diff --git a/Documentation/platforms/arm64/qemu/boards/qemu-armv8a/README.txt b/Documentation/platforms/arm64/qemu/boards/qemu-armv8a/README.txt
index 4e82535d6a..e890270d34 100644
--- a/Documentation/platforms/arm64/qemu/boards/qemu-armv8a/README.txt
+++ b/Documentation/platforms/arm64/qemu/boards/qemu-armv8a/README.txt
@@ -148,6 +148,16 @@ Getting Started
      -device virtio-net-device,netdev=u1,bus=virtio-mmio-bus.0 \
      -mon chardev=con,mode=readline -kernel ./nuttx
 
+  3.5 Single Core /w kernel mode (GICv3)
+   Configuring NuttX and compile:
+   $ ./tools/configure.sh -l qemu-armv8a:knsh
+   $ make
+   Running with qemu
+   $ qemu-system-aarch64 -semihosting -cpu cortex-a53 -nographic \
+     -machine virt,virtualization=on,gic-version=3 \
+     -net none -chardev stdio,id=con,mux=on -serial chardev:con \
+     -mon chardev=con,mode=readline -kernel ./nuttx
+
 Status
 ======
 
diff --git a/boards/arm64/qemu/qemu-armv8a/configs/knsh/defconfig b/boards/arm64/qemu/qemu-armv8a/configs/knsh/defconfig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a4e960524c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/boards/arm64/qemu/qemu-armv8a/configs/knsh/defconfig
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+#
+# This file is autogenerated: PLEASE DO NOT EDIT IT.
+#
+# You can use "make menuconfig" to make any modifications to the installed .config file.
+# You can then do "make savedefconfig" to generate a new defconfig file that includes your
+# modifications.
+#
+CONFIG_ARCH="arm64"
+CONFIG_ARCH_ADDRENV=y
+CONFIG_ARCH_ARM64=y
+CONFIG_ARCH_BOARD="qemu-armv8a"
+CONFIG_ARCH_BOARD_QEMU_ARMV8A=y
+CONFIG_ARCH_CHIP="qemu"
+CONFIG_ARCH_CHIP_QEMU=y
+CONFIG_ARCH_CHIP_QEMU_A53=y
+CONFIG_ARCH_DATA_NPAGES=0
+CONFIG_ARCH_DATA_VBASE=0xC0000000
+CONFIG_ARCH_EARLY_PRINT=y
+CONFIG_ARCH_HEAP_NPAGES=0
+CONFIG_ARCH_HEAP_VBASE=0x00000000
+CONFIG_ARCH_INTERRUPTSTACK=4096
+CONFIG_ARCH_KERNEL_STACKSIZE=8192
+CONFIG_ARCH_KMAP_NPAGES=4096
+CONFIG_ARCH_KMAP_VBASE=0x7F000000
+CONFIG_ARCH_PGPOOL_MAPPING=y
+CONFIG_ARCH_PGPOOL_PBASE=0x40800000
+CONFIG_ARCH_PGPOOL_SIZE=4194304
+CONFIG_ARCH_PGPOOL_VBASE=0x40800000
+CONFIG_ARCH_SHM_NPAGES=4096
+CONFIG_ARCH_SHM_VBASE=0xFF000000
+CONFIG_ARCH_TEXT_NPAGES=0
+CONFIG_ARCH_TEXT_VBASE=0x00000000
+CONFIG_ARCH_USE_MMU=y
+CONFIG_ARM64_SEMIHOSTING_HOSTFS=y
+CONFIG_ARM64_SEMIHOSTING_HOSTFS_CACHE_COHERENCE=y
+CONFIG_ARM64_STRING_FUNCTION=y
+CONFIG_BUILD_KERNEL=y
+CONFIG_DEBUG_ASSERTIONS=y
+CONFIG_DEBUG_FEATURES=y
+CONFIG_DEBUG_FULLOPT=y
+CONFIG_DEBUG_SCHED=y
+CONFIG_DEBUG_SCHED_ERROR=y
+CONFIG_DEBUG_SCHED_WARN=y
+CONFIG_DEBUG_SYMBOLS=y
+CONFIG_DEFAULT_TASK_STACKSIZE=8192
+CONFIG_DEVICE_TREE=y
+CONFIG_DEV_ZERO=y
+CONFIG_ELF=y
+CONFIG_EXAMPLES_HELLO=y
+CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL=y
+CONFIG_FS_HOSTFS=y
+CONFIG_FS_PROCFS=y
+CONFIG_FS_PROCFS_REGISTER=y
+CONFIG_FS_ROMFS=y
+CONFIG_FS_SHMFS=y
