diff --git a/kernel/src/arch/aarch64/boot/mod.rs b/kernel/src/arch/aarch64/boot/mod.rs
index 2a16d89..2124d2a 100644
--- a/kernel/src/arch/aarch64/boot/mod.rs
+++ b/kernel/src/arch/aarch64/boot/mod.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,13 @@
 //! aarch64 common boot logic
 
 use crate::arch::{aarch64::asm::CPACR_EL1, machine};
-use crate::dev::{Device, fdt::DeviceTree};
-use crate::mem::virt;
+use crate::dev::{fdt::DeviceTree, Device};
+use crate::mem::{
+    self,
+    heap,
+    phys::{self, PageUsage},
+    virt,
+};
 use cortex_a::asm::barrier::{self, dsb, isb};
 use cortex_a::registers::{DAIF, SCTLR_EL1, VBAR_EL1};
 use tock_registers::interfaces::{ReadWriteable, Writeable};
@@ -32,6 +37,18 @@ extern "C" fn __aa64_bsp_main(fdt_base: usize) {
     // Enable MMU
     virt::enable().expect("Failed to initialize virtual memory");
 
+    // Most basic machine init: initialize proper debug output
+    // physical memory
+    machine::init_board_early().unwrap();
+
+    // Setup a heap
+    unsafe {
+        let heap_base_phys = phys::alloc_contiguous_pages(PageUsage::KernelHeap, 4096)
+            .expect("Failed to allocate memory for heap");
+        let heap_base_virt = mem::virtualize(heap_base_phys);
+        heap::init(heap_base_virt, 16 * 1024 * 1024);
+    }
+
     machine::init_board().unwrap();
 
     if fdt_base != 0 {
@@ -42,6 +59,8 @@ extern "C" fn __aa64_bsp_main(fdt_base: usize) {
         } else {
             debugln!("Failed to init FDT");
         }
+    } else {
+        debugln!("No FDT present");
     }
 
     debugln!("Machine init finished");
diff --git a/kernel/src/arch/aarch64/mach_qemu/mod.rs b/kernel/src/arch/aarch64/mach_qemu/mod.rs
index 2858839..dc144be 100644
--- a/kernel/src/arch/aarch64/mach_qemu/mod.rs
+++ b/kernel/src/arch/aarch64/mach_qemu/mod.rs
@@ -17,24 +17,30 @@ use error::Errno;
 
 pub use gic::IrqNumber;
 
+// TODO extract this from device tree
 const UART0_BASE: usize = 0x09000000;
 const RTC_BASE: usize = 0x09010000;
 const GICD_BASE: usize = 0x08000000;
 const GICC_BASE: usize = 0x08010000;
-// TODO extract this from device tree
 const ECAM_BASE: usize = 0x4010000000;
 
 const PHYS_BASE: usize = 0x40000000;
 const PHYS_SIZE: usize = 0x10000000;
 
 #[allow(missing_docs)]
-pub fn init_board() -> Result<(), Errno> {
+pub fn init_board_early() -> Result<(), Errno> {
     unsafe {
         // Enable UART early on
         UART0.enable()?;
 
         phys::init_from_region(PHYS_BASE, PHYS_SIZE);
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
 
+#[allow(missing_docs)]
+pub fn init_board() -> Result<(), Errno> {
+    unsafe {
         GIC.enable()?;
 
         UART0.init_irqs()?;
@@ -43,7 +49,7 @@ pub fn init_board() -> Result<(), Errno> {
         RTC.init_irqs()?;
 
         PCIE.enable()?;
-        PCIE.map()?;
+        // PCIE.map()?;
     }
     Ok(())
 }
diff --git a/kernel/src/main.rs b/kernel/src/main.rs
index ce25d40..4cd6452 100644
--- a/kernel/src/main.rs
+++ b/kernel/src/main.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@
     const_fn_fn_ptr_basics,
     const_fn_trait_bound,
     const_panic,
-    panic_info_message
+    panic_info_message,
+    alloc_error_handler,
 )]
 #![no_std]
 #![no_main]
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@
 
