrots-allow.md b/.changeset/silver-carrots-allow.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..77f0e40ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/silver-carrots-allow.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+'myst-transforms': minor
+'myst-common': patch
+'myst-cli': patch
+---
+
+Add new mermaid-conversion transform
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 454c1cb54..8e5d4d58b 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -15963,7 +15963,8 @@
         "unist-util-select": "^4.0.3",
         "unist-util-visit": "^4.1.0",
         "vfile": "^5.0.0",
-        "vfile-message": "^3.1.2"
+        "vfile-message": "^3.1.2",
+        "which": "^3.0.1"
       },
       "devDependencies": {
         "@types/katex": "^0.14.0"
diff --git a/packages/myst-cli/src/build/tex/single.ts b/packages/myst-cli/src/build/tex/single.ts
index 24d456eee..a058eb90e 100644
--- a/packages/myst-cli/src/build/tex/single.ts
+++ b/packages/myst-cli/src/build/tex/single.ts
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@ export async function localArticleToTexRaw(
         imageAltOutputFolder: 'files/',
         imageExtensions: TEX_IMAGE_EXTENSIONS,
         simplifyFigures: true,
+        mermaidAsImage: true,
       });
       return mdastToTex(session, mdast, references, frontmatter, null, false);
     }),
@@ -252,6 +253,7 @@ export async function localArticleToTexTemplated(
         imageAltOutputFolder: 'files/',
         imageExtensions: TEX_IMAGE_EXTENSIONS,
         simplifyFigures: true,
+        mermaidAsImage: true,
       });
 
       partDefinitions.forEach((def) => {
diff --git a/packages/myst-cli/src/process/mdast.ts b/packages/myst-cli/src/process/mdast.ts
index da6e7779a..bbc0ab72f 100644
--- a/packages/myst-cli/src/process/mdast.ts
+++ b/packages/myst-cli/src/process/mdast.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import {
   inlineMathSimplificationPlugin,
   checkLinkTextTransform,
   indexIdentifierPlugin,
+  mermaidToImageTransform,
 } from 'myst-transforms';
 import { unified } from 'unified';
 import { select, selectAll } from 'unist-util-select';
@@ -341,6 +342,7 @@ export async function finalizeMdast(
   file: string,
   {
     imageWriteFolder,
+    mermaidAsImage,
     useExistingImages,
     imageAltOutputFolder,
     imageExtensions,
@@ -350,6 +352,7 @@ export async function finalizeMdast(
     maxSizeWebp,
   }: {
     imageWriteFolder: string;
+    mermaidAsImage?: boolean;
     useExistingImages?: boolean;
     imageAltOutputFolder?: string;
     imageExtensions?: ImageExtensions[];
@@ -372,6 +375,9 @@ export async function finalizeMdast(
     vfile,
   });
   if (!useExistingImages) {
+    if (mermaidAsImage) {
+      await mermaidToImageTransform(session, mdast, imageWriteFolder, vfile);
+    }
     await transformImagesToDisk(session, mdast, file, imageWriteFolder, {
       altOutputFolder: imageAltOutputFolder,
       imageExtensions,
diff --git a/packages/myst-common/src/ruleids.ts b/packages/myst-common/src/ruleids.ts
index d833a0dd0..afc9fc045 100644
--- a/packages/myst-common/src/ruleids.ts
+++ b/packages/myst-common/src/ruleids.ts
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ export enum RuleId {
   imageFormatConverts = 'image-format-converts',
   imageCopied = 'image-copied',
   imageFormatOptimizes = 'image-format-optimizes',
+  mermaidDiagramConverted = 'mermaid-diagram-converted',
   // Math rules
   mathLabelLifted = 'math-label-lifted',
   mathEquationEnvRemoved = 'math-equation-env-removed',
diff --git a/packages/myst-transforms/package.json b/packages/myst-transforms/package.json
index ff8e47970..8b12953ea 100644
--- a/packages/myst-transforms/package.json
+++ b/packages/myst-transforms/package.json
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "doi-utils": "^2.0.0",
     "hast-util-from-html": "^2.0.1",
+    "hast-util-to-mdast": "^8.3.1",
     "intersphinx": "^1.0.2",
     "js-yaml": "^4.1.0",
     "katex": "^0.15.2",
-    "hast-util-to-mdast": "^8.3.1",
     "mdast-util-find-and-replace": "^2.1.0",
     "myst-common": "^1.5.3",
     "myst-frontmatter": "^1.5.3",
@@ -36,13 +36,14 @@
     "unified": "^10.0.0",
     "unist-builder": "^3.0.0",
     "unist-util-find-after": "^4.0.0",