+CONFIG_HAVE_CXX=y
+CONFIG_IDLETHREAD_STACKSIZE=8192
+CONFIG_INIT_FILEPATH="/system/bin/init"
+CONFIG_INIT_MOUNT=y
+CONFIG_INIT_MOUNT_DATA="fs=../apps"
+CONFIG_INIT_MOUNT_FLAGS=0x1
+CONFIG_INIT_MOUNT_FSTYPE="hostfs"
+CONFIG_INIT_MOUNT_SOURCE=""
+CONFIG_INIT_MOUNT_TARGET="/system"
+CONFIG_INTELHEX_BINARY=y
+CONFIG_LIBC_ENVPATH=y
+CONFIG_LIBC_EXECFUNCS=y
+CONFIG_LIBC_MAX_EXITFUNS=16
+CONFIG_LIBC_PERROR_STDOUT=y
+CONFIG_LIBC_STRERROR=y
+CONFIG_LIBM=y
+CONFIG_MM_KMAP=y
+CONFIG_MM_PGALLOC=y
+CONFIG_NSH_ARCHINIT=y
+CONFIG_NSH_FILEIOSIZE=512
+CONFIG_NSH_FILE_APPS=y
+CONFIG_NSH_READLINE=y
+CONFIG_PATH_INITIAL="/system/bin"
+CONFIG_PREALLOC_TIMERS=4
+CONFIG_PTHREAD_STACK_MIN=8192
+CONFIG_RAMLOG=y
+CONFIG_RAM_SIZE=8388608
+CONFIG_RAM_START=0x40000000
+CONFIG_RAM_VSTART=0x40000000
+CONFIG_RAW_BINARY=y
+CONFIG_READLINE_CMD_HISTORY=y
+CONFIG_RR_INTERVAL=200
+CONFIG_SCHED_HAVE_PARENT=y
+CONFIG_SCHED_HPWORK=y
+CONFIG_SCHED_HPWORKPRIORITY=192
+CONFIG_SCHED_LPWORK=y
+CONFIG_SCHED_WAITPID=y
+CONFIG_SIG_DEFAULT=y
+CONFIG_SPINLOCK=y
+CONFIG_STACK_COLORATION=y
+CONFIG_START_MONTH=3
+CONFIG_START_YEAR=2022
+CONFIG_SYMTAB_ORDEREDBYNAME=y
+CONFIG_SYSTEM_NSH=y
+CONFIG_SYSTEM_NSH_PROGNAME="init"
+CONFIG_SYSTEM_TIME64=y
+CONFIG_TESTING_GETPRIME=y
+CONFIG_TESTING_OSTEST=y
+CONFIG_TESTING_OSTEST_FPUTESTDISABLE=y
+CONFIG_UART1_BASE=0x9000000
+CONFIG_UART1_IRQ=33
+CONFIG_UART1_PL011=y
+CONFIG_UART1_SERIAL_CONSOLE=y
+CONFIG_UART_PL011=y
+CONFIG_USEC_PER_TICK=1000
diff --git a/boards/arm64/qemu/qemu-armv8a/scripts/Make.defs b/boards/arm64/qemu/qemu-armv8a/scripts/Make.defs
index 2b76e1b08d..ca50cf3f79 100644
--- a/boards/arm64/qemu/qemu-armv8a/scripts/Make.defs
+++ b/boards/arm64/qemu/qemu-armv8a/scripts/Make.defs
@@ -22,7 +22,11 @@ include $(TOPDIR)/.config
 include $(TOPDIR)/tools/Config.mk
 include $(TOPDIR)/arch/arm64/src/Toolchain.defs
 
-LDSCRIPT = dramboot.ld
+ifeq ($(CONFIG_BUILD_KERNEL),y)
+  LDSCRIPT = ld-kernel.script
+else
+  LDSCRIPT = dramboot.ld
+endif
 
 ARCHSCRIPT += $(BOARD_DIR)$(DELIM)scripts$(DELIM)$(LDSCRIPT)
 
@@ -50,6 +54,3 @@ SHMODULEFLAGS = -Bsymbolic -G -Bdynamic
 
 CELFFLAGS = $(CFLAGS) -mlong-calls # --target1-abs
 CXXELFFLAGS = $(CXXFLAGS) -mlong-calls # --target1-abs
-
-LDELFFLAGS = -r -e main
-LDELFFLAGS += -T $(call CONVERT_PATH,$(TOPDIR)/binfmt/libelf/gnu-elf.ld)
diff --git a/boards/arm64/qemu/qemu-armv8a/scripts/gnu-elf.ld b/boards/arm64/qemu/qemu-armv8a/scripts/gnu-elf.ld
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7a42b64451
--- /dev/null
+++ b/boards/arm64/qemu/qemu-armv8a/scripts/gnu-elf.ld
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+/****************************************************************************
+ * boards/arm64/qemu/qemu-armv8a/scripts/gnu-elf.ld
+ *
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.  The
+ * ASF licenses this file to you 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.
