diff --git a/src/m1x/Makefile b/src/m1x/Makefile
index 9d08f0a..f8dc0e4 100644
--- a/src/m1x/Makefile
+++ b/src/m1x/Makefile
@@ -6,7 +6,11 @@
 include ../mk/default.mk
 
 .PHONY: all
-all: arch
+all: kern arch
+
+.PHONY: kern
+kern:
+	cd kern/; make $(PASSDOWN_ARGS)
 
 .PHONY: arch
 arch:
diff --git a/src/m1x/arch/x86_64/cpu/locore.S b/src/m1x/arch/x86_64/cpu/locore.S
index af2af37..5958a52 100644
--- a/src/m1x/arch/x86_64/cpu/locore.S
+++ b/src/m1x/arch/x86_64/cpu/locore.S
@@ -5,11 +5,13 @@
 
     .text
     .globl _start
+    .extern kmain
 _start:
     cli
     cld
 
     xor %rbp, %rbp
+    call kmain
 
 1:  hlt
     jmp 1b
diff --git a/src/m1x/kern/Makefile b/src/m1x/kern/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d4299e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/m1x/kern/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2026, Ian Moffett.
+# Provided under the BSD-3 clause.
+#
+
+CFILES = $(shell find . -name "*.c")
+DFILES = $(CFILES:.c=.d)
+OFILES = $(CFILES:.c=.o)
+
+CC = ../../$(SYS_CC)
+CFLAGS = 					\
+	$(SYS_CFLAGS) 			\
+	-D_KERNEL				\
+	-MMD					\
+	-DPRINTF_DISABLE_SUPPORT_PTRDIFF_T \
+	-DPRINTF_DISABLE_SUPPORT_FLOAT
+
+.PHONY: all
+all: $(OFILES)
+
+-include $(DFILES)
+%.o: %.c
+	$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $< -o $@
diff --git a/src/m1x/kern/kern_init.c b/src/m1x/kern/kern_init.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..993931c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/m1x/kern/kern_init.c
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2026, Mirocom Laboratories
+ * Provided under the BSD-3 clause
+ */
+
+void
+kmain(void)
+{
+    for (;;);
+}