diff --git a/arch/arm/src/cmake/elf.cmake b/arch/arm/src/cmake/elf.cmake
index 67223df2511..c199c9a6fc2 100644
--- a/arch/arm/src/cmake/elf.cmake
+++ b/arch/arm/src/cmake/elf.cmake
@@ -35,3 +35,5 @@ nuttx_elf_link_options_ifdef(CONFIG_BINFMT_ELF_RELOCATABLE -r)
 nuttx_elf_link_options_ifdef(CONFIG_BUILD_KERNEL -Bstatic)
 
 nuttx_elf_link_options_ifdef(CONFIG_DEBUG_OPT_UNUSED_SECTIONS --gc-sections)
+
+nuttx_elf_link_options(-e __start)
diff --git a/arch/arm64/src/cmake/elf.cmake b/arch/arm64/src/cmake/elf.cmake
index 1e8dfb4218a..d0ce0a6db85 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/src/cmake/elf.cmake
+++ b/arch/arm64/src/cmake/elf.cmake
@@ -27,3 +27,5 @@ nuttx_elf_link_options_ifdef(CONFIG_BINFMT_ELF_RELOCATABLE -r)
 nuttx_elf_link_options_ifdef(CONFIG_BUILD_KERNEL -Bstatic)
 
 nuttx_elf_link_options_ifdef(CONFIG_DEBUG_OPT_UNUSED_SECTIONS --gc-sections)
+
+nuttx_elf_link_options(-e __start)
diff --git a/arch/sim/src/cmake/Toolchain.cmake b/arch/sim/src/cmake/Toolchain.cmake
index b5d87923a8c..cf91d6f4cd2 100644
--- a/arch/sim/src/cmake/Toolchain.cmake
+++ b/arch/sim/src/cmake/Toolchain.cmake
@@ -29,6 +29,12 @@ if(WIN32)
   return()
 endif()
 
+if(CONFIG_HOST_LINUX)
+  set(CMAKE_LD ld)
+  set(CMAKE_PREPROCESSOR cc -E -P -x c)
+  set(CMAKE_STRIP strip --strip-unneeded)
+endif()
+
 # LLVM style architecture flags
 if(CONFIG_HOST_X86_64)
   if(CONFIG_SIM_M32)
diff --git a/arch/sim/src/cmake/elf.cmake b/arch/sim/src/cmake/elf.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..dc2cca50a14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/arch/sim/src/cmake/elf.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# ##############################################################################
+# arch/sim/src/cmake/elf.cmake
+#
+# 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.
+#
+# ##############################################################################
+
+# Loadable and ELF module settings
+
+nuttx_elf_compile_options(-fvisibility=hidden -fno-pic)
+
+nuttx_elf_compile_options_ifdef(CONFIG_LIBC_ARCH_ELF_64BIT -mcmodel=large)
+
+nuttx_elf_link_options(-r -e main)
+
+nuttx_elf_link_options_ifdef(CONFIG_SIM_M32 -melf_i386)
diff --git a/arch/x86_64/src/cmake/elf.cmake b/arch/x86_64/src/cmake/elf.cmake
index 1bcbc42a88b..a5bcaa5e9f5 100644
--- a/arch/x86_64/src/cmake/elf.cmake
+++ b/arch/x86_64/src/cmake/elf.cmake
@@ -25,3 +25,5 @@ nuttx_elf_compile_options(-fvisibility=hidden -fno-pic -mcmodel=large)
 nuttx_elf_link_options(-r)
 
 nuttx_elf_link_options_ifdef(CONFIG_DEBUG_OPT_UNUSED_SECTIONS --gc-sections)
+
+nuttx_elf_link_options(-e __start)
diff --git a/cmake/nuttx_add_application.cmake b/cmake/nuttx_add_application.cmake
index 5a125590e51..1fd342bbfa0 100644
--- a/cmake/nuttx_add_application.cmake
+++ b/cmake/nuttx_add_application.cmake
@@ -131,8 +131,9 @@ function(nuttx_add_application)
           COMMAND
             ${CMAKE_LD}
             $<GENEX_EVAL:$<TARGET_PROPERTY:nuttx_global,NUTTX_ELF_APP_LINK_OPTIONS>>
-            -e __start -T ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/gnu-elf.ld
-            $<TARGET_OBJECTS:STARTUP_OBJS> --start-group
+            -T ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/gnu-elf.ld
+            $<$<TARGET_EXISTS:STARTUP_OBJS>:$<TARGET_OBJECTS:STARTUP_OBJS>>
+            --start-group
             $<$<BOOL:${CONFIG_BUILD_KERNEL}>:$<GENEX_EVAL:$<TARGET_PROPERTY:nuttx_global,NUTTX_ELF_LINK_LIBRARIES>>>
             $<GENEX_EVAL:$<TARGET_PROPERTY:nuttx_global,NUTTX_ELF_LINK_EXTRA_LIBRARIES>>
             $<TARGET_FILE:${TARGET}> --end-group -o