diff --git a/fuzz/fuzz_targets/all_options.rs b/fuzz/fuzz_targets/all_options.rs
index 3b740087..f6b608fa 100644
--- a/fuzz/fuzz_targets/all_options.rs
+++ b/fuzz/fuzz_targets/all_options.rs
@@ -187,6 +187,7 @@ struct FuzzRenderOptions {
     r#unsafe: bool,
     escape: bool,
     list_style: options::ListStyleType,
+    alert_style: options::AlertStyleType,
     sourcepos: bool,
     escaped_char_spans: bool,
     ignore_empty_links: bool,
@@ -209,6 +210,7 @@ impl FuzzRenderOptions {
             r#unsafe: self.r#unsafe,
             escape: self.escape,
             list_style: self.list_style,
+            alert_style: self.alert_style,
             sourcepos: self.sourcepos,
             escaped_char_spans: self.escaped_char_spans,
             ignore_empty_links: self.ignore_empty_links,
diff --git a/fuzz/fuzz_targets/quadratic.rs b/fuzz/fuzz_targets/quadratic.rs
index 09178734..bf22ba8a 100644
--- a/fuzz/fuzz_targets/quadratic.rs
+++ b/fuzz/fuzz_targets/quadratic.rs
@@ -260,6 +260,7 @@ struct FuzzRenderOptions {
     r#unsafe: bool,
     escape: bool,
     list_style: options::ListStyleType,
+    alert_style: options::AlertStyleType,
     sourcepos: bool,
     escaped_char_spans: bool,
 }
@@ -274,6 +275,7 @@ impl FuzzRenderOptions {
             r#unsafe: self.r#unsafe,
             escape: self.escape,
             list_style: self.list_style,
+            alert_style: self.alert_style,
             sourcepos: self.sourcepos,
             escaped_char_spans: self.escaped_char_spans,
             ..Default::default()
diff --git a/src/html.rs b/src/html.rs
index 3953efb7..9f22f5fb 100644
--- a/src/html.rs
+++ b/src/html.rs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ use crate::nodes::{
     NodeFootnoteReference, NodeHeading, NodeHtmlBlock, NodeLink, NodeList, NodeMath, NodeTaskItem,
     NodeValue, NodeWikiLink, TableAlignment,
 };
-use crate::parser::options::{Options, Plugins};
+use crate::parser::options::{AlertStyleType, Options, Plugins};
 use crate::{node_matches, scanners};
 
 #[doc(hidden)]
@@ -1284,13 +1284,25 @@ fn render_alert<T>(
 ) -> Result<ChildRendering, fmt::Error> {
     if entering {
         context.cr()?;
-        context.write_str("<div class=\"markdown-alert ")?;
-        context.write_str(alert.alert_type.css_class())?;
+        context.write_str(match context.options.render.alert_style {
+            AlertStyleType::Specific => "<div class=\"markdown-alert ",
+            AlertStyleType::Semantic => "<aside class=\"admonition ",
+        })?;
+        context.write_str(
+            alert
+                .alert_type
+                .css_class(context.options.render.alert_style),
+        )?;
         context.write_str("\"")?;
         render_sourcepos(context, node)?;
         context.write_str(">")?;
         context.lf()?;
-        context.write_str("<p class=\"markdown-alert-title\">")?;
+        context.write_str("<p class=\"")?;
+        context.write_str(match context.options.render.alert_style {
+            AlertStyleType::Specific => "markdown-alert-title",
+            AlertStyleType::Semantic => "admonition-title",
+        })?;
+        context.write_str("\">")?;
         match alert.title {
             Some(ref title) => context.escape(title)?,
             None => {
@@ -1301,7 +1313,10 @@ fn render_alert<T>(
         context.lf()?;
     } else {
         context.cr()?;
-        context.write_str("</div>")?;
+        context.write_str(match context.options.render.alert_style {
+            AlertStyleType::Specific => "</div>",
+            AlertStyleType::Semantic => "</aside>",
+        })?;
         context.lf()?;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 6c5b2a64..d0870481 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -155,6 +155,10 @@ struct Cli {
     #[arg(long, value_enum, default_value_t = ListStyle::Dash)]
     list_style: ListStyle,
 
+    /// Specify alert style (<div> vs <aside>) in HTML output
+    #[arg(long, value_enum, default_value_t = AlertStyle::Specific)]
+    alert_style: AlertStyle,
+
     /// Include source position attributes in HTML and XML output
     #[arg(long)]
     sourcepos: bool,
@@ -242,6 +246,21 @@ impl From<ListStyle> for options::ListStyleType {
     }
 }
 
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, ValueEnum)]
+enum AlertStyle {
+    Specific,
+    Semantic,
+}
+
+impl From<AlertStyle> for options::AlertStyleType {
+    fn from(style: AlertStyle) -> Self {
+        match style {
+            AlertStyle::Specific => Self::Specific,
+            AlertStyle::Semantic => Self::Semantic,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 fn cli_with_config() -> Cli {
     let cli = Cli::parse();
     let config_file_path = &cli.config_file;
@@ -345,6 +364,7 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
         .r#unsafe(cli.r#unsafe)
         .escape(cli.escape)
         .list_style(cli.list_style.into())
+        .alert_style(cli.alert_style.into())
         .sourcepos(cli.sourcepos)
         .experimental_minimize_commonmark(cli.experimental_minimize_commonmark)
         .compact_html(cli.compact)
diff --git a/src/nodes.rs b/src/nodes.rs
index 78ac3810..c09bf9e2 100644
--- a/src/nodes.rs
+++ b/src/nodes.rs
@@ -4,11 +4,11 @@ use std::borrow::Cow;
 use std::cell::RefCell;
 use std::convert::TryFrom;
 
