diff --git a/firmware/LICENCE.rtlwifi_firmware.txt b/firmware/LICENCE.rtlwifi_firmware.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d70921f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/firmware/LICENCE.rtlwifi_firmware.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+Copyright (c) 2010, Realtek Semiconductor Corporation 
+All rights reserved.
+
+Redistribution.  Redistribution and use in binary form, without 
+modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are 
+met:
+
+* Redistributions must reproduce the above copyright notice and the 
+  following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials 
+  provided with the distribution. 
+* Neither the name of Realtek Semiconductor Corporation nor the names of its
+  suppliers may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this
+  software without specific prior written permission. 
+* No reverse engineering, decompilation, or disassembly of this software 
+  is permitted.
+
+Limited patent license. Realtek Semiconductor Corporation grants a world-wide, 
+royalty-free, non-exclusive license under patents it now or hereafter 
+owns or controls to make, have made, use, import, offer to sell and 
+sell ("Utilize") this software, but solely to the extent that any 
+such patent is necessary to Utilize the software alone, or in 
+combination with an operating system licensed under an approved Open 
+Source license as listed by the Open Source Initiative at 
+http://opensource.org/licenses.  The patent license shall not apply to 
+any other combinations which include this software.  No hardware per 
+se is licensed hereunder.
+
+DISCLAIMER.  THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND 
+CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, 
+BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND 
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE 
+COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, 
+INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, 
+BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS 
+OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND 
+ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR 
+TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE 
+USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH 
+DAMAGE.
diff --git a/firmware/rtl8188eufw.bin b/firmware/rtl8188eufw.bin
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8bb12ea8
Binary files /dev/null and b/firmware/rtl8188eufw.bin differ
diff --git a/kernel-src/include/kernel/firmware.h b/kernel-src/include/kernel/firmware.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e0b48c86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kernel-src/include/kernel/firmware.h
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#ifndef _FIRMWARE_H
+#define _FIRMWARE_H
+
+#include <stddef.h>
+
+typedef void (*firmware_callback_t)(void *ctx, void *data, size_t size);
+
+// firmware data is only valid only for the duration of the callback
+int firmware_load(const char *name, firmware_callback_t callback, void *ctx);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/kernel-src/io/firmware.c b/kernel-src/io/firmware.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..87e9dd32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kernel-src/io/firmware.c
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+#include <kernel/firmware.h>
+#include <kernel/vfs.h>
+#include <kernel/alloc.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+
+#define FIRMWARE_SIZE_LIMIT (16 * 1024)
+#define FIRMWARE_PATH "/usr/lib/firmware/"
+
+typedef struct {
+	const char *name;
+	firmware_callback_t callback;
+	void *ctx;
+} firmware_ctx_t;
+
+static void do_load(void *ctx) {
+	firmware_ctx_t *fc = ctx;
+	printf("firmware: loading \"%s\"\n", fc->name);
+
+	vnode_t *firmware_dir;
+	int error = vfs_lookup(&firmware_dir, vfsroot, FIRMWARE_PATH, NULL, 0);
+	if (error) {
+		printf("firmware: loading \"%s\" failed: failed to open %s (%s)\n",
+			       	fc->name, FIRMWARE_PATH, strerror(error));
+		goto leave;
+	}
+
+	VOP_UNLOCK(firmware_dir); // vfs_lookup returns vnode locked
+
+	vnode_t *firmware_file;
+	error = vfs_lookup(&firmware_file, firmware_dir, fc->name, NULL, 0);
+	VOP_RELEASE(firmware_dir);
+	if (error) {
+		printf("firmware: loading \"%s\" failed: failed to open file (%s)\n", 
+				fc->name, strerror(error));
+		goto leave;
+	}
+
+	vattr_t vattr;
+	error = VOP_GETATTR(firmware_file, &vattr, NULL);
+	VOP_UNLOCK(firmware_file);
+	if (error)
+		goto leave_release;
+
+	if (vattr.size >= FIRMWARE_SIZE_LIMIT) {
+		error = EINVAL;
+		goto leave_release;
+	}
+
+	void *buffer = alloc(vattr.size);
+	if (buffer == NULL) {
+		error = ENOMEM;
+		goto leave_release;
+	}
+
+	size_t bytes_read;
+	error = vfs_read(firmware_file, buffer, vattr.size, 0, &bytes_read, 0); 
+	if (error)
+		goto leave_free;
+
+	if (bytes_read != vattr.size) {
+		error = EINVAL;
+		goto leave_free;
+	}
+
+	printf("firmware: \"%s\" loaded\n", fc->name);
+	fc->callback(fc->ctx, buffer, vattr.size);
+
+leave_free:
+	free(buffer);
+leave_release:
+	if (error) {
+		printf("firmware: loading \"%s\" failed: %s\n", 
+				fc->name, strerror(error));
+	}
+	VOP_RELEASE(firmware_file);
+leave:
+	free(fc);
+}
+
+int firmware_load(const char *name, firmware_callback_t callback, void *ctx) {
+	// TODO: support kernel embedded firmware
+	firmware_ctx_t *fc = alloc(sizeof(firmware_ctx_t));
+	if (fc == NULL)
+		return ENOMEM;
+
+	fc->name = name;
+	fc->callback = callback;
+	fc->ctx = ctx;
+
+	int error = vfs_root_event_attach(do_load, fc);
+	if (error && error != EBUSY) {
+		free(fc);
+		return error;
+	} else if (error == EBUSY) {
+		do_load(fc);
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/recipes/firmware b/recipes/firmware
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..29641f82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/recipes/firmware
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+name=firmware
+revision=1
+from_source=firmware
+
+package() {
+	mkdir -p ${dest_dir}/usr/lib/firmware
+	cp -r ${source_dir}/* ${dest_dir}/usr/lib/firmware
+}
diff --git a/source-recipes/firmware b/source-recipes/firmware
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0cdf23fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source-recipes/firmware
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+name=firmware
+version=0
+source_dir="firmware"