diff --git a/.changeset/chubby-dingos-laugh.md b/.changeset/chubby-dingos-laugh.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5c55cf3696
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/chubby-dingos-laugh.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'svelte': minor
+---
+
+feat: customizable select
diff --git a/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/visitors/RegularElement.js b/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/visitors/RegularElement.js
index 690715df84..d5a31eb9d0 100644
--- a/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/visitors/RegularElement.js
+++ b/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/visitors/RegularElement.js
@@ -327,11 +327,20 @@ export function RegularElement(node, context) {
 		context.visit(node, child_state);
 	}
 
+	// Detect if this is an <option> with rich content (non-text children)
+	// In this case, we need to branch hydration based on browser support
+	const is_option_with_rich_content =
+		node.name === 'option' &&
+		trimmed.some(
+			(child) => child.type !== 'Text' && child.type !== 'ExpressionTag' && child.type !== 'Comment'
+		);
+
 	// special case — if an element that only contains text, we don't need
 	// to descend into it if the text is non-reactive
 	// in the rare case that we have static text that can't be inlined
 	// (e.g. `<span>{location}</span>`), set `textContent` programmatically
 	const use_text_content =
+		!is_option_with_rich_content &&
 		trimmed.every((node) => node.type === 'Text' || node.type === 'ExpressionTag') &&
 		trimmed.every(
 			(node) =>
@@ -351,6 +360,63 @@ export function RegularElement(node, context) {
 				b.stmt(b.assignment('=', b.member(context.state.node, 'textContent'), value))
 			);
 		}
+	} else if (is_option_with_rich_content) {
+		// For <option> elements with rich content, we need to branch based on browser support.
+		// Modern browsers preserve rich HTML in options, older browsers strip it to text only.
+		// We use $.rich_option(rich_fn, text_fn) to handle both cases.
+
+		/** @type {Expression} */
+		let arg = context.state.node;
+
+		// Create the rich content branch (for modern browsers)
+		/** @type {typeof state} */
+		const rich_child_state = { ...state, init: [], update: [], after_update: [] };
+
+		let needs_reset = trimmed.some((node) => node.type !== 'Text');
+
+		process_children(trimmed, (is_text) => b.call('$.child', arg, is_text && b.true), true, {
+			...context,
+			state: rich_child_state
+		});
+
+		if (needs_reset) {
+			rich_child_state.init.push(b.stmt(b.call('$.reset', context.state.node)));
+		}
+
+		// Build the rich content function body
+		const rich_fn_body = b.block([
+			...rich_child_state.init,
+			...(rich_child_state.update.length > 0 ? [build_render_statement(rich_child_state)] : []),
+			...rich_child_state.after_update
+		]);
+
+		// Create the text fallback branch (for legacy browsers)
+		// Extract all text/expression content recursively from the children
+		const text_content = extract_text_content(trimmed);
+
+		/** @type {typeof state} */
+		const text_child_state = { ...state, init: [], update: [], after_update: [] };
+
+		if (text_content.length > 0) {
+			const { value, has_state } = build_template_chunk(text_content, context, text_child_state);
+			const update = b.stmt(b.assignment('=', b.member(context.state.node, 'textContent'), value));
+
+			if (has_state) {
+				text_child_state.update.push(update);
+			} else {
+				text_child_state.init.push(update);
+			}
+		}
+
+		const text_fn_body = b.block([
+			...text_child_state.init,
+			...(text_child_state.update.length > 0 ? [build_render_statement(text_child_state)] : []),
+			...text_child_state.after_update
+		]);
+
+		child_state.init.push(
+			b.stmt(b.call('$.rich_option', b.arrow([], rich_fn_body), b.arrow([], text_fn_body)))
+		);
 	} else {
 		/** @type {Expression} */
 		let arg = context.state.node;
@@ -716,3 +782,28 @@ function build_element_special_value_attribute(
 		state.init.push(b.stmt(b.call('$.init_select', node_id)));
 	}
 }
+
+/**
+ * Recursively extracts all Text and ExpressionTag nodes from a tree of nodes.
+ * This is used to build the text-only fallback for rich options in legacy browsers.
