diff --git a/src/Targets/Microchip/AVR8/Avr8.cpp b/src/Targets/Microchip/AVR8/Avr8.cpp
index 00e364b5..5945dd85 100644
--- a/src/Targets/Microchip/AVR8/Avr8.cpp
+++ b/src/Targets/Microchip/AVR8/Avr8.cpp
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ namespace Targets::Microchip::Avr8
             this->targetDescriptionFile.targetPeripheralDescriptorsByKey(),
             this->targetDescriptionFile.targetPadDescriptorsByKey(),
             this->targetDescriptionFile.targetPinoutDescriptorsByKey(),
-            this->targetDescriptionFile.targetVariantDescriptors(),
+            this->targetDescriptionFile.targetVariantDescriptorsByKey(),
             this->getBreakpointResources()
         };
 
diff --git a/src/Targets/RiscV/RiscV.cpp b/src/Targets/RiscV/RiscV.cpp
index 555f2487..549e00ad 100644
--- a/src/Targets/RiscV/RiscV.cpp
+++ b/src/Targets/RiscV/RiscV.cpp
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ namespace Targets::RiscV
             this->targetDescriptionFile.targetPeripheralDescriptorsByKey(),
             this->targetDescriptionFile.targetPadDescriptorsByKey(),
             this->targetDescriptionFile.targetPinoutDescriptorsByKey(),
-            this->targetDescriptionFile.targetVariantDescriptors(),
+            this->targetDescriptionFile.targetVariantDescriptorsByKey(),
             {} // TODO: populate this
         };
 
diff --git a/src/Targets/TargetDescription/TargetDescriptionFile.cpp b/src/Targets/TargetDescription/TargetDescriptionFile.cpp
index 192e3017..2314e27b 100644
--- a/src/Targets/TargetDescription/TargetDescriptionFile.cpp
+++ b/src/Targets/TargetDescription/TargetDescriptionFile.cpp
@@ -348,11 +348,14 @@ namespace Targets::TargetDescription
         return output;
     }
 
-    std::vector<TargetVariantDescriptor> TargetDescriptionFile::targetVariantDescriptors() const {
-        auto output = std::vector<TargetVariantDescriptor>{};
+    std::map<std::string, TargetVariantDescriptor> TargetDescriptionFile::targetVariantDescriptorsByKey() const {
+        auto output = std::map<std::string, TargetVariantDescriptor>{};
 
-        for (const auto& variant : this->variants) {
-            output.emplace_back(TargetDescriptionFile::targetVariantDescriptorFromVariant(variant));
+        for (const auto& [key, variant] : this->variantsByKey) {
+            output.emplace(
+                key,
+                TargetDescriptionFile::targetVariantDescriptorFromVariant(variant)
+            );
         }
 
         return output;
@@ -474,7 +477,8 @@ namespace Targets::TargetDescription
             !element.isNull();
             element = element.nextSiblingElement("variant")
         ) {
-            this->variants.emplace_back(TargetDescriptionFile::variantFromXml(element));
+            auto variant = TargetDescriptionFile::variantFromXml(element);
+            this->variantsByKey.emplace(variant.key, std::move(variant));
         }
     }
 
@@ -920,6 +924,7 @@ namespace Targets::TargetDescription
 
     Variant TargetDescriptionFile::variantFromXml(const QDomElement& xmlElement) {
         return {
+            TargetDescriptionFile::getAttribute(xmlElement, "key"),
             TargetDescriptionFile::getAttribute(xmlElement, "name"),
             TargetDescriptionFile::getAttribute(xmlElement, "pinout-key")
         };
@@ -1190,6 +1195,7 @@ namespace Targets::TargetDescription
 