 #[macro_use]
 extern crate cfg_if;
+extern crate alloc;
 
 #[macro_use]
 pub mod debug;
diff --git a/kernel/src/mem/heap.rs b/kernel/src/mem/heap.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a04c509
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kernel/src/mem/heap.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+use crate::util::InitOnce;
+use crate::sync::IrqSafeNullLock;
+use core::alloc::{GlobalAlloc, Layout};
+use core::ptr::null_mut;
+
+struct SystemAlloc;
+
+struct Heap {
+    base: usize,
+    size: usize,
+    ptr: usize,
+}
+
+unsafe impl GlobalAlloc for SystemAlloc {
+    unsafe fn alloc(&self, layout: Layout) -> *mut u8 {
+        HEAP.get().lock().alloc(layout)
+    }
+
+    unsafe fn dealloc(&self, ptr: *mut u8, layout: Layout) {
+        HEAP.get().lock().dealloc(ptr, layout)
+    }
+}
+
+impl Heap {
+    unsafe fn alloc(&mut self, layout: Layout) -> *mut u8 {
+        // Simple bump allocation
+        assert!(layout.align() <= 16);
+        let size = (layout.size() + 15) & !15;
+        if self.ptr + size >= self.size {
+            return null_mut();
+        }
+
+        let ptr = self.ptr;
+        self.ptr += size;
+
+        (self.base + ptr) as *mut u8
+    }
+
+    unsafe fn dealloc(&mut self, _ptr: *mut u8, _layout: Layout) {
+    }
+}
+
+#[alloc_error_handler]
+fn alloc_error_handler(layout: Layout) -> ! {
+    panic!("Allocation failed: {:?}", layout)
+}
+
+#[global_allocator]
+static SYSTEM_ALLOC: SystemAlloc = SystemAlloc;
+
+static HEAP: InitOnce<IrqSafeNullLock<Heap>> = InitOnce::new();
+
+pub unsafe fn init(base: usize, size: usize) {
+    let heap = Heap {
+        base,
+        size,
+        ptr: 0
+    };
+
+    debugln!("Kernel heap: {:#x}..{:#x}", base, base + size);
+
+    HEAP.init(IrqSafeNullLock::new(heap));
+}
diff --git a/kernel/src/mem/mod.rs b/kernel/src/mem/mod.rs
index 21b6598..79dfd5b 100644
--- a/kernel/src/mem/mod.rs
+++ b/kernel/src/mem/mod.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 pub mod phys;
 pub mod virt;
+pub mod heap;
 
 /// Virtual offset applied to kernel address space
 pub const KERNEL_OFFSET: usize = 0xFFFFFF8000000000;
diff --git a/kernel/src/mem/phys/mod.rs b/kernel/src/mem/phys/mod.rs
index 633550b..2b6b819 100644
--- a/kernel/src/mem/phys/mod.rs
+++ b/kernel/src/mem/phys/mod.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use crate::mem::PAGE_SIZE;
 use core::mem::size_of;
+use error::Errno;
 
 mod reserved;
 mod manager;
@@ -15,7 +16,8 @@ const MAX_PAGES: usize = 1024 * 1024;
 pub enum PageUsage {
     Reserved,
     Available,
-    Kernel
+    Kernel,
+    KernelHeap
 }
 
 pub struct PageInfo {
@@ -46,6 +48,10 @@ impl Iterator for SimpleMemoryIterator {
     }
 }
 
+pub fn alloc_contiguous_pages(pu: PageUsage, count: usize) -> Result<usize, Errno> {
+    MANAGER.lock().as_mut().unwrap().alloc_contiguous_pages(pu, count)
+}
+
 fn find_contiguous<T: Iterator<Item = MemoryRegion>>(
     iter: T,
     count: usize,