+ *
+ ****************************************************************************/
+
+SECTIONS
+{
+  .text :
+    {
+      _stext = . ;
+      *(.text)
+      *(.text.*)
+      *(.gnu.warning)
+      *(.stub)
+      *(.glue_7)
+      *(.glue_7t)
+      *(.jcr)
+
+      /* C++ support:  The .init and .fini sections contain specific logic
+       * to manage static constructors and destructors.
+       */
+
+      *(.gnu.linkonce.t.*)
+      *(.init)             /* Old ABI */
+      *(.fini)             /* Old ABI */
+      _etext = . ;
+    }
+
+  .rodata :
+    {
+      _srodata = . ;
+      *(.rodata)
+      *(.rodata1)
+      *(.rodata.*)
+      *(.gnu.linkonce.r*)
+      _erodata = . ;
+    }
+
+  .data :
+    {
+      _sdata = . ;
+      *(.data)
+      *(.data1)
+      *(.data.*)
+      *(.gnu.linkonce.d*)
+      . = ALIGN(4);
+      _edata = . ;
+    }
+
+  /* C++ support. For each global and static local C++ object,
+   * GCC creates a small subroutine to construct the object. Pointers
+   * to these routines (not the routines themselves) are stored as
+   * simple, linear arrays in the .ctors section of the object file.
+   * Similarly, pointers to global/static destructor routines are
+   * stored in .dtors.
+   */
+
+  .ctors :
+    {
+      _sctors = . ;
+      KEEP(*(SORT_BY_INIT_PRIORITY(.init_array.*) SORT_BY_INIT_PRIORITY(.ctors.*)))
+      KEEP(*(.init_array .ctors))
+      _ectors = . ;
+    }
+
+  .dtors :
+    {
+      _sdtors = . ;
+      KEEP (*(.dtors))       /* Old ABI:  Unallocated */
+      KEEP (*(.fini_array))  /* New ABI:  Allocated */
+      KEEP (*(SORT(.fini_array.*)))
+      _edtors = . ;
+    }
+
+  .bss :
+    {
+      _sbss = . ;
+      *(.bss)
+      *(.bss.*)
+      *(.sbss)
+      *(.sbss.*)
+      *(.gnu.linkonce.b*)
+      *(COMMON)
+      _ebss = . ;
+    }
+
+  /* Thread local storage support */
+  .tdata : 
+    {
+      _stdata = ABSOLUTE(.);
+      KEEP (*(.tdata .tdata.* .gnu.linkonce.td.*));
+      _etdata = ABSOLUTE(.);
+    }
+
+  .tbss : 
+    {
+      _stbss = ABSOLUTE(.);
+      KEEP (*(.tbss .tbss.* .gnu.linkonce.tb.* .tcommon));
+      _etbss = ABSOLUTE(.);
+    }
+
+    /* Stabs debugging sections.    */
+
+    .stab 0 : { *(.stab) }
+    .stabstr 0 : { *(.stabstr) }
+    .stab.excl 0 : { *(.stab.excl) }
+    .stab.exclstr 0 : { *(.stab.exclstr) }
+    .stab.index 0 : { *(.stab.index) }
+    .stab.indexstr 0 : { *(.stab.indexstr) }
+    .comment 0 : { *(.comment) }
+    .debug_abbrev 0 : { *(.debug_abbrev) }
+    .debug_info 0 : { *(.debug_info) }
+    .debug_line 0 : { *(.debug_line) }
+    .debug_pubnames 0 : { *(.debug_pubnames) }
+    .debug_aranges 0 : { *(.debug_aranges) }
+}
diff --git a/boards/arm64/qemu/qemu-armv8a/scripts/ld-kernel.script b/boards/arm64/qemu/qemu-armv8a/scripts/ld-kernel.script
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e6c951f3f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/boards/arm64/qemu/qemu-armv8a/scripts/ld-kernel.script
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+/****************************************************************************
+ * boards/risc-v/qemu-rv/rv-virt/scripts/ld.script
+ *
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.  The
+ * ASF licenses this file to you 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.
