diff --git a/docs/markdown/Commands.md b/docs/markdown/Commands.md
index b7b72c495..52eb76c1d 100644
--- a/docs/markdown/Commands.md
+++ b/docs/markdown/Commands.md
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ Builds a default or a specified target of a configured Meson project.
 `TARGET` has the following syntax `[PATH/]NAME[:TYPE]`, where:
 - `NAME`: name of the target from `meson.build` (e.g. `foo` from `executable('foo', ...)`).
 - `PATH`: path to the target relative to the root `meson.build` file. Note: relative path for a target specified in the root `meson.build` is `./`.
-- `TYPE`: type of the target. Can be one of the following: 'executable', 'static_library', 'shared_library', 'shared_module', 'custom', 'run', 'jar'.
+- `TYPE`: type of the target. Can be one of the following: 'executable', 'static_library', 'shared_library', 'shared_module', 'custom', 'alias', 'run', 'jar'.
 
 `PATH` and/or `TYPE` can be omitted if the resulting `TARGET` can be
 used to uniquely identify the target in `meson.build`.
diff --git a/mesonbuild/mcompile.py b/mesonbuild/mcompile.py
index ce002bd9b..817978407 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/mcompile.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/mcompile.py
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ class ParsedTargetName:
             'shared_library',
             'shared_module',
             'custom',
+            'alias',
             'run',
             'jar',
         }
@@ -130,7 +131,7 @@ def get_target_from_intro_data(target: ParsedTargetName, builddir: Path, introsp
 def generate_target_names_ninja(target: ParsedTargetName, builddir: Path, introspect_data: dict) -> T.List[str]:
     intro_target = get_target_from_intro_data(target, builddir, introspect_data)
 
-    if intro_target['type'] == 'run':
+    if intro_target['type'] in {'alias', 'run'}:
         return [target.name]
     else:
         return [str(Path(out_file).relative_to(builddir.resolve())) for out_file in intro_target['filename']]
@@ -169,7 +170,7 @@ def get_parsed_args_ninja(options: 'argparse.Namespace', builddir: Path) -> T.Tu
 def generate_target_name_vs(target: ParsedTargetName, builddir: Path, introspect_data: dict) -> str:
     intro_target = get_target_from_intro_data(target, builddir, introspect_data)
 
-    assert intro_target['type'] != 'run', 'Should not reach here: `run` targets must be handle above'
+    assert intro_target['type'] not in {'alias', 'run'}, 'Should not reach here: `run` targets must be handle above'
 
     # Normalize project name
     # Source: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/msbuild/how-to-build-specific-targets-in-solutions-by-using-msbuild-exe
@@ -189,7 +190,7 @@ def get_parsed_args_vs(options: 'argparse.Namespace', builddir: Path) -> T.Tuple
     if options.targets:
         intro_data = parse_introspect_data(builddir)
         has_run_target = any(
-            get_target_from_intro_data(ParsedTargetName(t), builddir, intro_data)['type'] == 'run'
+            get_target_from_intro_data(ParsedTargetName(t), builddir, intro_data)['type'] in {'alias', 'run'}
             for t in options.targets)
 
         if has_run_target: