diff --git a/container/impl-base/src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/impl/ContainerImpl.java b/container/impl-base/src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/impl/ContainerImpl.java
index dbe3fe3e4..f1cf57978 100644
--- a/container/impl-base/src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/impl/ContainerImpl.java
+++ b/container/impl-base/src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/impl/ContainerImpl.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 import org.jboss.arquillian.config.descriptor.api.ProtocolDef;
 import org.jboss.arquillian.container.spi.Container;
 import org.jboss.arquillian.container.spi.ServerKillProcessor;
+import org.jboss.arquillian.container.spi.client.container.ConfigurationMapper;
 import org.jboss.arquillian.container.spi.client.container.ContainerConfiguration;
 import org.jboss.arquillian.container.spi.client.container.DeployableContainer;
 import org.jboss.arquillian.container.spi.client.container.LifecycleException;
@@ -47,25 +48,25 @@
  * @author <a href="mailto:aslak@redhat.com">Aslak Knutsen</a>
  * @version $Revision: $
  */
-public class ContainerImpl implements Container {
+public class ContainerImpl<T extends ContainerConfiguration> implements Container<T> {
     @Inject
     private Event<ContainerEvent> event;
 
     @Inject
     @ContainerScoped
-    private InstanceProducer<Container> containerProducer;
+    private InstanceProducer<Container<T>> containerProducer;
 
     @Inject
     private Instance<ServiceLoader> serviceLoader;
 
-    private DeployableContainer<?> deployableContainer;
+    private DeployableContainer<T> deployableContainer;
     private String name;
     private State state = State.STOPPED;
     private Throwable failureCause;
 
     private ContainerDef containerConfiguration;
 
-    public ContainerImpl(String name, DeployableContainer<?> deployableContainer, ContainerDef containerConfiguration) {
+    public ContainerImpl(String name, DeployableContainer<T> deployableContainer, ContainerDef containerConfiguration) {
         Validate.notNull(name, "Name must be specified");
         Validate.notNull(deployableContainer, "DeployableContainer must be specified");
         Validate.notNull(containerConfiguration, "ConfigurationConfiguration must be specified");
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ public String getName() {
      * @see org.jboss.arquillian.container.impl.ContainerT#getDeployableContainer()
      */
     @Override
-    public DeployableContainer<?> getDeployableContainer() {
+    public DeployableContainer<T> getDeployableContainer() {
         return deployableContainer;
     }
 
@@ -103,10 +104,15 @@ public ContainerDef getContainerConfiguration() {
      * @see org.jboss.arquillian.container.impl.ContainerT#createDeployableConfiguration()
      */
     @Override
-    public ContainerConfiguration createDeployableConfiguration() throws Exception {
-        ContainerConfiguration config = SecurityActions.newInstance(
-            deployableContainer.getConfigurationClass(), new Class<?>[0], new Object[0]);
-        MapObject.populate(config, containerConfiguration.getContainerProperties());
+    public T createDeployableConfiguration() throws Exception {
+        Class<T> configClass = (Class<T>) deployableContainer.getConfigurationClass();
+        T config = SecurityActions.newInstance(configClass, new Class<?>[0], new Object[0]);
+        ConfigurationMapper<T> mapper = deployableContainer.getConfigurationMapper();
+        if(mapper != null) {
+            mapper.populateConfiguration(config, containerConfiguration);
+        } else {
+            MapObject.populate(config, containerConfiguration.getContainerProperties());
+        }
         config.validate();
         return config;
     }
diff --git a/container/impl-base/src/test/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/impl/ContainerRegistryTestCase.java b/container/impl-base/src/test/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/impl/ContainerRegistryTestCase.java
index 8ab81eac2..6e5f85cf0 100644
--- a/container/impl-base/src/test/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/impl/ContainerRegistryTestCase.java
+++ b/container/impl-base/src/test/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/impl/ContainerRegistryTestCase.java
@@ -16,10 +16,12 @@
  */
 package org.jboss.arquillian.container.impl;
 
