diff --git a/toolsrc/include/vcpkg/sourceparagraph.h b/toolsrc/include/vcpkg/sourceparagraph.h
index 9fbd83475d8..9a1c2c843c8 100644
--- a/toolsrc/include/vcpkg/sourceparagraph.h
+++ b/toolsrc/include/vcpkg/sourceparagraph.h
@@ -46,6 +46,12 @@ namespace vcpkg
     /// </summary>
     struct SourceParagraph
     {
+        enum TYPE : unsigned
+        {
+            PORT = 0,
+            SYS_TOOL,
+        };
+
         std::string name;
         std::string version;
         std::string description;
@@ -54,6 +60,10 @@ namespace vcpkg
         std::vector<std::string> supports;
         std::vector<Dependency> depends;
         std::vector<std::string> default_features;
+        TYPE type;
+
+        static TYPE type_from_string(const std::string& in);
+        static std::string string_from_type(const TYPE& in);
     };
 
     /// <summary>
diff --git a/toolsrc/src/vcpkg/sourceparagraph.cpp b/toolsrc/src/vcpkg/sourceparagraph.cpp
index 1a52bd05f41..26a7ab118f1 100644
--- a/toolsrc/src/vcpkg/sourceparagraph.cpp
+++ b/toolsrc/src/vcpkg/sourceparagraph.cpp
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ namespace vcpkg
         static const std::string SUPPORTS = "Supports";
         static const std::string VERSION = "Version";
         static const std::string HOMEPAGE = "Homepage";
+        static const std::string TYPE = "Type";
     }
 
     static Span<const std::string> get_list_of_valid_fields()
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ namespace vcpkg
             SourceParagraphFields::MAINTAINER,
             SourceParagraphFields::BUILD_DEPENDS,
             SourceParagraphFields::HOMEPAGE,
+            SourceParagraphFields::TYPE,
         };
 
         return valid_fields;
@@ -98,6 +100,35 @@ namespace vcpkg
         }
     }
 
+    static SourceParagraph::TYPE type_from_string(const std::string& in)
+    {
+        if (Strings::equals(in, "port") || Strings::equals(in, ""))
+        {
+            return SourceParagraph::PORT;
+        }
+
+        if (Strings::equals(in, "sys-tool"))
+        {
+            return SourceParagraph::SYS_TOOL;
+        }
+
+        System::print2(
+                in, " is not a valid control file type. Valid types are:",
+                "\n    port\n    sys-tool");
+
+        Checks::exit_fail(VCPKG_LINE_INFO);
+    }
+
+    static std::string string_from_type(const SourceParagraph::TYPE& in)
+    {
+        switch (in)
+        {
+        case SourceParagraph::PORT : return "port";
+        case SourceParagraph::SYS_TOOL : return "sys-tool";
+        default : Checks::exit_with_message(VCPKG_LINE_INFO, "Invalid CONTROL_TYPE value.");
+        }
+    }
+
     static ParseExpected<SourceParagraph> parse_source_paragraph(RawParagraph&& fields)
     {
         ParagraphParser parser(std::move(fields));
@@ -114,6 +145,7 @@ namespace vcpkg
             parse_comma_list(parser.optional_field(SourceParagraphFields::BUILD_DEPENDS)));
         spgh->supports = parse_comma_list(parser.optional_field(SourceParagraphFields::SUPPORTS));
         spgh->default_features = parse_comma_list(parser.optional_field(SourceParagraphFields::DEFAULTFEATURES));
+        spgh->type = type_from_string(parser.optional_field(SourceParagraphFields::TYPE));
 
         auto err = parser.error_info(spgh->name);
         if (err)