diff --git a/boards/sim/sim/sim/src/Makefile b/boards/sim/sim/sim/src/Makefile
index 0b01b424b47..7f4bbfa5178 100644
--- a/boards/sim/sim/sim/src/Makefile
+++ b/boards/sim/sim/sim/src/Makefile
@@ -35,8 +35,10 @@
 
 include $(TOPDIR)/Make.defs
 
+# Add dummy.c to ensure that we have at least one object.
+# On some platforms like macOS, we can't create an empty archive.
 ASRCS =
-CSRCS =
+CSRCS = dummy.c
 
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_BOARD_LATE_INITIALIZE),y)
   CSRCS += sim_boot.c
diff --git a/boards/sim/sim/sim/src/dummy.c b/boards/sim/sim/sim/src/dummy.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e69de29bb2d