-use crate::arena_tree;
 #[cfg(feature = "phoenix_heex")]
 pub use crate::parser::phoenix_heex::{HeexNode, NodeHeexBlock};
 #[cfg(feature = "shortcodes")]
 pub use crate::parser::shortcodes::NodeShortCode;
+use crate::{arena_tree, options::AlertStyleType};
 
 /// Shorthand for checking if a node's value matches the given expression.
 ///
@@ -587,13 +587,18 @@ impl AlertType {
     }
 
     /// Returns the CSS class to use for an alert type
-    pub fn css_class(&self) -> &'static str {
-        match *self {
-            AlertType::Note => "markdown-alert-note",
-            AlertType::Tip => "markdown-alert-tip",
-            AlertType::Important => "markdown-alert-important",
-            AlertType::Warning => "markdown-alert-warning",
-            AlertType::Caution => "markdown-alert-caution",
+    pub fn css_class(&self, style: AlertStyleType) -> &'static str {
+        match (*self, style) {
+            (AlertType::Note, AlertStyleType::Specific) => "markdown-alert-note",
+            (AlertType::Note, AlertStyleType::Semantic) => "note",
+            (AlertType::Tip, AlertStyleType::Specific) => "markdown-alert-tip",
+            (AlertType::Tip, AlertStyleType::Semantic) => "tip",
+            (AlertType::Important, AlertStyleType::Specific) => "markdown-alert-important",
+            (AlertType::Important, AlertStyleType::Semantic) => "important",
+            (AlertType::Warning, AlertStyleType::Specific) => "markdown-alert-warning",
+            (AlertType::Warning, AlertStyleType::Semantic) => "warning",
+            (AlertType::Caution, AlertStyleType::Specific) => "markdown-alert-caution",
+            (AlertType::Caution, AlertStyleType::Semantic) => "caution",
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/parser/options.rs b/src/parser/options.rs
index 5c5bdd2c..06e225ca 100644
--- a/src/parser/options.rs
+++ b/src/parser/options.rs
@@ -1327,6 +1327,22 @@ pub struct Render {
     #[cfg_attr(feature = "bon", builder(default))]
     pub tasklist_classes: bool,
 
+    /// How to render alert blocks. Options are:
+    ///
+    /// * [`AlertStyleType::Specific`] to use `div`s with `markdown-` prefixed classes (default)
+    /// * [`AlertStyleType::Semantic`] to use `aside`s with an `admonition` class
+    ///
+    /// ```rust
+    /// # use comrak::{markdown_to_html, Options, options::AlertStyleType};
+    /// let mut options = Options::default();
+    /// options.extension.alerts = true;
+    /// options.render.alert_style = AlertStyleType::Semantic;
+    /// assert_eq!(markdown_to_html("> [!note]\n> Something of note", &options),
+    ///            "<aside class=\"admonition note\">\n<p class=\"admonition-title\">Note</p>\n<p>Something of note</p>\n</aside>\n");
+    /// ```
+    #[cfg_attr(feature = "bon", builder(default))]
+    pub alert_style: AlertStyleType,
+
     /// Render ordered list with a minimum marker width.
     /// Having a width lower than 3 doesn't do anything.
     ///
@@ -1386,7 +1402,7 @@ pub struct Render {
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, Default)]
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "arbitrary", derive(arbitrary::Arbitrary))]
-/// Options for bulleted list rendering in markdown. See `link_style` in [`Render`] for more details.
+/// Options for bulleted list rendering in markdown. See [`Render::list_style`] for more details.
 pub enum ListStyleType {
     /// The `-` character
     #[default]
@@ -1397,6 +1413,17 @@ pub enum ListStyleType {
     Star = 42,
 }
 
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, Default)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "arbitrary", derive(arbitrary::Arbitrary))]
+/// Options for alert rendering in markdown. See [`Render::alert_style`] for more details.
+pub enum AlertStyleType {
+    /// `div`s with `class="markdown-alert markdown-alert-<type>"`
+    #[default]
+    Specific,
+    /// `aside`s with `class="admonition <type>"`, matching `docutils`' output
+    Semantic,
+}
+
 #[derive(Default, Debug, Clone)]
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "bon", derive(Builder))]
 /// Umbrella plugins struct.
diff --git a/src/tests/alerts.rs b/src/tests/alerts.rs
index b63e65a3..1c868220 100644
--- a/src/tests/alerts.rs
+++ b/src/tests/alerts.rs
@@ -28,6 +28,23 @@ fn multiline_alerts() {
     );
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn semantic_alerts() {
+    html_opts!(
+        [
+            extension.alerts = true,
+            render.alert_style = options::AlertStyleType::Semantic
+        ],
+        concat!("> [!note]\n", "> Pay attention\n",),
+        concat!(
+            "<aside class=\"admonition note\">\n",
+            "<p class=\"admonition-title\">Note</p>\n",
+            "<p>Pay attention</p>\n",
+            "</aside>\n",
+        ),
+    );
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn sourcepos() {
     assert_ast_match!(