diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 282b54e6..3255c719 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,21 +1,4 @@
-ARCH       ?= aarch64-none-elf
-CC         := $(ARCH)-gcc
-LD         := $(ARCH)-ld
-AR         := $(ARCH)-ar
-OBJCOPY    := $(ARCH)-objcopy
-
-CFLAGS_BASE  ?= -g -O0 -nostdlib -ffreestanding \
-                -fno-exceptions -fno-unwind-tables -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables \
-                -Wall -Wextra -Wno-unused-parameter -Wno-address-of-packed-member -mcpu=cortex-a72
-CONLY_FLAGS_BASE ?= -std=c17
-LDFLAGS_BASE ?=
-
-LOAD_ADDR      ?= 0x41000000
-XHCI_CTX_SIZE  ?= 32
-QEMU           ?= true
-MODE           ?= virt
-
-export ARCH CC LD AR OBJCOPY CFLAGS_BASE CONLY_FLAGS_BASE LDFLAGS_BASE LOAD_ADDR XHCI_CTX_SIZE QEMU
+include common.mk
 
 OS      := $(shell uname)
 FS_DIRS := fs/redos/user
@@ -42,13 +25,13 @@ kernel:
 	$(MAKE) -C kernel LOAD_ADDR=$(LOAD_ADDR) XHCI_CTX_SIZE=$(XHCI_CTX_SIZE) QEMU=$(QEMU)
 
 clean:
-	$(MAKE) -C shared clean
-	$(MAKE) -C user   clean
-	$(MAKE) -C kernel clean
+	$(MAKE) -C shared $@
+	$(MAKE) -C user   $@
+	$(MAKE) -C kernel $@
 	@echo "removing fs dirs"
-	rm -rf $(FS_DIRS)
+	$(RM) -r $(FS_DIRS)
 	@echo "removing images"
-	rm -f kernel.img kernel.elf disk.img dump
+	$(RM) kernel.img kernel.elf disk.img dump
 
 raspi:
 	$(MAKE) LOAD_ADDR=0x80000 XHCI_CTX_SIZE=64 QEMU=true all
@@ -63,11 +46,11 @@ run:
 debug:
 	$(MAKE) $(MODE)
 	./rundebug MODE=$(MODE) $(ARGS)
-  
+
 dump:
 	$(OBJCOPY) -O binary kernel.elf kernel.img
-	aarch64-none-elf-objdump -D kernel.elf > dump
-  
+	$(ARCH)-objdump -D kernel.elf > dump
+
 install:
 	$(MAKE) clean
 	$(MAKE) LOAD_ADDR=0x80000 XHCI_CTX_SIZE=64 QEMU=false all
@@ -89,4 +72,6 @@ help:
   make debug        build and run with debugger\n\
   make dump         disassemble kernel.elf\n\
   make install      create raspi kernel and mount it on a bootable partition\n\
-  make prepare-fs   create directories for the filesystem\n\n"
+  make prepare-fs   create directories for the filesystem\n\n"\
+  \n\
+  Use 'make V=1' for verbose build output.
diff --git a/common.mk b/common.mk
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..676b839e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common.mk
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+ARCH       ?= aarch64-none-elf
+CC         := $(ARCH)-gcc
+CXX        := $(ARCH)-g++
+LD         := $(ARCH)-ld
+AR         := $(ARCH)-ar
+OBJCOPY    := $(ARCH)-objcopy
+
+COMMON_FLAGS  ?= -ffreestanding -nostdlib -fno-exceptions -fno-unwind-tables \
+                 -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables -g -O0 -Wall -Wextra \
+                 -Wno-unused-parameter -Wno-address-of-packed-member \
+                 -mcpu=cortex-a72
+
+CFLAGS_BASE   ?= $(COMMON_FLAGS) -std=c17
+CXXFLAGS_BASE ?= $(COMMON_FLAGS) -fno-rtti
+LDFLAGS_BASE  ?=
+
+LOAD_ADDR      ?= 0x41000000
+XHCI_CTX_SIZE  ?= 32
+QEMU           ?= true
+MODE           ?= virt
+
+ifeq ($(V), 1)
+  VAR  = $(AR)
+  VAS  = $(CC)
+  VCC  = $(CC)
+  VCXX = $(CXX)
+  VLD  = $(LD)
+else
+  VAR  = @echo "  [AR]   $@" && $(AR)
+  VAS  = @echo "  [AS]   $@" && $(CC)
+  VCC  = @echo "  [CC]   $@" && $(CC)
+  VCXX = @echo "  [CXX]  $@" && $(CXX)
+  VLD  = @echo "  [LD]   $@" && $(LD)
+endif
diff --git a/kernel/Makefile b/kernel/Makefile
index 8d936996..db1c553c 100644
--- a/kernel/Makefile
+++ b/kernel/Makefile
@@ -1,12 +1,17 @@
 #kernel
 # toolchain (inherited from top-level)
 
-CFLAGS := $(CFLAGS_BASE) -I. -I../shared -I../user -DXHCI_CTX_SIZE=$(XHCI_CTX_SIZE)
+include ../common.mk
+
+CPPFLAGS := -I. -I../shared -I../user -DXHCI_CTX_SIZE=$(XHCI_CTX_SIZE)
+
 ifeq ($(QEMU),true)
-  CFLAGS += -DQEMU
+  CPPFLAGS += -DQEMU
 endif
 
