diff --git a/cmake/modules/shields.cmake b/cmake/modules/shields.cmake
index 04aaec57ac7..ced26be5a58 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/shields.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/shields.cmake
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 include_guard(GLOBAL)
 
 include(extensions)
+include(yaml)
 
 # Check that SHIELD has not changed.
 zephyr_check_cache(SHIELD WATCH)
@@ -48,21 +49,47 @@ set(SHIELD-NOTFOUND ${SHIELD_AS_LIST})
 
 foreach(root ${BOARD_ROOT})
   set(shield_dir ${root}/boards/shields)
-  # Match the Kconfig.shield files in the shield directories to make sure we are
-  # finding shields, e.g. x_nucleo_iks01a1/Kconfig.shield
+
+  # First, look for shield.yml files
+  file(GLOB_RECURSE shield_yml_files ${shield_dir}/*/shield.yml)
+
+  foreach(shield_yml ${shield_yml_files})
+    get_filename_component(shield_path ${shield_yml} DIRECTORY)
+    get_filename_component(shield ${shield_path} NAME)
+
+    set(yaml_ctx_name shield_data_${shield})
+    yaml_load(FILE ${shield_yml} NAME ${yaml_ctx_name})
+
+    # Check for multiple shields format first
+    yaml_get(shields_data NAME ${yaml_ctx_name} KEY shields)
+    if(shields_data)
+      yaml_length(num_shields NAME ${yaml_ctx_name} KEY shields)
+      if(${num_shields} GREATER 0)
+        math(EXPR shield_stop "${num_shields} - 1")
+        foreach(i RANGE 0 ${shield_stop})
+          yaml_get(shield_name NAME ${yaml_ctx_name} KEY shields ${i} name)
+          list(APPEND SHIELD_LIST ${shield_name})
+          set(SHIELD_DIR_${shield_name} ${shield_path})
+        endforeach()
+      endif()
+    else()
+      yaml_get(shield_data NAME ${yaml_ctx_name} KEY shield)
+      if(shield_data)
+        yaml_get(shield_name NAME ${yaml_ctx_name} KEY shield name)
+        list(APPEND SHIELD_LIST ${shield_name})
+        set(SHIELD_DIR_${shield_name} ${shield_path})
+      endif()
+    endif()
+  endforeach()
+
+  # Then, look for overlay files next to Kconfig.shield files as fallback (legacy shields)
   file(GLOB_RECURSE shields_refs_list ${shield_dir}/*/Kconfig.shield)
 
-  # The above gives a list of Kconfig.shield files, like this:
-  #
-  # x_nucleo_iks01a1/Kconfig.shield;x_nucleo_iks01a2/Kconfig.shield
-  #
-  # we construct a list of shield names by extracting the directories
-  # from each file and looking for <shield>.overlay files in there.
-  # Each overlay corresponds to a shield. We obtain the shield name by
-  # removing the .overlay extension.
-  # We also create a SHIELD_DIR_${name} variable for each shield's directory.
   foreach(shields_refs ${shields_refs_list})
     get_filename_component(shield_path ${shields_refs} DIRECTORY)
+    if(EXISTS "${shield_path}/shield.yml")
+      continue()
+    endif()
     file(GLOB shield_overlays RELATIVE ${shield_path} ${shield_path}/*.overlay)
     foreach(overlay ${shield_overlays})
       get_filename_component(shield ${overlay} NAME_WE)
diff --git a/doc/hardware/porting/shields.rst b/doc/hardware/porting/shields.rst
index d93a4354063..e42036b52c1 100644
--- a/doc/hardware/porting/shields.rst
+++ b/doc/hardware/porting/shields.rst
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ under :zephyr_file:`boards/shields`:
 .. code-block:: none
 
    boards/shields/<shield>
+   ├── shield.yml
    ├── <shield>.overlay
    ├── Kconfig.shield
    ├── Kconfig.defconfig
@@ -24,6 +25,21 @@ under :zephyr_file:`boards/shields`:
 
 These files provides shield configuration as follows:
 
