diff --git a/src/solidlsp/language_servers/clangd_language_server.py b/src/solidlsp/language_servers/clangd_language_server.py
index 6f1426be..2a1f9e8e 100644
--- a/src/solidlsp/language_servers/clangd_language_server.py
+++ b/src/solidlsp/language_servers/clangd_language_server.py
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ class ClangdLanguageServer(SolidLanguageServer):
         """
         Setup runtime dependencies for ClangdLanguageServer and return the command to start the server.
         """
+        import shutil
+
         deps = RuntimeDependencyCollection(
             [
                 RuntimeDependency(
@@ -89,21 +91,40 @@ class ClangdLanguageServer(SolidLanguageServer):
         )
 
         clangd_ls_dir = os.path.join(cls.ls_resources_dir(solidlsp_settings), "clangd")
-        dep = deps.get_single_dep_for_current_platform()
-        clangd_executable_path = deps.binary_path(clangd_ls_dir)
-        if not os.path.exists(clangd_executable_path):
-            logger.log(
-                f"Clangd executable not found at {clangd_executable_path}. Downloading from {dep.url}",
-                logging.INFO,
-            )
-            deps.install(logger, clangd_ls_dir)
-        if not os.path.exists(clangd_executable_path):
-            raise FileNotFoundError(
-                f"Clangd executable not found at {clangd_executable_path}.\n"
-                "Make sure you have installed clangd. See https://clangd.llvm.org/installation"
-            )
-        os.chmod(clangd_executable_path, 0o755)
 
+        try:
+            dep = deps.get_single_dep_for_current_platform()
+        except RuntimeError:
+            dep = None
+
+        if dep is None:
+            # No prebuilt binary available, look for system-installed clangd
+            clangd_executable_path = shutil.which("clangd")
+            if not clangd_executable_path:
+                raise FileNotFoundError(
+                    "Clangd is not installed on your system.\n"
+                    + "Please install clangd using your system package manager:\n"
+                    + "  Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install clangd\n"
+                    + "  Fedora/RHEL: sudo dnf install clang-tools-extra\n"
+                    + "  Arch Linux: sudo pacman -S clang\n"
+                    + "See https://clangd.llvm.org/installation for more details."
+                )
+            logger.log(f"Using system-installed clangd at {clangd_executable_path}", logging.INFO)
+        else:
+            # Standard download and install for platforms with prebuilt binaries
+            clangd_executable_path = deps.binary_path(clangd_ls_dir)
+            if not os.path.exists(clangd_executable_path):
+                logger.log(
+                    f"Clangd executable not found at {clangd_executable_path}. Downloading from {dep.url}",
+                    logging.INFO,
+                )
+                _ = deps.install(logger, clangd_ls_dir)
+            if not os.path.exists(clangd_executable_path):
+                raise FileNotFoundError(
+                    f"Clangd executable not found at {clangd_executable_path}.\n"
+                    + "Make sure you have installed clangd. See https://clangd.llvm.org/installation"
+                )
+            os.chmod(clangd_executable_path, 0o755)
         return clangd_executable_path
 
     @staticmethod