diff --git a/userspace/libscap/linux/CMakeLists.txt b/userspace/libscap/linux/CMakeLists.txt
index 471721f4e2..4d51534ca0 100644
--- a/userspace/libscap/linux/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/userspace/libscap/linux/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,7 +14,16 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 #
-add_library(scap_platform STATIC scap_linux_platform.c scap_procs.c scap_fds.c scap_userlist.c scap_iflist.c scap_cgroup.c scap_machine_info.c)
+add_library(scap_platform
+	STATIC
+	scap_linux_platform.c
+	scap_linux_hostinfo_platform.c
+	scap_procs.c
+	scap_fds.c
+	scap_userlist.c
+	scap_iflist.c
+	scap_cgroup.c
+	scap_machine_info.c)
 target_include_directories(scap_platform PUBLIC $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}>)
 target_link_libraries(scap_platform PRIVATE scap_error scap_platform_util)
 add_dependencies(scap_platform uthash)
diff --git a/userspace/libscap/linux/scap_linux_hostinfo_platform.c b/userspace/libscap/linux/scap_linux_hostinfo_platform.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..258d591919
--- /dev/null
+++ b/userspace/libscap/linux/scap_linux_hostinfo_platform.c
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/*
+Copyright (C) 2024 The Falco Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+
+*/
+
+#include <libscap/linux/scap_linux_platform.h>
+
+#include <libscap/scap.h>
+#include <libscap/scap-int.h>
+#include <libscap/scap_machine_info.h>
+#include <libscap/linux/scap_linux_int.h>
+
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+static void scap_linux_hostinfo_free_platform(struct scap_platform* platform)
+{
+	free(platform);
+}
+
+int32_t scap_linux_hostinfo_init_platform(struct scap_platform* platform, char* lasterr, struct scap_engine_handle engine, struct scap_open_args* oargs)
+{
+	int rc;
+
+	if(scap_os_get_machine_info(&platform->m_machine_info, lasterr) != SCAP_SUCCESS)
+	{
+		return SCAP_FAILURE;
+	}
+
+	scap_os_get_agent_info(&platform->m_agent_info);
+
+	rc = scap_linux_create_iflist(platform);
+	if(rc != SCAP_SUCCESS)
+	{
+		scap_linux_hostinfo_free_platform(platform);
+		return rc;
+	}
+
+	return SCAP_SUCCESS;
+}
+
+static const struct scap_platform_vtable scap_linux_hostinfo_platform_vtable = {
+	.init_platform = scap_linux_hostinfo_init_platform,
+	.refresh_addr_list = scap_linux_create_iflist,
+	.free_platform = scap_linux_hostinfo_free_platform,
+};
+
+struct scap_platform* scap_linux_hostinfo_alloc_platform()
+{
+	struct scap_linux_platform* platform = calloc(1, sizeof(*platform));
+
+	if(platform == NULL)
+	{
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	struct scap_platform* generic = &platform->m_generic;
+	generic->m_vtable = &scap_linux_hostinfo_platform_vtable;
+
+	return generic;
+}
diff --git a/userspace/libscap/linux/scap_linux_platform.h b/userspace/libscap/linux/scap_linux_platform.h
index 55de6a66d0..c08327873e 100644
--- a/userspace/libscap/linux/scap_linux_platform.h
+++ b/userspace/libscap/linux/scap_linux_platform.h
@@ -103,6 +103,22 @@ struct scap_linux_platform
 
 struct scap_platform* scap_linux_alloc_platform(proc_entry_callback proc_callback, void* proc_callback_context);
 
+/**
+ * @brief A lightweight Linux platform that only collects static host information
+ *
+ * This is useful with source plugins that do not handle syscall data but still want access
+ * to some info about the machine they're running on. Currently collected data includes:
+ * - machine info
+ * - agent info
+ * - interface list
+ */
+struct scap_linux_hostinfo_platform
+{
+	struct scap_platform m_generic;
+};
+
+struct scap_platform* scap_linux_hostinfo_alloc_platform();
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 };
 #endif
diff --git a/userspace/libscap/scap.c b/userspace/libscap/scap.c
index 04a83aeaca..00a046df72 100644
--- a/userspace/libscap/scap.c
+++ b/userspace/libscap/scap.c
@@ -35,12 +35,16 @@ limitations under the License.
 // The test_input and source_plugin engines can optionally use a linux_platform
 // but only on an actual Linux system.
 //
-// Still, to compile properly on non-Linux, provide an implementation
-// of scap_linux_alloc_platform() that always fails at runtime.
+// Still, to compile properly on non-Linux, provide implementations
+// of scap_linux_alloc_platform() and scap_linux_hostinfo_alloc_platform() that always fail at runtime.
 struct scap_platform* scap_linux_alloc_platform(proc_entry_callback proc_callback, void* proc_callback_context)
 {
 	return NULL;
 }
+struct scap_platform* scap_linux_hostinfo_alloc_platform()
+{
+	return NULL;
+}
 #endif
 
 const char* scap_getlasterr(scap_t* handle)
diff --git a/userspace/libsinsp/sinsp.cpp b/userspace/libsinsp/sinsp.cpp
index 86b722df41..f1d6458c00 100644
--- a/userspace/libsinsp/sinsp.cpp
+++ b/userspace/libsinsp/sinsp.cpp
@@ -553,7 +553,8 @@ void sinsp::open_savefile(const std::string& filename, int fd)
 #endif
 }
 
