diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/cataloger_test.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/cataloger_test.go
index 6e916271de7..4e2eb4d0810 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/cataloger_test.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/cataloger_test.go
@@ -173,6 +173,48 @@ func Test_Cataloger_DefaultClassifiers_PositiveCases(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name:       "positive-perl-5.12.5",
+			fixtureDir: "test-fixtures/classifiers/positive/perl-5.12.5",
+			expected: pkg.Package{
+				Name:      "perl",
+				Version:   "5.12.5",
+				Type:      "binary",
+				PURL:      "pkg:generic/perl@5.12.5",
+				Locations: singleLocation("perl"),
+				Metadata: pkg.BinaryMetadata{
+					Classifier: "perl-binary",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "positive-perl-5.20.0",
+			fixtureDir: "test-fixtures/classifiers/positive/perl-5.20.0",
+			expected: pkg.Package{
+				Name:      "perl",
+				Version:   "5.20.0",
+				Type:      "binary",
+				PURL:      "pkg:generic/perl@5.20.0",
+				Locations: singleLocation("perl"),
+				Metadata: pkg.BinaryMetadata{
+					Classifier: "perl-binary",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "positive-perl-5.37.8",
+			fixtureDir: "test-fixtures/classifiers/positive/perl-5.37.8",
+			expected: pkg.Package{
+				Name:      "perl",
+				Version:   "5.37.8",
+				Type:      "binary",
+				PURL:      "pkg:generic/perl@5.37.8",
+				Locations: singleLocation("perl"),
+				Metadata: pkg.BinaryMetadata{
+					Classifier: "perl-binary",
+				},
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			name:       "positive-redis-2.8.23",
 			fixtureDir: "test-fixtures/classifiers/positive/redis-server-2.8.23",
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/default_classifiers.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/default_classifiers.go
index 77e048d9b40..46bf31ca780 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/default_classifiers.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/default_classifiers.go
@@ -120,6 +120,15 @@ var defaultClassifiers = []classifier{
 		Package: "busybox",
 		CPEs:    singleCPE("cpe:2.3:a:busybox:busybox:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*"),
 	},
+	{
+		Class:    "perl-binary",
+		FileGlob: "**/perl",
+		EvidenceMatcher: fileContentsVersionMatcher(
+			`(?m)\/usr\/local\/lib\/perl\d\/(?P<version>[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)`),
+		Package: "perl",
+		PURL:    mustPURL("pkg:generic/perl@version"),
+		CPEs:    singleCPE("cpe:2.3:a:perl:perl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*"),
+	},
 	{
 		Class:    "php-cli-binary",
 		FileGlob: "**/php*",
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/classifiers/positive/perl-5.12.5/perl b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/classifiers/positive/perl-5.12.5/perl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..44075881a61
Binary files /dev/null and b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/classifiers/positive/perl-5.12.5/perl differ
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/classifiers/positive/perl-5.20.0/perl b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/classifiers/positive/perl-5.20.0/perl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9f71e480dbc
Binary files /dev/null and b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/classifiers/positive/perl-5.20.0/perl differ
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/classifiers/positive/perl-5.37.8/perl b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/classifiers/positive/perl-5.37.8/perl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ed86dbac148
Binary files /dev/null and b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/classifiers/positive/perl-5.37.8/perl differ