diff --git a/lib/entry-points.js b/lib/entry-points.js
index 0d44bf881..2f9741b59 100644
--- a/lib/entry-points.js
+++ b/lib/entry-points.js
@@ -183478,6 +183478,64 @@ function xcodeVersionFromLink(logger2) {
     return void 0;
   }
 }
+async function xcodeVersionFromXcodeBuild(logger2) {
+  try {
+    const xcrun = await io4.which("xcrun", true);
+    let stdout = "";
+    let stderr = "";
+    const exitCode = await new toolrunner3.ToolRunner(
+      xcrun,
+      ["xcodebuild", "-version"],
+      {
+        silent: true,
+        ignoreReturnCode: true,
+        listeners: {
+          stdout: (data) => {
+            stdout += data.toString("utf-8");
+          },
+          stderr: (data) => {
+            stderr += data.toString("utf-8");
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    ).exec();
+    if (exitCode !== 0) {
+      logger2.debug(`xcodebuild returned exit code ${exitCode}`);
+      logger2.debug(`stdout:
+${stdout}`);
+      logger2.debug(`stderr:
+${stderr}`);
+      return void 0;
+    }
+    const match2 = stdout.match(/^Xcode (\d+(\.\d+)?)/);
+    if (match2 === null) {
+      logger2.debug(
+        `Output doesn't appear to contain the Xcode product version.`
+      );
+      logger2.debug(`stdout:
+${stdout}`);
+      logger2.debug(`stderr:
+${stderr}`);
+      return void 0;
+    }
+    const version = semver6.coerce(match2[1].trim());
+    if (version === null) {
+      logger2.debug(
+        `xcodebuild's output couldn't be parsed as a version:
+${stdout}`
+      );
+      logger2.debug(`stderr:
+${stderr}`);
+      return void 0;
+    }
+    return version;
+  } catch (err) {
+    logger2.debug(
+      `Unable to determine Xcode version from xcodebuild: ${getErrorMessage(err)}`
+    );
+    return void 0;
+  }
+}
 async function xcodeVersionFromSdk(logger2) {
   try {
     const xcrun = await io4.which("xcrun", true);
@@ -194063,7 +194121,7 @@ async function checkRunnerSupportsTracedAnalysis(action, config, codeql) {
     );
     return;
   }
-  const xcodeVer = xcodeVersionFromLink(action.logger) ?? await xcodeVersionFromSdk(action.logger);
+  const xcodeVer = xcodeVersionFromLink(action.logger) ?? await xcodeVersionFromXcodeBuild(action.logger) ?? await xcodeVersionFromSdk(action.logger);
   if (xcodeVer !== void 0 && xcodeVer.major >= UNSUPPORTED_XCODE_FOR_TRACED) {
     handleUnsupportedVersion(
       action.logger,
diff --git a/src/languages/traced.test.ts b/src/languages/traced.test.ts
index f317306ef..250295ebf 100644
--- a/src/languages/traced.test.ts
+++ b/src/languages/traced.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import fs from "fs";
 
+import * as toolrunner from "@actions/exec/lib/toolrunner";
 import * as io from "@actions/io";
 import test from "ava";
 import * as sinon from "sinon";
@@ -428,7 +429,7 @@ test.serial(
 );
 
 test.serial(
-  "checkRunnerSupportsTracedAnalysis uses Xcode SDK version as fallback",
+  "checkRunnerSupportsTracedAnalysis attempts fallbacks if needed",
   async (t) =>
     withTmpDir(async (tmpDir) => {
       const logger = new RecordingLogger();
@@ -439,7 +440,16 @@ test.serial(
       const readlinkSync = sinon
         .stub(fs, "readlinkSync")
         .throws(new Error("Not found"));
-      const which = sinon.stub(io, "which").throws(new Error("Tool not found"));
+      const which = sinon.stub(io, "which").resolves("/path/to/xcrun");
+      const exec = sinon.stub<[], Promise<number>>().callsFake(async () => {
+        throw new Error("Error to force next fallback");
+      });
+      const runner = sinon.createStubInstance(toolrunner.ToolRunner, { exec });
+      const toolrunnerStub = sinon
+        .stub(toolrunner, "ToolRunner")
+        .callsFake(() => {
+          return runner;
+        });
 