+import org.jboss.arquillian.config.descriptor.api.ContainerDef;
 import org.jboss.arquillian.config.descriptor.impl.ContainerDefImpl;
 import org.jboss.arquillian.container.spi.ConfigurationException;
 import org.jboss.arquillian.container.spi.Container;
 import org.jboss.arquillian.container.spi.ContainerRegistry;
+import org.jboss.arquillian.container.spi.client.container.ConfigurationMapper;
 import org.jboss.arquillian.container.spi.client.container.ContainerConfiguration;
 import org.jboss.arquillian.container.spi.client.container.DeployableContainer;
 import org.jboss.arquillian.container.spi.client.deployment.TargetDescription;
@@ -140,6 +142,46 @@ public void shouldBeAbleToCreatePrivateContainerConfiguration() throws Exception
             ((PrivateDummyContainerConfiguration) container.createDeployableConfiguration()).getProperty());
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void shouldBeAbleToCreateContainerConfigurationCustomMapper() throws Exception {
+        ServiceLoader serviceLoader = Mockito.mock(ServiceLoader.class);
+        DeployableContainer<CustomContainerConfiguration> deployableContainer =
+            Mockito.mock(DeployableContainer.class);
+
+        Mockito.when(serviceLoader.onlyOne(Mockito.same(DeployableContainer.class))).thenReturn(deployableContainer);
+        Mockito.when(deployableContainer.getConfigurationClass()).thenReturn(CustomContainerConfiguration.class);
+        Mockito.when(deployableContainer.getConfigurationMapper()).thenReturn(new CustomMapper());
+
+        String name = "custom-container";
+        String prop = "prop-value";
+        String[] hosts = {"host1", "host2", "host3"};
+
+        ContainerRegistry registry = new LocalContainerRegistry(injector.get());
+        ContainerDefImpl containerDef = new ContainerDefImpl(ARQUILLIAN_XML);
+        containerDef.setContainerName(name);
+        containerDef.property("property", prop);
+        containerDef.property("hosts", "host1,host2,host3");
+
+        registry.create(containerDef, serviceLoader);
+
+        Container<CustomContainerConfiguration> container = registry.getContainer(new TargetDescription(name));
+
+        Assert.assertEquals(
+            "Verify that the only registered container is returned as default",
+            name, container.getName());
+
+        CustomContainerConfiguration config = container.createDeployableConfiguration();
+        Assert.assertEquals(
+            "Verify that the custom configuration 'property' was populated",
+            prop,
+            config.getProperty());
+
+        Assert.assertArrayEquals(
+            "Verify that the custom configuration 'hosts' was populated",
+            hosts,
+            config.getHosts());
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void shouldBeAbleToSpecifyTarget() throws Exception {
         String name = "some-name";
@@ -197,4 +239,23 @@ private static class PrivateDummyContainerConfiguration extends DummyContainerCo
         private PrivateDummyContainerConfiguration() {
         }
     }
+    private static class CustomContainerConfiguration extends DummyContainerConfiguration {
+        private String[] hosts;
+        public String[] getHosts() {
+            return hosts;
+        }
+        public void setHosts(String[] hosts) {
+            this.hosts = hosts;
+        }
+    }
+    private static class CustomMapper implements ConfigurationMapper<CustomContainerConfiguration> {
+        @Override
+        public void populateConfiguration(CustomContainerConfiguration containerConfiguration, ContainerDef definition) {
+            String property = definition.getContainerProperty("property");
+            containerConfiguration.setProperty(property);
+            String hostsString = definition.getContainerProperty("hosts");
+            String[] hosts = hostsString.split(",");
+            containerConfiguration.setHosts(hosts);
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/container/spi/src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/spi/Container.java b/container/spi/src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/spi/Container.java
index 59f2b79ab..8ef4c6d37 100644
--- a/container/spi/src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/spi/Container.java
+++ b/container/spi/src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/spi/Container.java
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
  * @author <a href="mailto:aslak@redhat.com">Aslak Knutsen</a>
  * @version $Revision: $
  */
-public interface Container {
+public interface Container<T extends ContainerConfiguration> {
 
     /**
      * @return the name
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ public interface Container {
     /**
      * @return the deployableContainer
      */
-    DeployableContainer<?> getDeployableContainer();
+    DeployableContainer<T> getDeployableContainer();
 
     /**
      * @return the containerConfiguration
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public interface Container {
     /**
      * @return the configuration
      */
-    ContainerConfiguration createDeployableConfiguration() throws Exception;
+    T createDeployableConfiguration() throws Exception;
 
     boolean hasProtocolConfiguration(ProtocolDescription description);
 
@@ -73,4 +73,4 @@ public interface Container {
     enum State {
         SETUP, SETUP_FAILED, STARTED, STARTED_FAILED, STOPPED, STOPPED_FAILED, KILLED, KILLED_FAILED;
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/container/spi/src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/spi/client/container/ConfigurationMapper.java b/container/spi/src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/spi/client/container/ConfigurationMapper.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d0d715e85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/container/spi/src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/spi/client/container/ConfigurationMapper.java
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/*
+ * JBoss, Home of Professional Open Source
+ * Copyright 2024 Red Hat Inc. and/or its affiliates and other contributors
+ * by the @authors tag. See the copyright.txt in the distribution for a
+ * full listing of individual contributors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.jboss.arquillian.container.spi.client.container;
+
+import org.jboss.arquillian.config.descriptor.api.ContainerDef;
+
+/**
+ * An interface that {@link DeployableContainer<T>} can use to control how the mapping
+ * from the externalized container definition, as found in an arquillian.xml file
+ * for example, is applied to the {@link ContainerConfiguration} instances
+ *
+ * @param <T> the type of ContainerConfiguration
+ */
+public interface ConfigurationMapper<T extends ContainerConfiguration> {
+    /**
+     *
+     * @param containerConfiguration - the deployable container configuration instance to populate
+     * @param definition - the container definition from the ArquillianDescriptor that
+     *                   was parsed
+     */
+    void populateConfiguration(T containerConfiguration, ContainerDef definition);
+}
diff --git a/container/spi/src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/spi/client/container/DeployableContainer.java b/container/spi/src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/spi/client/container/DeployableContainer.java
index 9e4425a91..513356a7b 100644
--- a/container/spi/src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/spi/client/container/DeployableContainer.java
+++ b/container/spi/src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/container/spi/client/container/DeployableContainer.java
@@ -37,6 +37,17 @@ public interface DeployableContainer<T extends ContainerConfiguration> {
     // ControllableContainer
     Class<T> getConfigurationClass();
 
+    /**
+     * Provide a mapping instance that takes the {@link org.jboss.arquillian.config.descriptor.api.ContainerDef}
+     * for the arquillian.xml or other configured descriptor and populates the container configuration
+     * instance from the descriptor values.
+     *
+     * @return A possibly null ConfigurationMapper. If null, the default logic to map from string based
+     * properties as implemented in org.jboss.arquillian.container.impl.MapObject will be used.
+     */
+    default ConfigurationMapper getConfigurationMapper() {
+        return null;
+    }
     default void setup(T configuration) {
     }