     TargetVariantDescriptor TargetDescriptionFile::targetVariantDescriptorFromVariant(const Variant& variant) {
         return {
+            variant.key,
             variant.name,
             variant.pinoutKey
         };
diff --git a/src/Targets/TargetDescription/TargetDescriptionFile.hpp b/src/Targets/TargetDescription/TargetDescriptionFile.hpp
index 6a877bf7..c88865f1 100644
--- a/src/Targets/TargetDescription/TargetDescriptionFile.hpp
+++ b/src/Targets/TargetDescription/TargetDescriptionFile.hpp
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ namespace Targets::TargetDescription
         [[nodiscard]] std::map<std::string, TargetPeripheralDescriptor> targetPeripheralDescriptorsByKey() const;
         [[nodiscard]] std::map<std::string, TargetPadDescriptor> targetPadDescriptorsByKey() const;
         [[nodiscard]] std::map<std::string, TargetPinoutDescriptor> targetPinoutDescriptorsByKey() const;
-        [[nodiscard]] std::vector<TargetVariantDescriptor> targetVariantDescriptors() const;
+        [[nodiscard]] std::map<std::string, TargetVariantDescriptor> targetVariantDescriptorsByKey() const;
         [[nodiscard]] std::vector<TargetPeripheralDescriptor> gpioPortPeripheralDescriptors() const;
 
     protected:
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ namespace Targets::TargetDescription
         std::map<std::string, Peripheral, std::less<void>> peripheralsByKey;
         std::map<std::string, Pad, std::less<void>> padsByKey;
         std::map<std::string, Pinout, std::less<void>> pinoutsByKey;
-        std::vector<Variant> variants;
+        std::map<std::string, Variant, std::less<void>> variantsByKey;
 
         TargetDescriptionFile() = default;
         virtual ~TargetDescriptionFile() = default;
diff --git a/src/Targets/TargetDescription/Variant.hpp b/src/Targets/TargetDescription/Variant.hpp
index d2abe2af..268aba7a 100644
--- a/src/Targets/TargetDescription/Variant.hpp
+++ b/src/Targets/TargetDescription/Variant.hpp
@@ -6,14 +6,17 @@ namespace Targets::TargetDescription
 {
     struct Variant
     {
+        std::string key;
         std::string name;
         std::string pinoutKey;
 
         Variant(
+            const std::string& key,
             const std::string& name,
             const std::string& pinoutKey
         )
-            : name(name)
+            : key(key)
+            , name(name)
             , pinoutKey(pinoutKey)
         {}
     };
diff --git a/src/Targets/TargetDescriptor.cpp b/src/Targets/TargetDescriptor.cpp
index b720e0b3..15b119a3 100644
--- a/src/Targets/TargetDescriptor.cpp
+++ b/src/Targets/TargetDescriptor.cpp
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ namespace Targets
         std::map<std::string, TargetPeripheralDescriptor>&& peripheralDescriptorsByKey,
         std::map<std::string, TargetPadDescriptor>&& padDescriptorsByKey,
         std::map<std::string, TargetPinoutDescriptor>&& pinoutDescriptorsByKey,
-        std::vector<TargetVariantDescriptor>&& variantDescriptors,
+        std::map<std::string, TargetVariantDescriptor>&& variantDescriptorsByKey,
         const BreakpointResources& breakpointResources
     )
         : name(name)
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ namespace Targets
         , peripheralDescriptorsByKey(std::move(peripheralDescriptorsByKey))
         , padDescriptorsByKey(std::move(padDescriptorsByKey))
         , pinoutDescriptorsByKey(std::move(pinoutDescriptorsByKey))
-        , variantDescriptors(std::move(variantDescriptors))
+        , variantDescriptorsByKey(std::move(variantDescriptorsByKey))
         , breakpointResources(breakpointResources)
     {}
 