       const codeql = await getCodeQLWithTracedStub(
         "codeql-for-testing",
@@ -468,11 +478,27 @@ test.serial(
 
       t.is(readlinkSync.callCount, 1);
       t.deepEqual(readlinkSync.args[0], [XCODE_SELECT_LINK_PATH]);
-      t.is(which.callCount, 1);
+      t.is(which.callCount, 2);
       t.deepEqual(which.args[0], ["xcrun", true]);
+      t.deepEqual(which.args[1], ["xcrun", true]);
+
+      t.is(toolrunnerStub.callCount, 2);
+      t.is(exec.callCount, 2);
+
+      t.is(toolrunnerStub.args[0][0], "/path/to/xcrun");
+      t.deepEqual(toolrunnerStub.args[0][1], ["xcodebuild", "-version"]);
+
+      t.is(toolrunnerStub.args[1][0], "/path/to/xcrun");
+      t.deepEqual(toolrunnerStub.args[1][1], [
+        "--sdk",
+        "macosx",
+        "--show-sdk-version",
+      ]);
 
       checkExpectedLogMessages(t, logger.messages, [
-        "Unable to determine Xcode version: Tool not found",
+        "Unable to determine Xcode version: Not found",
+        "Unable to determine Xcode version from xcodebuild: Error to force next fallback",
+        "Unable to determine Xcode version: Error to force next fallback",
       ]);
       checkUnexpectedLogMessages(t, logger.messages, [
         "Traced analysis is not supported on Xcode 27",
diff --git a/src/languages/traced.ts b/src/languages/traced.ts
index 929019022..090068e49 100644
--- a/src/languages/traced.ts
+++ b/src/languages/traced.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import {
   darwinVersion,
   xcodeVersionFromLink,
   xcodeVersionFromSdk,
+  xcodeVersionFromXcodeBuild,
 } from "../platform";
 import { ConfigurationError } from "../util";
 
@@ -201,10 +202,12 @@ export async function checkRunnerSupportsTracedAnalysis(
 
   // Determining whether the Xcode version is supported only makes sense on macOS, so we only do it
   // after determining that we are running on macOS. We first try to obtain the version of Xcode itself
-  // starting with the cheapest approach. If that doesn't work, we obtain the version from the SDK instead.
-  // Since either Xcode or the SDK at version 27 or above is incompatible, the major version of either is fine.
+  // starting with the cheapest approach and then call out to an external program. If neither works, we try
+  // to obtain the version from the SDK instead. Since either Xcode or the SDK at version 27 or above is
+  // incompatible, either is fine as we only check the major version below.
   const xcodeVer =
     xcodeVersionFromLink(action.logger) ??
+    (await xcodeVersionFromXcodeBuild(action.logger)) ??
     (await xcodeVersionFromSdk(action.logger));
 
   if (
diff --git a/src/platform.test.ts b/src/platform.test.ts
index 152d5a810..a0d2d34bf 100644
--- a/src/platform.test.ts
+++ b/src/platform.test.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import {
   XCODE_SELECT_LINK_PATH,
   xcodeVersionFromLink,
   xcodeVersionFromSdk,
+  xcodeVersionFromXcodeBuild,
 } from "./platform";
 import {
   checkExpectedLogMessages,
@@ -228,6 +229,74 @@ test.serial(
   },
 );
 