+ * @param {AST.SvelteNode[]} nodes
+ * @returns {Array<AST.Text | AST.ExpressionTag>}
+ */
+function extract_text_content(nodes) {
+	/** @type {Array<AST.Text | AST.ExpressionTag>} */
+	const result = [];
+
+	for (const node of nodes) {
+		if (node.type === 'Text' || node.type === 'ExpressionTag') {
+			result.push(node);
+		} else if ('fragment' in node && node.fragment) {
+			// Recursively extract from elements with fragments (like RegularElement)
+			result.push(...extract_text_content(node.fragment.nodes));
+		} else if ('children' in node && Array.isArray(node.children)) {
+			// Handle other node types with children
+			result.push(...extract_text_content(node.children));
+		}
+	}
+
+	return result;
+}
diff --git a/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/server/visitors/RegularElement.js b/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/server/visitors/RegularElement.js
index f74b1185a0..d3c8a28ad7 100644
--- a/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/server/visitors/RegularElement.js
+++ b/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/server/visitors/RegularElement.js
@@ -149,10 +149,26 @@ export function RegularElement(node, context) {
 			const inner_state = { ...state, template: [], init: [] };
 			process_children(trimmed, { ...context, state: inner_state });
 
-			body = b.arrow(
-				[b.id('$$renderer')],
-				b.block([...state.init, ...build_template(inner_state.template)])
-			);
+			/** @type {import('estree').Statement[]} */
+			const body_statements = [...state.init, ...build_template(inner_state.template)];
+
+			if (dev) {
+				const location = locator(node.start);
+				body_statements.unshift(
+					b.stmt(
+						b.call(
+							'$.push_element',
+							b.id('$$renderer'),
+							b.literal(node.name),
+							b.literal(location.line),
+							b.literal(location.column)
+						)
+					)
+				);
+				body_statements.push(b.stmt(b.call('$.pop_element')));
+			}
+
+			body = b.arrow([b.id('$$renderer')], b.block(body_statements));
 		}
 
 		const [attributes, ...rest] = prepare_element_spread_object(node, context, optimiser.transform);
diff --git a/packages/svelte/src/html-tree-validation.js b/packages/svelte/src/html-tree-validation.js
index 4ec4ecf26f..6b4b51a63c 100644
--- a/packages/svelte/src/html-tree-validation.js
+++ b/packages/svelte/src/html-tree-validation.js
@@ -82,7 +82,8 @@ const disallowed_children = {
 	...autoclosing_children,
 	optgroup: { only: ['option', '#text'] },
 	// Strictly speaking, seeing an <option> doesn't mean we're in a <select>, but we assume it here
-	option: { only: ['#text'] },
+	// option does not have an `only` restriction because newer browsers support rich HTML content
+	// inside option elements. For older browsers, hydration will handle the mismatch.
 	form: { descendant: ['form'] },
 	a: { descendant: ['a'] },
 	button: { descendant: ['button'] },
diff --git a/packages/svelte/src/internal/client/dom/elements/rich-option.js b/packages/svelte/src/internal/client/dom/elements/rich-option.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bf2c761eee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/svelte/src/internal/client/dom/elements/rich-option.js
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import { check_rich_option_support } from '../operations.js';
+
+/**
+ * Handles rich HTML content inside `<option>` elements with browser-specific branching.
+ * Modern browsers preserve HTML inside options, while older browsers strip it to text only.
+ *
+ * @param {() => void} rich_fn Function to process rich HTML content (modern browsers)
+ * @param {() => void} text_fn Function to process text-only content (legacy browsers)
+ */
+export function rich_option(rich_fn, text_fn) {
+	if (check_rich_option_support()) {
+		rich_fn();
+	} else {
+		text_fn();
+	}
+}
diff --git a/packages/svelte/src/internal/client/dom/operations.js b/packages/svelte/src/internal/client/dom/operations.js
index 479c2ba0a5..ede64bd6e5 100644
--- a/packages/svelte/src/internal/client/dom/operations.js
+++ b/packages/svelte/src/internal/client/dom/operations.js
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ export var $document;
 /** @type {boolean} */
 export var is_firefox;
 
+/** @type {boolean | null} */
+var supports_rich_option = null;
+
 /** @type {() => Node | null} */
 var first_child_getter;
 /** @type {() => Node | null} */
@@ -258,3 +261,17 @@ export function set_attribute(element, key, value = '') {
 	}
 	return element.setAttribute(key, value);
 }
+
+/**
+ * Checks if the browser supports rich HTML content inside `<option>` elements.
+ * Modern browsers preserve HTML elements inside options, while older browsers
+ * strip them during parsing, leaving only text content.
