diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 1ded7d2..caefa58 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -54,7 +54,10 @@ cassandra = []
 clickhouse = ["clickhouse-driver"]
 cosmosdb = ["azure-cosmos>=4"]
 cockroachdb = []
-cratedb = ["sqlalchemy-cratedb"]
+cratedb = [
+    "httpx",
+    "sqlalchemy-cratedb"
+]
 db2 = [
   "sqlalchemy>=2",
   "ibm_db_sa; platform_machine != 'aarch64' and platform_machine != 'arm64'",
diff --git a/src/testcontainers/community/cratedb/__init__.py b/src/testcontainers/community/cratedb/__init__.py
index 88cdcea..021f970 100644
--- a/src/testcontainers/community/cratedb/__init__.py
+++ b/src/testcontainers/community/cratedb/__init__.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ class CrateDBContainer(SqlContainer):
 
     # Default command-line options. CrateDB needs single-node discovery to run
     # as a one-node cluster suitable for testing.
-    CMD_OPTS: ClassVar[dict[str, str]] = {"discovery.type": "single-node"}
+    CMD_OPTS: ClassVar[list[tuple[str, str]]] = [("discovery.type", "single-node")]
 
     def __init__(
         self,
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ class CrateDBContainer(SqlContainer):
         username: Optional[str] = None,
         password: Optional[str] = None,
         dialect: str = "crate",
-        cmd_opts: Optional[dict[str, str]] = None,
+        cmd_opts: Optional[list[tuple[str, str]]] = None,
         **kwargs,
     ) -> None:
         """
@@ -73,12 +73,13 @@ class CrateDBContainer(SqlContainer):
                          merged over (and able to override) the defaults.
         """
         raise_for_deprecated_parameter(kwargs, "user", "username")
-        # Readiness is signalled by CrateDB's HTTP interface returning 200; this
+        # Readiness is signaled by CrateDB's HTTP interface returning 200; this
         # keeps startup free of any database client library.
         super().__init__(image, wait_strategy=HttpWaitStrategy(HTTP_PORT).for_status_code(200), **kwargs)
 
-        cmd_opts = cmd_opts or {}
-        self._command = self._build_cmd({**self.CMD_OPTS, **cmd_opts})
+        cmd_opts = cmd_opts or []
+        default_cmd_opts = [s for s in self.CMD_OPTS if s[0] not in {k[0] for k in cmd_opts}]
+        self._command = self._build_cmd([*default_cmd_opts, *cmd_opts])
 
         self.username = username or os.environ.get("CRATEDB_USER", "crate")
         self.password = password or os.environ.get("CRATEDB_PASSWORD", "crate")
@@ -88,10 +89,10 @@ class CrateDBContainer(SqlContainer):
         self.with_exposed_ports(HTTP_PORT, PSQL_PORT)
 
     @staticmethod
-    def _build_cmd(opts: dict[str, str]) -> str:
+    def _build_cmd(opts: list[tuple[str, str]]) -> str:
         """Render a CrateDB ``-C<key>=<value> ...`` command-line string."""
         cmd = []
-        for key, val in opts.items():
+        for key, val in opts:
             if isinstance(val, bool):
                 val = str(val).lower()
             cmd.append(f"-C{key}={val}")
diff --git a/tests/community/cratedb/test_cratedb.py b/tests/community/cratedb/test_cratedb.py
index e9516d2..59132a4 100644
--- a/tests/community/cratedb/test_cratedb.py
+++ b/tests/community/cratedb/test_cratedb.py
@@ -30,12 +30,12 @@ def test_cratedb_connection_url():
     "cmd_opts, expected",
     [
         pytest.param(
-            {"indices.breaker.total.limit": "90%"},
+            [("indices.breaker.total.limit", "90%")],
             "-Cdiscovery.type=single-node -Cindices.breaker.total.limit=90%",
             id="add_cmd_option",
         ),
         pytest.param(
-            {"discovery.type": "zen", "indices.breaker.total.limit": "90%"},
+            [("discovery.type", "zen"), ("indices.breaker.total.limit", "90%")],
             "-Cdiscovery.type=zen -Cindices.breaker.total.limit=90%",
             id="override_defaults",
         ),
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 1f7fca1..b9cbf1c 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -5466,6 +5466,10 @@ clickhouse = [
 cosmosdb = [
     { name = "azure-cosmos" },
 ]
+cratedb = [
+    { name = "httpx" },
+    { name = "sqlalchemy-cratedb" },
+]
 db2 = [
     { name = "ibm-db-sa", marker = "platform_machine != 'aarch64' and platform_machine != 'arm64'" },
     { name = "sqlalchemy" },
@@ -5655,6 +5659,7 @@ requires-dist = [
     { name = "google-cloud-datastore", marker = "extra == 'google'", specifier = ">=2" },
     { name = "google-cloud-pubsub", marker = "extra == 'google'", specifier = ">=2" },
     { name = "httpx", marker = "extra == 'aws'" },
+    { name = "httpx", marker = "extra == 'cratedb'" },
     { name = "httpx", marker = "extra == 'generic'" },
     { name = "httpx", marker = "extra == 'test-module-import'" },
     { name = "ibm-db-sa", marker = "platform_machine != 'aarch64' and platform_machine != 'arm64' and extra == 'db2'" },
@@ -5686,6 +5691,7 @@ requires-dist = [
     { name = "sqlalchemy", marker = "extra == 'mysql'", specifier = ">=2" },
     { name = "sqlalchemy", marker = "extra == 'oracle'", specifier = ">=2" },
     { name = "sqlalchemy", marker = "extra == 'oracle-free'", specifier = ">=2" },
+    { name = "sqlalchemy-cratedb", marker = "extra == 'cratedb'" },
     { name = "trino", marker = "extra == 'trino'" },
     { name = "typing-extensions" },
     { name = "urllib3" },