-    "unist-util-modify-children": "^3.1.0",
     "unist-util-map": "^3.0.0",
+    "unist-util-modify-children": "^3.1.0",
     "unist-util-remove": "^3.1.0",
     "unist-util-select": "^4.0.3",
     "unist-util-visit": "^4.1.0",
     "vfile": "^5.0.0",
-    "vfile-message": "^3.1.2"
+    "vfile-message": "^3.1.2",
+    "which": "^3.0.1"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@types/katex": "^0.14.0"
diff --git a/packages/myst-transforms/src/index.ts b/packages/myst-transforms/src/index.ts
index 0dc78a0db..6d6d3626d 100644
--- a/packages/myst-transforms/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/myst-transforms/src/index.ts
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ export {
 } from './code.js';
 export { blockquotePlugin, blockquoteTransform } from './blockquote.js';
 export { imageAltTextPlugin, imageAltTextTransform } from './images.js';
+export { mermaidToImageTransform } from './mermaid.js';
 export { buildIndexTransform, indexIdentifierPlugin, indexIdentifierTransform } from './indices.js';
 export {
   liftMystDirectivesAndRolesPlugin,
diff --git a/packages/myst-transforms/src/mermaid.ts b/packages/myst-transforms/src/mermaid.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8c1caaec2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/myst-transforms/src/mermaid.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+import { selectAll } from 'unist-util-select';
+import type { GenericParent, GenericNode } from 'myst-common';
+import { RuleId } from 'myst-common';
+import which from 'which';
+import type { VFile } from 'vfile';
+import type { LoggerDE } from 'myst-cli-utils';
+import type { ISession } from 'myst-cli';
+import { makeExecutable } from 'myst-cli-utils';
+import { createHash } from 'node:crypto';
+import fs from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { createTempFolder, addWarningForFile } from 'myst-cli';
+
+function isMMDCCommandAvailable() {
+  return !!which.sync('mmdc', { nothrow: true });
+}
+type Literal = {
+  type: string;
+  value: string;
+};
+
+function createMMDCLogger(session: ISession): LoggerDE {
+  const logger = {
+    debug(data: string) {
+      const line = data.trim();
+      if (!line) return;
+      session.log.debug(data);
+    },
+    error(data: string) {
+      const line = data.trim();
+      if (!line) return;
+      session.log.error(data);
+    },
+  };
+  return logger;
+}
+
+async function convertMermaidToSVG(
+  session: ISession,
+  writeFolder: string,
+  data: string,
+  vfile: VFile,
+) {
+  const hash = createHash('md5').update(data).digest('hex');
+  const tempFolder = createTempFolder(session);
+
+  const srcPath = join(tempFolder, `${hash}.mmd`);
+  await fs.writeFile(srcPath, data);
+
+  await fs.mkdir(writeFolder, { recursive: true });
+  const dstPath = join(writeFolder, `${hash}.pdf`);
+
+  const executable = `mmdc -i ${srcPath} -o ${dstPath}`;
+  const exec = makeExecutable(executable, createMMDCLogger(session));
+  try {
+    await exec();
+  } catch (err) {
+    addWarningForFile(
+      session,
+      vfile.path,
+      `Could not convert Mermaid diagram to svg: ${err}`,
+      'error',
+      {
+        ruleId: RuleId.mermaidDiagramConverted,
+      },
+    );
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  return dstPath;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Ensure caption content is nested in a paragraph.
+ *
+ * This function is idempotent.
+ */
+export async function mermaidToImageTransform(
+  session: ISession,
+  tree: GenericParent,
+  writeFolder: string,
+  vfile: VFile,
+) {
+  if (!isMMDCCommandAvailable()) {
+    addWarningForFile(
+      session,
+      vfile.path,
+      `Could not find mmdc, required for conversion of Mermaid diagrams\n`,
+      'warn',
+      { ruleId: RuleId.mermaidDiagramConverted },
+    );
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const nodes = selectAll('mermaid', tree) as Literal[];
+  await Promise.all(
+    nodes.map(async (node) => {
+      const dst = await convertMermaidToSVG(session, writeFolder, node.value, vfile);
+      if (dst) {
+        const newNode = node as GenericNode;
+        newNode.type = 'image';
+        newNode.url = dst ?? '';
+      }
+    }),
+  );
+}