+ * @returns {boolean}
+ */
+export function check_rich_option_support() {
+	if (supports_rich_option !== null) return supports_rich_option;
+	var select = document.createElement('select');
+	select.innerHTML = '<option><span>t</span></option>';
+	return (supports_rich_option =
+		/** @type {Element} */ (select.firstChild)?.firstChild?.nodeType === 1);
+}
diff --git a/packages/svelte/src/internal/client/index.js b/packages/svelte/src/internal/client/index.js
index a2666d8712..dc51811a78 100644
--- a/packages/svelte/src/internal/client/index.js
+++ b/packages/svelte/src/internal/client/index.js
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ export {
 export { set_class } from './dom/elements/class.js';
 export { apply, event, delegate, replay_events } from './dom/elements/events.js';
 export { autofocus, remove_textarea_child } from './dom/elements/misc.js';
+export { rich_option } from './dom/elements/rich-option.js';
 export { set_style } from './dom/elements/style.js';
 export { animation, transition } from './dom/elements/transitions.js';
 export { bind_active_element } from './dom/elements/bindings/document.js';
diff --git a/packages/svelte/tests/hydration/samples/option-rich-content-continues/_config.js b/packages/svelte/tests/hydration/samples/option-rich-content-continues/_config.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a2163b7c67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/svelte/tests/hydration/samples/option-rich-content-continues/_config.js
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import { flushSync } from 'svelte';
+import { test } from '../../test';
+
+export default test({
+	// This test verifies that hydration continues correctly after
+	// an option element with rich HTML content
+	snapshot(target) {
+		const select = target.querySelector('select');
+		const options = target.querySelectorAll('option');
+		const p = target.querySelector('p');
+		const button = target.querySelector('button');
+
+		return {
+			select,
+			option1: options[0],
+			option2: options[1],
+			p,
+			button
+		};
+	},
+
+	async test(assert, target) {
+		const option = target.querySelector('option');
+		const button = target.querySelector('button');
+
+		assert.equal(option?.textContent, 'hello hello');
+
+		flushSync(() => {
+			button?.click();
+		});
+
+		assert.equal(option?.textContent, 'changed changed');
+	}
+});
diff --git a/packages/svelte/tests/hydration/samples/option-rich-content-continues/_expected.html b/packages/svelte/tests/hydration/samples/option-rich-content-continues/_expected.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d3e209c990
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/svelte/tests/hydration/samples/option-rich-content-continues/_expected.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<select><option value="a">hello hello</option><option value="b">Plain text</option></select> <button></button>
diff --git a/packages/svelte/tests/hydration/samples/option-rich-content-continues/main.svelte b/packages/svelte/tests/hydration/samples/option-rich-content-continues/main.svelte
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..47edc28035
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/svelte/tests/hydration/samples/option-rich-content-continues/main.svelte
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<script>
+	let label = $state('hello');
+	let count = $state(42);
+</script>
+
+<select>
+	<!-- this would fail during hydration if rich_option handling is not correct -->
+	<option value="a"><span>{label}</span> {label}</option>
+	<option value="b">Plain text</option>
+</select>
+	
+<button onclick={() => label = "changed"}></button>
diff --git a/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-runes/samples/option-rich-content/_config.js b/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-runes/samples/option-rich-content/_config.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3c9e5847cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-runes/samples/option-rich-content/_config.js
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import { flushSync } from 'svelte';
+import { test } from '../../test';
+
+// Test that rich HTML content in <option> elements compiles without errors
+// and that the component functions correctly (on browsers that support it)
+export default test({
+	mode: ['client'],
+	test({ assert, target }) {
+		const select = /** @type {HTMLSelectElement} */ (target.querySelector('select'));
+		const p = /** @type {HTMLParagraphElement} */ (target.querySelector('p'));
+		const button = /** @type {HTMLButtonElement} */ (target.querySelector('button'));
+
+		assert.ok(select);
+		assert.ok(p);
+		assert.ok(button);
+		assert.equal(select.value, 'a');
+		assert.equal(p.textContent, 'Selected: a');
+
+		// Verify options exist
+		assert.equal(select.options.length, 3);
+
+		// Change selection
+		select.value = 'b';
+		select.dispatchEvent(new Event('change'));
+		flushSync();
+
+		assert.equal(p.textContent, 'Selected: b');
+
+		// Test reactivity of content within option (only works on browsers that support rich options)
+		// On modern browsers, clicking the button should update the text inside the span
+		button.click();
+		flushSync();
+
+		// The option text content should be updated on browsers that support rich options
+		// For this test, we just verify the component doesn't crash
+	}
+});
diff --git a/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-runes/samples/option-rich-content/main.svelte b/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-runes/samples/option-rich-content/main.svelte
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..37351ab058
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-runes/samples/option-rich-content/main.svelte
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+<script>
+	let selected = $state('a');
+	let label_a = $state('Option');
+	let label_b = $state('Strong');
+</script>
+
+<select bind:value={selected}>
+	<option value="a"><span>{label_a}</span> A</option>
+	<option value="b"><strong>{label_b}</strong> B</option>
+	<option value="c">Plain C</option>
+</select>
+
+<p>Selected: {selected}</p>
+
+<button onclick={() => label_a = 'Changed'}>Change A</button>