@@ -141,4 +141,28 @@ namespace Targets
 
         return descriptor->get();
     }
+
+    std::optional<
+        std::reference_wrapper<const TargetVariantDescriptor>
+    > TargetDescriptor::tryGetVariantDescriptor(const std::string& key) const {
+        const auto descriptorIt = this->variantDescriptorsByKey.find(key);
+
+        if (descriptorIt == this->variantDescriptorsByKey.end()) {
+            return std::nullopt;
+        }
+
+        return std::cref(descriptorIt->second);
+    }
+
+    const TargetVariantDescriptor& TargetDescriptor::getVariantDescriptor(const std::string& key) const {
+        const auto descriptor = this->tryGetVariantDescriptor(key);
+        if (!descriptor.has_value()) {
+            throw Exceptions::InternalFatalErrorException{
+                "Failed to get pinout descriptor \"" + std::string{key}
+                    + "\" from target descriptor - descriptor not found"
+            };
+        }
+
+        return descriptor->get();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/Targets/TargetDescriptor.hpp b/src/Targets/TargetDescriptor.hpp
index 5e245970..d5a4418a 100644
--- a/src/Targets/TargetDescriptor.hpp
+++ b/src/Targets/TargetDescriptor.hpp
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ namespace Targets
         std::map<std::string, TargetPeripheralDescriptor> peripheralDescriptorsByKey;
         std::map<std::string, TargetPadDescriptor> padDescriptorsByKey;
         std::map<std::string, TargetPinoutDescriptor> pinoutDescriptorsByKey;
-        std::vector<TargetVariantDescriptor> variantDescriptors;
+        std::map<std::string, TargetVariantDescriptor> variantDescriptorsByKey;
         BreakpointResources breakpointResources;
 
         TargetDescriptor(
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ namespace Targets
             std::map<std::string, TargetPeripheralDescriptor>&& peripheralDescriptorsByKey,
             std::map<std::string, TargetPadDescriptor>&& padDescriptorsByKey,
             std::map<std::string, TargetPinoutDescriptor>&& pinoutDescriptorsByKey,
-            std::vector<TargetVariantDescriptor>&& variantDescriptors,
+            std::map<std::string, TargetVariantDescriptor>&& variantDescriptorsByKey,
             const BreakpointResources& breakpointResources
         );
 
@@ -85,5 +85,11 @@ namespace Targets
         ) const;
 
         const TargetPinoutDescriptor& getPinoutDescriptor(const std::string& key) const;
+
+        std::optional<std::reference_wrapper<const TargetVariantDescriptor>> tryGetVariantDescriptor(
+            const std::string& key
+        ) const;
+
+        const TargetVariantDescriptor& getVariantDescriptor(const std::string& key) const;
     };
 }
diff --git a/src/Targets/TargetVariantDescriptor.cpp b/src/Targets/TargetVariantDescriptor.cpp
index ffd08004..f28a1dc7 100644
--- a/src/Targets/TargetVariantDescriptor.cpp
+++ b/src/Targets/TargetVariantDescriptor.cpp
@@ -5,10 +5,12 @@
 namespace Targets
 {
     TargetVariantDescriptor::TargetVariantDescriptor(
+        const std::string& key,
         const std::string& name,
         const std::string& pinoutKey
     )
-        : name(name)
+        : key(key)
+        , name(name)
         , pinoutKey(pinoutKey)
     {}
 }
diff --git a/src/Targets/TargetVariantDescriptor.hpp b/src/Targets/TargetVariantDescriptor.hpp
index e87b138f..8363f7f3 100644
--- a/src/Targets/TargetVariantDescriptor.hpp
+++ b/src/Targets/TargetVariantDescriptor.hpp
@@ -7,10 +7,12 @@ namespace Targets
     struct TargetVariantDescriptor
     {
     public:
+        const std::string key;
         std::string name;
         std::string pinoutKey;
 
         TargetVariantDescriptor(
+            const std::string& key,
             const std::string& name,
             const std::string& pinoutKey
         );
@@ -19,6 +21,5 @@ namespace Targets
         TargetVariantDescriptor& operator = (const TargetVariantDescriptor& other) = delete;
 
         TargetVariantDescriptor(TargetVariantDescriptor&& other) noexcept = default;
-        TargetVariantDescriptor& operator = (TargetVariantDescriptor&& other) noexcept = default;
     };
 }