+test.serial(
+  "xcodeVersionFromXcodeBuild returns undefined for non-zero exit code",
+  async (t) => {
+    const logger = new RecordingLogger();
+
+    const which = sinon.stub(io, "which").resolves("/path/to/xcrun");
+    const exec = sinon.stub<[], Promise<number>>().resolves(1);
+    const runner = sinon.createStubInstance(toolrunner.ToolRunner, { exec });
+    const toolrunnerStub = sinon.stub(toolrunner, "ToolRunner").returns(runner);
+
+    await t.notThrowsAsync(async () => {
+      const result = await xcodeVersionFromXcodeBuild(logger);
+
+      t.is(result, undefined);
+
+      t.is(which.callCount, 1);
+      t.deepEqual(which.args[0], ["xcrun", true]);
+
+      t.is(toolrunnerStub.callCount, 1);
+      t.is(exec.callCount, 1);
+
+      checkExpectedLogMessages(t, logger.messages, [
+        "xcodebuild returned exit code 1",
+      ]);
+    });
+  },
+);
+
+test.serial(
+  "xcodeVersionFromXcodeBuild extracts version from xcrun stdout",
+  async (t) => {
+    const logger = new RecordingLogger();
+
+    const which = sinon.stub(io, "which").resolves("/path/to/xcrun");
+
+    let stdoutListener: ((data: Buffer) => void) | undefined = undefined;
+    const exec = sinon.stub<[], Promise<number>>().callsFake(async () => {
+      if (stdoutListener !== undefined) {
+        stdoutListener(Buffer.from("Xcode 26.5"));
+        stdoutListener(Buffer.from("Build version 26F9"));
+      }
+      return 0;
+    });
+    const runner = sinon.createStubInstance(toolrunner.ToolRunner, { exec });
+
+    const toolrunnerStub = sinon
+      .stub(toolrunner, "ToolRunner")
+      .callsFake((_cmd, _args, opts: ExecOptions) => {
+        stdoutListener = opts.listeners?.stdout;
+        return runner;
+      });
+
+    await t.notThrowsAsync(async () => {
+      const result = await xcodeVersionFromXcodeBuild(logger);
+
+      t.not(result, undefined);
+      t.is(result?.major, 26);
+      t.is(result?.minor, 5);
+
+      t.is(which.callCount, 1);
+      t.deepEqual(which.args[0], ["xcrun", true]);
+
+      t.is(toolrunnerStub.callCount, 1);
+      t.is(exec.callCount, 1);
+    });
+  },
+);
+
 test.serial(
   "xcodeVersionFromSdk returns undefined for non-zero exit code",
   async (t) => {
diff --git a/src/platform.ts b/src/platform.ts
index 26c81b7aa..ef66de300 100644
--- a/src/platform.ts
+++ b/src/platform.ts
@@ -115,6 +115,76 @@ export function xcodeVersionFromLink(
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Tries to determine the version of Xcode that is installed by running `xcrun xcodebuild -version`.
+ *
+ * @param logger The logger to use.
+ * @returns The Xcode version or `undefined` if it couldn't be determined.
+ */
+export async function xcodeVersionFromXcodeBuild(
+  logger: Logger,
+): Promise<semver.SemVer | undefined> {
+  try {
+    const xcrun = await io.which("xcrun", true);
+    let stdout = "";
+    let stderr = "";
+
+    const exitCode = await new toolrunner.ToolRunner(
+      xcrun,
+      ["xcodebuild", "-version"],
+      {
+        silent: true,
+        ignoreReturnCode: true,
+        listeners: {
+          stdout: (data: Buffer) => {
+            stdout += data.toString("utf-8");
+          },
+          stderr: (data: Buffer) => {
+            stderr += data.toString("utf-8");
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    ).exec();
+
+    if (exitCode !== 0) {
+      logger.debug(`xcodebuild returned exit code ${exitCode}`);
+      logger.debug(`stdout:\n${stdout}`);
+      logger.debug(`stderr:\n${stderr}`);
+      return undefined;
+    }
+
+    // The output contains a couple of lines, but we only care about the product version.
+    const match = stdout.match(/^Xcode (\d+(\.\d+)?)/);
+
+    if (match === null) {
+      logger.debug(
+        `Output doesn't appear to contain the Xcode product version.`,
+      );
+      logger.debug(`stdout:\n${stdout}`);
+      logger.debug(`stderr:\n${stderr}`);
+      return undefined;
+    }
+
+    // We expect the output to only be a version string. Try to parse it into a semver.
+    const version = semver.coerce(match[1].trim());
+
+    if (version === null) {
+      logger.debug(
+        `xcodebuild's output couldn't be parsed as a version:\n${stdout}`,
+      );
+      logger.debug(`stderr:\n${stderr}`);
+      return undefined;
+    }
+
+    return version;
+  } catch (err) {
+    logger.debug(
+      `Unable to determine Xcode version from xcodebuild: ${getErrorMessage(err)}`,
+    );
+    return undefined;
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Tries to determine the version of Xcode that is installed by running `xcrun --sdk macosx --show-sdk-version`.
  *