-LDFLAGS := $(LDFLAGS_BASE) -T $(shell ls *.ld) --defsym=LOAD_ADDR=$(LOAD_ADDR)
+CFLAGS   := $(CFLAGS_BASE) $(CPPFLAGS)
+CXXFLAGS := $(CXXFLAGS_BASE) $(CPPFLAGS)
+LDFLAGS  := $(LDFLAGS_BASE) -T $(shell ls *.ld) --defsym=LOAD_ADDR=$(LOAD_ADDR)
 
 CLEAN_OBJS := $(shell find . -name '*.o')
 CLEAN_DEPS := $(shell find . -name '*.d')
@@ -23,17 +28,19 @@ TARGET  := ../kernel.img
 all: $(TARGET)
 
 $(TARGET): ../shared/libshared.a $(OBJ)
-	$(LD) $(LDFLAGS) -o $(ELF) $(OBJL) ../shared/libshared.a
+	$(VLD) $(LDFLAGS) -o $(ELF) $(OBJL) ../shared/libshared.a
 	$(OBJCOPY) -O binary $(ELF) $@
 
 %.o: %.S
-	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -MMD -MP $< -o $@
+	$(VAS) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $@
+
 %.o: %.c
-	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CONLY_FLAGS_BASE) -c -MMD -MP $< -o $@
+	$(VCC) $(CFLAGS) -c -MMD -MP $< -o $@
+
 %.o: %.cpp
-	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -fno-rtti -c -MMD -MP $< -o $@
+	$(VCXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -MMD -MP $< -o $@
 
 clean:
-	rm -f $(CLEAN_OBJS) $(CLEAN_DEPS) $(ELF) $(TARGET)
+	$(RM) $(CLEAN_OBJS) $(CLEAN_DEPS) $(ELF) $(TARGET)
 
 -include $(DEP)
diff --git a/shared/Makefile b/shared/Makefile
index d815120d..cd1b61bc 100644
--- a/shared/Makefile
+++ b/shared/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 #shared
-CFLAGS  := $(CFLAGS_BASE) -I. -I../kernel -Wno-unused-parameter
+
+include ../common.mk
+
+CPPFLAGS := -I. -I../kernel
+CFLAGS   := $(CFLAGS_BASE) $(CPPFLAGS)
+CXXFLAGS := $(CXXFLAGS_BASE) $(CPPFLAGS)
 
 CLEAN_OBJS := $(shell find . -name '*.o')
 CLEAN_DEPS := $(shell find . -name '*.d')
@@ -16,18 +21,18 @@ TARGET  := libshared.a
 all: $(TARGET)
 
 $(TARGET): $(OBJ)
-	$(AR) rcs $@ $^
+	$(VAR) rcs $@ $^
 
 %.o: %.S
-	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -MMD -MP $< -o $@
+	$(VAS) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $@
 
 %.o: %.c
-	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CONLY_FLAGS_BASE) -c -MMD -MP $< -o $@
+	$(VCC) $(CFLAGS) -c -MMD -MP $< -o $@
 
 %.o: %.cpp
-	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -fno-rtti -c -MMD -MP $< -o $@
+	$(VCXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -MMD -MP $< -o $@
 
 clean:
-	rm -f $(CLEAN_OBJS) $(CLEAN_DEPS) $(TARGET)
+	$(RM) $(CLEAN_OBJS) $(CLEAN_DEPS) $(TARGET)
 
 -include $(DEP)
diff --git a/user/Makefile b/user/Makefile
index 3f9ce25e..5e5cabf1 100644
--- a/user/Makefile
+++ b/user/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 #user
-CFLAGS  := $(CFLAGS_BASE) -I. -I../shared -Wno-unused-parameter
-LDFLAGS := -T $(shell ls *.ld)
+
+include ../common.mk
+
+CPPFLAGS := -I. -I../shared
+CFLAGS   := $(CFLAGS_BASE) $(CPPFLAGS)
+CXXFLAGS := $(CXXFLAGS_BASE) $(CPPFLAGS)
+LDFLAGS  := -T $(shell ls *.ld)
 
 CLEAN_OBJS := $(shell find . -name '*.o')
 CLEAN_DEPS := $(shell find . -name '*.d')
@@ -19,19 +24,19 @@ LOCATION := ../fs/redos/user/
 all: $(LOCATION)$(TARGET)
 
 $(LOCATION)$(TARGET): $(OBJ)
-	$(LD) $(LDFLAGS) -o $(LOCATION)$(ELF) $(OBJ) ../shared/libshared.a
+	$(VLD) $(LDFLAGS) -o $(LOCATION)$(ELF) $(OBJ) ../shared/libshared.a
 	$(OBJCOPY) -O binary $(LOCATION)$(ELF) $@
 
 %.o: %.S
-	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -MMD -MP $< -o $@
+	$(VAS) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $@
 
 %.o: %.c
-	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CONLY_FLAGS_BASE) -c -MMD -MP $< -o $@
+	$(VCC) $(CFLAGS) -c -MMD -MP $< -o $@
 
 %.o: %.cpp
-	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -fno-rtti -c -MMD -MP $< -o $@
+	$(VCXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c -MMD -MP $< -o $@
 
 clean:
-	rm -f $(CLEAN_OBJS) $(CLEAN_DEPS) $(TARGET)
+	$(RM) $(CLEAN_OBJS) $(CLEAN_DEPS) $(TARGET)
 
 -include $(DEP)