-void sinsp::open_plugin(const std::string& plugin_name, const std::string& plugin_open_params, sinsp_mode_t mode)
+void sinsp::open_plugin(const std::string& plugin_name, const std::string& plugin_open_params,
+			sinsp_plugin_platform platform_type)
 {
 #ifdef HAS_ENGINE_SOURCE_PLUGIN
 	scap_open_args oargs {};
@@ -564,16 +565,23 @@ void sinsp::open_plugin(const std::string& plugin_name, const std::string& plugi
 	oargs.engine_params = &params;
 
 	scap_platform* platform;
-	switch(mode)
+	sinsp_mode_t mode;
+	switch(platform_type)
 	{
-		case SINSP_MODE_PLUGIN:
-			platform = scap_generic_alloc_platform(::on_new_entry_from_proc, this);
-			break;
-		case SINSP_MODE_LIVE:
-			platform = scap_linux_alloc_platform(::on_new_entry_from_proc, this);
-			break;
-		default:
-			throw sinsp_exception("Unsupported mode for SOURCE_PLUGIN engine");
+	case sinsp_plugin_platform::SINSP_PLATFORM_GENERIC:
+		mode = SINSP_MODE_PLUGIN;
+		platform = scap_generic_alloc_platform(::on_new_entry_from_proc, this);
+		break;
+	case sinsp_plugin_platform::SINSP_PLATFORM_HOSTINFO:
+		mode = SINSP_MODE_PLUGIN;
+		platform = scap_linux_hostinfo_alloc_platform();
+		break;
+	case sinsp_plugin_platform::SINSP_PLATFORM_FULL:
+		mode = SINSP_MODE_LIVE;
+		platform = scap_linux_alloc_platform(::on_new_entry_from_proc, this);
+		break;
+	default:
+		throw sinsp_exception("Unsupported mode for SOURCE_PLUGIN engine");
 	}
 	open_common(&oargs, &scap_source_plugin_engine, platform, mode);
 #else
diff --git a/userspace/libsinsp/sinsp.h b/userspace/libsinsp/sinsp.h
index a709cc44a2..8e6d89a230 100644
--- a/userspace/libsinsp/sinsp.h
+++ b/userspace/libsinsp/sinsp.h
@@ -139,6 +139,16 @@ enum sinsp_mode_t
 	SINSP_MODE_TEST,
 };
 
+/**
+ * @brief Possible platforms to use with plugins
+ */
+enum class sinsp_plugin_platform
+{
+	SINSP_PLATFORM_GENERIC, //!< generic platform, no system information collected
+	SINSP_PLATFORM_HOSTINFO, //!< basic host information collected, for non-syscall source plugins
+	SINSP_PLATFORM_FULL, //!< full system information collected, for syscall source plugins
+};
+
 /** @defgroup inspector Main library
  @{
 */
@@ -168,7 +178,7 @@ class SINSP_PUBLIC sinsp : public capture_stats_source
 	virtual void open_nodriver(bool full_proc_scan = false);
 	virtual void open_savefile(const std::string &filename, int fd = 0);
 	virtual void open_plugin(const std::string& plugin_name, const std::string& plugin_open_params,
-				 sinsp_mode_t mode = SINSP_MODE_PLUGIN);
+				 sinsp_plugin_platform platform_type);
 	virtual void open_gvisor(const std::string &config_path, const std::string &root_path, bool no_events = false, int epoll_timeout = -1);
 	/*[EXPERIMENTAL] This API could change between releases, we are trying to find the right configuration to deploy the modern bpf probe:
 	 * `cpus_for_each_buffer` and `online_only` are the 2 experimental params. The first one allows associating more than one CPU to a single ring buffer.
diff --git a/userspace/libsinsp/test/plugins.ut.cpp b/userspace/libsinsp/test/plugins.ut.cpp
index 1821ddc35d..7f5535ebfb 100644
--- a/userspace/libsinsp/test/plugins.ut.cpp
+++ b/userspace/libsinsp/test/plugins.ut.cpp
@@ -273,7 +273,13 @@ TEST_F(sinsp_with_test_input, plugin_syscall_source)
 
 	// we will not use the test scap engine here, but open the src plugin instead
 	// note: we configure the plugin to just emit 1 event through its open params
-	m_inspector.open_plugin(src_pl->name(), "1");
+	m_inspector.open_plugin(src_pl->name(), "1", sinsp_plugin_platform::SINSP_PLATFORM_HOSTINFO);
+
+#ifdef __linux__
+	// The LINUX_HOSTINFO platform type fills in machine_info, but only on Linux
+	// (non-Linux platforms have a stub implementation in scap.c)
+	ASSERT_GT(m_inspector.get_machine_info()->num_cpus, 0);
+#endif
 
 	auto evt = next_event();
 	ASSERT_NE(evt, nullptr);
@@ -310,7 +316,10 @@ TEST_F(sinsp_with_test_input, plugin_custom_source)
 
 	// we will not use the test scap engine here, but open the src plugin instead
 	// note: we configure the plugin to just emit 1 event through its open params
-	m_inspector.open_plugin(src_pl->name(), "1");
+	m_inspector.open_plugin(src_pl->name(), "1", sinsp_plugin_platform::SINSP_PLATFORM_GENERIC);
+
+	// the GENERIC platform type does not fill in machine_info
+	ASSERT_EQ(m_inspector.get_machine_info()->num_cpus, 0);
 
 	auto evt = next_event();
 	ASSERT_NE(evt, nullptr);