Node 18 fails to install on Alpine 3.23

[pooley182]

Operating system and version:

Alpine Linux v3.23

nvm debug output:

Details

nvm --version: v0.40.3
$SHELL:
$SHLVL: 1
whoami: 'root'
${HOME}: /root
${NVM_DIR}: '/'
${PATH}: ${NVM_DIR}usr${NVM_DIR}local${NVM_DIR}sbin:${NVM_DIR}usr${NVM_DIR}local${NVM_DIR}bin:${NVM_DIR}usr${NVM_DIR}sbin:${NVM_DIR}usr${NVM_DIR}bin:${NVM_DIR}sbin:${NVM_DIR}bin
$PREFIX: ''
${NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX}: ''
$NVM_NODEJS_ORG_MIRROR: ''
$NVM_IOJS_ORG_MIRROR: ''
/bin/sh: --version: not found
shell version: ''
uname -a: 'Linux 6.17.8-orbstack-00308-g8f9c941121b1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Nov 20 09:34:02 UTC 2025 aarch64 GNU/Linux'
checksum binary: 'sha256sum'
OS version: Welcome to Alpine Linux 3.23
awk: warning: option -W is ignored
awk: /usr/bin/awk,
curl: /usr/bin/curl, curl 8.17.0 (aarch64-alpine-linux-musl) libcurl/8.17.0 OpenSSL/3.5.4 zlib/1.3.1 brotli/1.2.0 zstd/1.5.7 c-ares/1.34.6 libidn2/2.3.8 libpsl/0.21.5 nghttp2/1.68.0 nghttp3/1.13.1
wget: unrecognized option: V
wget: /usr/bin/wget,
git: not found
grep: /bin/grep, grep (GNU grep) 3.12
sed: /bin/sed, BusyBox v1.37.0 (2025-12-16 14:19:28 UTC) multi-call binary.
cut: /usr/bin/cut, cut (GNU coreutils) 9.8
basename: /usr/bin/basename, basename (GNU coreutils) 9.8
rm: /bin/rm, rm (GNU coreutils) 9.8
mkdir: /bin/mkdir, mkdir (GNU coreutils) 9.8
xargs: /usr/bin/xargs, xargs (GNU findutils) 4.10.0
nvm current: none
which node:
which iojs:
which npm:
npm config get prefix: ${NVM_DIR}bin${NVM_DIR}sh: npm: not found
npm root -g: ${NVM_DIR}bin${NVM_DIR}sh: npm: not found

nvm ls output:

Details

            var
iojs -> N/A (default)
node -> stable (-> N/A) (default)
stable -> ar (-> N/A) (default)
unstable -> N/A (default)
lts/* -> lts/krypton (-> N/A)
lts/argon -> v4.9.1 (-> N/A)
lts/boron -> v6.17.1 (-> N/A)
lts/carbon -> v8.17.0 (-> N/A)
lts/dubnium -> v10.24.1 (-> N/A)
lts/erbium -> v12.22.12 (-> N/A)
lts/fermium -> v14.21.3 (-> N/A)
lts/gallium -> v16.20.2 (-> N/A)
lts/hydrogen -> v18.20.8 (-> N/A)
lts/iron -> v20.19.6 (-> N/A)
lts/jod -> v22.21.1 (-> N/A)
lts/krypton -> v24.12.0 (-> N/A)

How did you install nvm?

What steps did you perform?

I attempted to install node 18, using NVM within an Alpine 3.23 docker container.
These same steps work fine when using Alpine 3.22

• Start container

docker run --rm -it alpine:3.23 /bin/sh

• Install dependencies and NVM, then attempt to install Node 18

apk add -U curl bash ca-certificates openssl ncurses coreutils python3 make gcc g++
 libgcc linux-headers grep util-linux binutils findutils

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.3/install.sh | bash

. /root/.nvm/nvm.sh

nvm install 18

What happened?