+ *
+ ****************************************************************************/
+
+OUTPUT_ARCH(aarch64)
+
+ENTRY(__start)
+EXTERN(__start)
+
+MEMORY
+{
+  dram (rwx)  : ORIGIN = 0x40280000, LENGTH = 2M
+  pgram (rwx) : ORIGIN = 0x40800000, LENGTH = 4M   /* w/ cache */
+}
+
+PHDRS
+{
+  /* R = 100, W = 010, X = 001 */
+
+  text   PT_LOAD FLAGS(5); /* RX */
+  rodata PT_LOAD FLAGS(4); /* R  */
+  data   PT_LOAD FLAGS(6); /* RW */
+}
+
+SECTIONS
+{
+  .text  :
+    {
+      _stext = ABSOLUTE(.);  /* Text section */
+      *(.start .start.*)     /* Place __start here */
+      *(.text .text.*)
+      *(.text.cold)
+      *(.text.unlikely)
+      *(.fixup)
+      *(.gnu.warning)
+    } > dram :text
+
+  .init_section :
+    {
+      _sinit = ABSOLUTE(.);
+      KEEP(*(SORT_BY_INIT_PRIORITY(.init_array.*) SORT_BY_INIT_PRIORITY(.ctors.*)))
+      KEEP(*(.init_array .ctors))
+      _einit = ABSOLUTE(.);
+    } > dram :text
+
+  /* Vector table must be page aligned */
+
+  .vector : ALIGN(4096)
+    {
+      _vector_start = ABSOLUTE(.);
+      KEEP(*(.exc_vector_table))
+      KEEP(*(".exc_vector_table.*"))
+      KEEP(*(.vectors))
+      _vector_end = ABSOLUTE(.);
+    } > dram :text
+
+  /* End of text data must be aligned to page boundary */
+
+  . = ALIGN(4096);
+  _etext = .;
+  _sztext = _etext - _stext;
+
+  /* Start of RO data must be page aligned (mapped as read only) */
+
+  .rodata : ALIGN(4096)
+    {
+      _srodata = ABSOLUTE(.);          /* Read-only data */
+      *(.rodata .rodata.*)
+      *(.data.rel.ro)
+      *(.data.rel.ro.*)
+    } > dram :rodata
+
+  /* End of RO data must be page aligned */
+
+  . = ALIGN(4096);
+
+  _erodata = .;                /* End of read-only data */
+  _szrodata = _erodata - _srodata;
+  _eronly = .;  /* End of read-only data */
+
+  .data : ALIGN(4096)
+    {
+      _sdata = ABSOLUTE(.);
+      *(.data.page_aligned)
+      *(.data .data.*)
+      . = ALIGN(8);
+      *(.data.rel)
+      *(.data.rel.*)
+      CONSTRUCTORS
+      . = ALIGN(8);
+      _edata = ABSOLUTE(.);
+    } > dram :data
+
+  .bss :
+    {
+      . = ALIGN(8);
+      _sbss = ABSOLUTE(.);
+      *(.bss .bss.*)
+      . = ALIGN(8);
+      _ebss = ABSOLUTE(.);
+    } > dram :data
+
+  _szbss = _ebss - _sbss;
+
+  .initstack :
+    {
+      _s_initstack = ABSOLUTE(.);
+      *(.initstack)
+    } > dram :data
+
+  /* End of data must be page aligned */
+  . = ALIGN(4096);
+
+  g_idle_topstack = .;
+  _e_initstack = .;
+  _szdata = _e_initstack - _sdata;
+
+  /* Sections to be discarded */
+  /DISCARD/ :
+    {
+       *(.exit.text)
+       *(.exit.data)
+       *(.exitcall.exit)
+       *(.eh_frame)
+    }
+
+  /* Stabs debugging sections.  */
+  .stab 0 : { *(.stab) }
+  .stabstr 0 : { *(.stabstr) }
+  .stab.excl 0 : { *(.stab.excl) }
+  .stab.exclstr 0 : { *(.stab.exclstr) }
+  .stab.index 0 : { *(.stab.index) }
+  .stab.indexstr 0 : { *(.stab.indexstr) }
+  .comment 0 : { *(.comment) }
+}