diff --git a/.changeset/replace-fastest-levenshtein.md b/.changeset/replace-fastest-levenshtein.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b284ffbf95e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/replace-fastest-levenshtein.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"webpack-cli": patch
+---
+
+Replace the `fastest-levenshtein` dependency with a small in-tree implementation used for command/option "did you mean" suggestions.
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index e22c662dfd4..f5de0b87c6b 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -10535,15 +10535,6 @@
         "fast-string-width": "^3.0.2"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/fastest-levenshtein": {
-      "version": "1.0.16",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fastest-levenshtein/-/fastest-levenshtein-1.0.16.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-eRnCtTTtGZFpQCwhJiUOuxPQWRXVKYDn0b2PeHfXL6/Zi53SLAzAHfVhVWK2AryC/WH05kGfxhFIPvTF0SXQzg==",
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">= 4.9.1"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/fastq": {
       "version": "1.20.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fastq/-/fastq-1.20.1.tgz",
@@ -20889,7 +20880,6 @@
         "commander": "^14.0.3",
         "cross-spawn": "^7.0.6",
         "envinfo": "^7.14.0",
-        "fastest-levenshtein": "^1.0.12",
         "import-local": "^3.0.2",
         "interpret": "^3.1.1",
         "rechoir": "^0.8.0",
diff --git a/packages/webpack-cli/package.json b/packages/webpack-cli/package.json
index 3fe90835142..fbd251e6e51 100644
--- a/packages/webpack-cli/package.json
+++ b/packages/webpack-cli/package.json
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@
     "commander": "^14.0.3",
     "cross-spawn": "^7.0.6",
     "envinfo": "^7.14.0",
-    "fastest-levenshtein": "^1.0.12",
     "import-local": "^3.0.2",
     "interpret": "^3.1.1",
     "rechoir": "^0.8.0",
diff --git a/packages/webpack-cli/src/levenshtein.ts b/packages/webpack-cli/src/levenshtein.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f719670bfa4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/webpack-cli/src/levenshtein.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+// Levenshtein distance via Myers' bit-parallel algorithm.
+// Inspired by fastest-levenshtein (MIT, https://github.com/ka-weihe/fastest-levenshtein).
+
+const peq = new Uint32Array(0x10000);
+
+function myers32(a: string, b: string): number {
+  const n = a.length;
+  const m = b.length;
+  const lst = 1 << (n - 1);
+  let pv = -1;
+  let mv = 0;
+  let sc = n;
+  let i = n;
+
+  while (i--) {
+    peq[a.charCodeAt(i)] |= 1 << i;
+  }
+
+  for (i = 0; i < m; i++) {
+    let eq = peq[b.charCodeAt(i)];
+    const xv = eq | mv;
+
+    eq |= ((eq & pv) + pv) ^ pv;
+    mv |= ~(eq | pv);
+    pv &= eq;
+
+    if (mv & lst) {
+      sc++;
+    }
+
+    if (pv & lst) {
+      sc--;
+    }
+
+    mv = (mv << 1) | 1;
+    pv = (pv << 1) | ~(xv | mv);
+    mv &= xv;
+  }
+
+  i = n;
+
+  while (i--) {
+    peq[a.charCodeAt(i)] = 0;
+  }
+
+  return sc;
+}
+
+function myersX(longer: string, shorter: string): number {
+  const n = shorter.length;
+  const m = longer.length;
+  const mhc: number[] = [];
+  const phc: number[] = [];
+  const horizontalSize = Math.ceil(n / 32);
+  const verticalSize = Math.ceil(m / 32);
+
+  for (let i = 0; i < horizontalSize; i++) {
+    phc[i] = -1;
+    mhc[i] = 0;
+  }
+
+  let j = 0;
+
+  for (; j < verticalSize - 1; j++) {
+    let mv = 0;
+    let pv = -1;
+    const start = j * 32;
+    const verticalLen = Math.min(32, m) + start;
+
+    for (let k = start; k < verticalLen; k++) {
+      peq[longer.charCodeAt(k)] |= 1 << k;
+    }
+
+    for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+      const eq = peq[shorter.charCodeAt(i)];
+      const pb = (phc[(i / 32) | 0] >>> i) & 1;
+      const mb = (mhc[(i / 32) | 0] >>> i) & 1;
+      const xv = eq | mv;
+      const xh = ((((eq | mb) & pv) + pv) ^ pv) | eq | mb;
+      let ph = mv | ~(xh | pv);
+      let mh = pv & xh;
+
+      if ((ph >>> 31) ^ pb) {
+        phc[(i / 32) | 0] ^= 1 << i;
+      }
+
+      if ((mh >>> 31) ^ mb) {
+        mhc[(i / 32) | 0] ^= 1 << i;
+      }
+
+      ph = (ph << 1) | pb;