In file included from /usr/include/c++/15.2.0/memory:80,
                 from ../src/inspector/worker_inspector.h:8:
/usr/include/c++/15.2.0/bits/unique_ptr.h: In instantiation of 'std::__detail::__unique_ptr_t<_Tp> std::make_unique(_Args&& ...) [with _Tp = node::inspector::ParentInspectorHandle; _Args = {int&, const __cxx11::basic_string<char, char_traits<char>, allocator<char> >&, shared_ptr<node::inspector::MainThreadHandle>&, bool&, const __cxx11::basic_string<char, char_traits<char>, allocator<char> >&}; __detail::__unique_ptr_t<_Tp> = __detail::__unique_ptr_t<node::inspector::ParentInspectorHandle>]':
../src/inspector/worker_inspector.h:64:51:   required from here
   64 |     return std::make_unique<ParentInspectorHandle>(
      |            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^
   65 |         thread_id, url, parent_thread_, wait_, name);
      |         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/usr/include/c++/15.2.0/bits/unique_ptr.h:1085:30: error: no matching function for call to 'node::inspector::ParentInspectorHandle::ParentInspectorHandle(int&, const std::__cxx11::basic_string<char>&, std::shared_ptr<node::inspector::MainThreadHandle>&, bool&, const std::__cxx11::basic_string<char>&)'
 1085 |     { return unique_ptr<_Tp>(new _Tp(std::forward<_Args>(__args)...)); }
      |                              ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/usr/include/c++/15.2.0/bits/unique_ptr.h:1085:30: note: there are 2 candidates
../src/inspector/worker_inspector.h:54:7: note: candidate 1: 'node::inspector::ParentInspectorHandle::ParentInspectorHandle()'
   54 | class ParentInspectorHandle {
      |       ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
../src/inspector/worker_inspector.h:54:7: note: candidate expects 0 arguments, 5 provided
../src/inspector/worker_inspector.h:54:7: note: candidate 2: 'node::inspector::ParentInspectorHandle::ParentInspectorHandle(const node::inspector::ParentInspectorHandle&)'
../src/inspector/worker_inspector.h:54:7: note: candidate expects 1 argument, 5 provided
../src/inspector/worker_inspector.cc: At global scope:
../src/inspector/worker_inspector.cc:39:6: warning: 'void node::inspector::{anonymous}::Report(const std::unique_ptr<node::inspector::WorkerDelegate>&, const node::inspector::WorkerInfo&, bool)' defined but not used [-Wunused-function]
   39 | void Report(const std::unique_ptr<WorkerDelegate>& delegate,
      |      ^~~~~~
make[1]: *** [libnode.target.mk:435: /.cache/src/node-v18.20.8/files/out/Release/obj.target/libnode/src/inspector/worker_inspector.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
rm a35ce3106b61a69042d275883f485d438439e264.intermediate c359a980496ba9cfa77786b855112ffcc6d3a66b.intermediate
make: *** [Makefile:135: node] Error 2
nvm: install v18.20.8 failed!

What did you expect to happen?

Node 18 to be installed.

Is there anything in any of your profile files that modifies the PATH?

No

✏️ Edit:

Further testing confirms that

• node 18 (18.20.8) installs via NVM from source fine on Alpine 3.22
• node 20 (20.19.6) installs via NVM from source fine on Alpine 3.23

Now using node v18.20.8 (npm v10.8.2)
Creating default alias: default -> 18 (-> v18.20.8)
/ # cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Alpine Linux"
ID=alpine
VERSION_ID=3.22.2
PRETTY_NAME="Alpine Linux v3.22"

Now using node v20.19.6 (npm v10.8.2)
Creating default alias: default -> 20 (-> v20.19.6)
/ # cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Alpine Linux"
ID=alpine
VERSION_ID=3.23.2
PRETTY_NAME="Alpine Linux v3.23"

[ljharb]

alpine tends to need a ton of extra things added to become POSIX-compliant (required for nvm) and to be capable of building node.

If it works in alpine 3.22, and not in alpine 3.23, then that seems clearly to be a bug in alpine 3.23?