diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index b35bb3cd648..877d742a7c1 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -19,3 +19,6 @@
 [submodule "ext_libs/vcpkg"]
 	path = ext_libs/vcpkg
 	url = ../../microsoft/vcpkg.git
+[submodule "ext_libs/sse2neon"]
+	path = ext_libs/sse2neon/sse2neon
+	url = https://github.com/DLTcollab/sse2neon
diff --git a/ext_libs/ext_libs.cmake b/ext_libs/ext_libs.cmake
index 6b62a9748f4..331631d0468 100644
--- a/ext_libs/ext_libs.cmake
+++ b/ext_libs/ext_libs.cmake
@@ -104,3 +104,8 @@ else()
   add_library(eigen INTERFACE)
   target_include_directories(eigen SYSTEM INTERFACE $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/eigen>)
 endif()
+
+add_library(sse2neon INTERFACE)
+# This submodule is placed into a nested subdirectory since it exposes its
+# header at the root of the repo rather than its own nested sse2neon/ dir
+target_include_directories(sse2neon SYSTEM INTERFACE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/sse2neon")
diff --git a/ext_libs/sse2neon/sse2neon b/ext_libs/sse2neon/sse2neon
new file mode 160000
index 00000000000..270cf6efbc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext_libs/sse2neon/sse2neon
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 270cf6efbc7efaae1ea017727079e929814b8002
diff --git a/vowpalwabbit/core/CMakeLists.txt b/vowpalwabbit/core/CMakeLists.txt
index d44918e10be..9b9b73595d5 100644
--- a/vowpalwabbit/core/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/vowpalwabbit/core/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ vw_add_library(
         # Use BUILD_INTERFACE to prevent them from being exported, i.e. treat them as PRIVATE
         # https://gitlab.kitware.com/cmake/cmake/issues/15415
         ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS} ${LINK_THREADS} vw_io $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${boost_math_target}> $<BUILD_INTERFACE:RapidJSON>
-        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:eigen>
+        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:eigen> $<BUILD_INTERFACE:sse2neon>
     DESCRIPTION "This contains all remaining VW code, all reduction implementations, driver, option handling"
     EXCEPTION_DESCRIPTION "Yes"
     ENABLE_INSTALL
diff --git a/vowpalwabbit/core/src/reductions/lda_core.cc b/vowpalwabbit/core/src/reductions/lda_core.cc
index 161c719f4d0..16c63201070 100644
--- a/vowpalwabbit/core/src/reductions/lda_core.cc
+++ b/vowpalwabbit/core/src/reductions/lda_core.cc
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ VW_WARNING_STATE_POP
 #include "vw/core/vw_versions.h"
 #include "vw/io/logger.h"
 
+#if defined(__ARM_NEON)
+#  include <sse2neon/sse2neon.h>
+#endif
+
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <cassert>
 #include <cmath>
@@ -164,7 +168,7 @@ inline float fastdigamma(float x)
 
 #if !defined(VW_NO_INLINE_SIMD)
 
-#  if defined(__SSE2__) || defined(__SSE3__) || defined(__SSE4_1__)
+#  if defined(__SSE2__) || defined(__SSE3__) || defined(__SSE4_1__) || defined(__ARM_NEON)
 
 namespace
 {
@@ -186,6 +190,13 @@ inline bool is_aligned16(void* ptr)
 #      include <smmintrin.h>
 #    endif
 
+// Transport SSE intrinsics through sse2neon on ARM:
+#    if defined(__ARM_NEON)
+#      define __SSE2__ 1
+#      define __SSE3__ 1
+#      define __SSE4_1__ 1
+#    endif
+
 #    define HAVE_SIMD_MATHMODE
 
 typedef __m128 v4sf;