+      mh = (mh << 1) | mb;
+      pv = mh | ~(xv | ph);
+      mv = ph & xv;
+    }
+
+    for (let k = start; k < verticalLen; k++) {
+      peq[longer.charCodeAt(k)] = 0;
+    }
+  }
+
+  let mv = 0;
+  let pv = -1;
+  const start = j * 32;
+  const verticalLen = Math.min(32, m - start) + start;
+
+  for (let k = start; k < verticalLen; k++) {
+    peq[longer.charCodeAt(k)] |= 1 << k;
+  }
+
+  let score = m;
+
+  for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+    const eq = peq[shorter.charCodeAt(i)];
+    const pb = (phc[(i / 32) | 0] >>> i) & 1;
+    const mb = (mhc[(i / 32) | 0] >>> i) & 1;
+    const xv = eq | mv;
+    const xh = ((((eq | mb) & pv) + pv) ^ pv) | eq | mb;
+    let ph = mv | ~(xh | pv);
+    let mh = pv & xh;
+
+    score += (ph >>> (m - 1)) & 1;
+    score -= (mh >>> (m - 1)) & 1;
+
+    if ((ph >>> 31) ^ pb) {
+      phc[(i / 32) | 0] ^= 1 << i;
+    }
+
+    if ((mh >>> 31) ^ mb) {
+      mhc[(i / 32) | 0] ^= 1 << i;
+    }
+
+    ph = (ph << 1) | pb;
+    mh = (mh << 1) | mb;
+    pv = mh | ~(xv | ph);
+    mv = ph & xv;
+  }
+
+  for (let k = start; k < verticalLen; k++) {
+    peq[longer.charCodeAt(k)] = 0;
+  }
+
+  return score;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Returns the Levenshtein edit distance between two strings.
+ */
+export function distance(first: string, second: string): number {
+  let a = first;
+  let b = second;
+
+  if (a.length < b.length) {
+    const tmp = b;
+
+    b = a;
+    a = tmp;
+  }
+
+  if (b.length === 0) {
+    return a.length;
+  }
+
+  return a.length <= 32 ? myers32(a, b) : myersX(a, b);
+}
diff --git a/packages/webpack-cli/src/webpack-cli.ts b/packages/webpack-cli/src/webpack-cli.ts
index 3b897068c60..7b3bca9345c 100644
--- a/packages/webpack-cli/src/webpack-cli.ts
+++ b/packages/webpack-cli/src/webpack-cli.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ import {
   program,
 } from "commander";
 import { type Config as EnvinfoConfig, type Options as EnvinfoOptions } from "envinfo";
-import { distance } from "fastest-levenshtein";
 import { type prepare } from "rechoir";
 import {
   type Argument as WebpackArgument,
@@ -31,6 +30,7 @@ import {
   default as webpack,
 } from "webpack";
 import { type Configuration as DevServerConfiguration } from "webpack-dev-server";
+import { distance } from "./levenshtein.js";
 
 const WEBPACK_PACKAGE_IS_CUSTOM = Boolean(process.env.WEBPACK_PACKAGE);
 const WEBPACK_PACKAGE = WEBPACK_PACKAGE_IS_CUSTOM
diff --git a/test/api/levenshtein.test.js b/test/api/levenshtein.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..68ed2897488
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/api/levenshtein.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+const { distance } = require("../../packages/webpack-cli/lib/levenshtein");
+
+describe("distance", () => {
+  it("should return 0 for equal strings", () => {
+    expect(distance("", "")).toBe(0);
+    expect(distance("webpack", "webpack")).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it("should return the length of the other string when one is empty", () => {
+    expect(distance("", "abc")).toBe(3);
+    expect(distance("abc", "")).toBe(3);
+  });
+
+  it("should not depend on argument order", () => {
+    expect(distance("kitten", "sitting")).toBe(distance("sitting", "kitten"));
+  });
+
+  it("should count single edits", () => {
+    expect(distance("server", "serve")).toBe(1);
+    expect(distance("test", "tests")).toBe(1);
+    expect(distance("cat", "car")).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  it("should compute classic distances", () => {
+    expect(distance("kitten", "sitting")).toBe(3);
+    expect(distance("flying", "sailing")).toBe(4);
+  });
+
+  it("should handle strings longer than 32 characters", () => {
+    const a = "a".repeat(40);
+    const b = `${"a".repeat(39)}b`;
+
+    expect(distance(a, b)).toBe(1);
+    expect(distance("a".repeat(40), "b".repeat(40))).toBe(40);
+  });
+
+  it("should handle a long string against a much shorter one", () => {
+    const long = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789ABCD";
+
+    expect(long).toHaveLength(40);
+    expect(distance(long, "abcde")).toBe(35);
+    expect(distance("abcde", long)).toBe(35);
+  });
+});