+* **shield.yml**: This file provides metadata about the shield in YAML format.
+  It must contain the following fields:
+
+  * ``name``: Name of the shield used in Kconfig and build system (required)
+  * ``full_name``: Full commercial name of the shield (required)
+  * ``vendor``: Manufacturer/vendor of the shield (required)
+
+  Example:
+
+  .. code-block:: yaml
+
+     name: foo_shield
+     full_name: Foo Shield for Arduino
+     vendor: acme
+
 * **<shield>.overlay**: This file provides a shield description in devicetree
   format that is merged with the board's :ref:`devicetree <dt-guide>`
   before compilation.
diff --git a/scripts/list_shields.py b/scripts/list_shields.py
index dfbf2580eb4..514e44eba97 100755
--- a/scripts/list_shields.py
+++ b/scripts/list_shields.py
@@ -5,9 +5,24 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 import argparse
+import sys
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from pathlib import Path
 
+import pykwalify.core
+import yaml
+
+try:
+    from yaml import CSafeLoader as SafeLoader
+except ImportError:
+    from yaml import SafeLoader
+
+SHIELD_SCHEMA_PATH = str(Path(__file__).parent / 'schemas' / 'shield-schema.yml')
+with open(SHIELD_SCHEMA_PATH) as f:
+    shield_schema = yaml.load(f.read(), Loader=SafeLoader)
+
+SHIELD_YML = 'shield.yml'
+
 #
 # This is shared code between the build system's 'shields' target
 # and the 'west shields' extension command. If you change it, make
@@ -21,10 +36,21 @@ from pathlib import Path
 class Shield:
     name: str
     dir: Path
+    full_name: str | None = None
+    vendor: str | None = None
 
 def shield_key(shield):
     return shield.name
 
+def process_shield_data(shield_data, shield_dir):
+    # Create shield from yaml data
+    return Shield(
+        name=shield_data['name'],
+        dir=shield_dir,
+        full_name=shield_data.get('full_name'),
+        vendor=shield_data.get('vendor')
+    )
+
 def find_shields(args):
     ret = []
 
@@ -41,6 +67,28 @@ def find_shields_in(root):
     for maybe_shield in (shields).iterdir():
         if not maybe_shield.is_dir():
             continue
+
+        # Check for shield.yml first
+        shield_yml = maybe_shield / SHIELD_YML
+        if shield_yml.is_file():
+            with shield_yml.open('r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+                shield_data = yaml.load(f.read(), Loader=SafeLoader)
+
+            try:
+                pykwalify.core.Core(source_data=shield_data, schema_data=shield_schema).validate()
+            except pykwalify.errors.SchemaError as e:
+                sys.exit(f'ERROR: Malformed shield.yml in file: {shield_yml.as_posix()}\n{e}')
+
+            if 'shields' in shield_data:
+                # Multiple shields format
+                for shield_info in shield_data['shields']:
+                    ret.append(process_shield_data(shield_info, maybe_shield))
+            elif 'shield' in shield_data:
+                # Single shield format
+                ret.append(process_shield_data(shield_data['shield'], maybe_shield))
+            continue
+
+        # Fallback to legacy method if no shield.yml
         for maybe_kconfig in maybe_shield.iterdir():
             if maybe_kconfig.name == 'Kconfig.shield':
                 for maybe_overlay in maybe_shield.iterdir():
diff --git a/scripts/schemas/shield-schema.yml b/scripts/schemas/shield-schema.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b3dcba896b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/schemas/shield-schema.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+# Copyright The Zephyr Project Contributors
+
+# A pykwalify schema for basic validation of the structure of a shield metadata YAML file.
+#
+# The shield.yml file can contain either a single shield definition or a list of shields.
+
+schema;shield-schema:
+  type: map
+  mapping:
+    name:
+      required: true
+      type: str
+      desc: Name of the shield (used in Kconfig and build system)
+    full_name:
+      required: true
+      type: str
+      desc: Full name of the shield (typically the commercial name)
+    vendor:
+      required: true
+      type: str
+      desc: Manufacturer/vendor of the shield
+
+type: map
+range:
+  min: 1
+  max: 1
+mapping:
+  shield:
+    include: shield-schema
+  shields:
+    type: seq
+    sequence:
+      - include: shield-schema