diff --git a/Makefile.common b/Makefile.common
index e530f5f3..ff01f4f5 100644
--- a/Makefile.common
+++ b/Makefile.common
@@ -91,6 +91,9 @@ CXXFLAGS += -D__CPU_$(call uppercase,$(TARGET_SUBFAMILY))
 # generic CFLAGS/LDFLAGS
 LDFLAGS += -L$(PREFIX_A)
 
+# make PROJECT_PATH the first search dir to allow project customizations/monkey-patching
+CFLAGS := -I$(PROJECT_PATH) $(CFLAGS)
+
 # add multilib directory to library search path
 SYSROOT := $(shell $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -print-sysroot)
 MULTILIB_DIR := $(shell $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -print-multi-directory)
diff --git a/Makefile.host b/Makefile.host
index 5f3d76a9..7ca0bbe7 100644
--- a/Makefile.host
+++ b/Makefile.host
@@ -6,30 +6,30 @@
 # %LICENSE%
 #
 
-CROSS ?=
+CROSS :=
 
-CC = $(CROSS)gcc
-CXX = $(CROSS)g++
+CC := $(CROSS)gcc
+CXX := $(CROSS)g++
 
 OLVL ?= -O2
 CFLAGS += $(OLVL)
 CFLAGS += -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -g -fomit-frame-pointer -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections
 
-AR = $(CROSS)ar
+AR := $(CROSS)ar
 ARFLAGS = -r
 
-LD = $(CROSS)gcc
+LD := $(CROSS)gcc
 LDFLAGS += -Wl,--gc-sections
 LDFLAGS_PREFIX := -Wl,
 
-OBJCOPY = $(CROSS)objcopy
-OBJDUMP = $(CROSS)objdump
-STRIP = $(CROSS)strip
+OBJCOPY := $(CROSS)objcopy
+OBJDUMP := $(CROSS)objdump
+STRIP := $(CROSS)strip
 
 # Sanitizers
 ifneq ($(NOSAN), 1)
-CFLAGS += -fsanitize=address,undefined
-LDFLAGS += -fsanitize=address,undefined
+  CFLAGS += -fsanitize=address,undefined
+  LDFLAGS += -fsanitize=address,undefined
 endif
 
 # install unstripped binaries in rootfs
diff --git a/build-core-armv7a7-imx6ull.sh b/build-core-armv7a7-imx6ull.sh
index 8b853af1..5cba0279 100755
--- a/build-core-armv7a7-imx6ull.sh
+++ b/build-core-armv7a7-imx6ull.sh
@@ -44,11 +44,3 @@ fi
 
 b_log "Building posixsrv"
 make -C "phoenix-rtos-posixsrv" all install
-
-# FIXME: compile host tools using host-generic-pc target?
-b_log "Building hostutils"
-make -C "phoenix-rtos-hostutils" -f Makefile.old all
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/phoenixd" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/psdisk" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/psu" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/syspagen" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
diff --git a/build-core-armv7a9-zynq7000.sh b/build-core-armv7a9-zynq7000.sh
index c09a3df6..2c8a76f1 100755
--- a/build-core-armv7a9-zynq7000.sh
+++ b/build-core-armv7a9-zynq7000.sh
@@ -35,8 +35,3 @@ make -C "phoenix-rtos-utils" all install
 
 b_log "Building posixsrv"
 make -C "phoenix-rtos-posixsrv" all install
-
-# FIXME: compile host tools using host-generic-pc target?
-b_log "Building hostutils"
-make -C "phoenix-rtos-hostutils" -f Makefile.old $CLEAN all
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/phoenixd" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
diff --git a/build-core-armv7m7-imxrt105x.sh b/build-core-armv7m7-imxrt105x.sh
index 7871dedc..80069b34 100755
--- a/build-core-armv7m7-imxrt105x.sh
+++ b/build-core-armv7m7-imxrt105x.sh
@@ -38,9 +38,3 @@ make -C "phoenix-rtos-lwip" all install
 
 #b_log "Building posixsrv"
 #make -C "phoenix-rtos-posixsrv" all install
-
-# FIXME: compile host tools using host-generic-pc target?
-b_log "Building hostutils"
-make -C "phoenix-rtos-hostutils" -f Makefile.old $CLEAN all
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/phoenixd" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/psu" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
diff --git a/build-core-armv7m7-imxrt106x.sh b/build-core-armv7m7-imxrt106x.sh
index 1afe1a01..035080dd 100755
--- a/build-core-armv7m7-imxrt106x.sh
+++ b/build-core-armv7m7-imxrt106x.sh
@@ -43,9 +43,3 @@ fi
 
 #b_log "Building posixsrv"
 #make -C "phoenix-rtos-posixsrv" all install
-
-# FIXME: compile host tools using host-generic-pc target?
-b_log "Building hostutils"
-make -C "phoenix-rtos-hostutils" -f Makefile.old $CLEAN all
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/phoenixd" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/psu" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
diff --git a/build-core-armv7m7-imxrt117x.sh b/build-core-armv7m7-imxrt117x.sh
index 7c175e6a..06c2c19f 100755
--- a/build-core-armv7m7-imxrt117x.sh
+++ b/build-core-armv7m7-imxrt117x.sh
@@ -43,9 +43,3 @@ fi
 
 #b_log "Building posixsrv"
 #make -C "phoenix-rtos-posixsrv" all install
-
-# FIXME: compile host tools using host-generic-pc target?
-b_log "Building hostutils"
-make -C "phoenix-rtos-hostutils" -f Makefile.old $CLEAN all
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/phoenixd" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/psu" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
diff --git a/build-core-host-generic.sh b/build-core-host-generic.sh
index e00aee8d..27684386 100755
--- a/build-core-host-generic.sh
+++ b/build-core-host-generic.sh
@@ -19,9 +19,3 @@ make -C "phoenix-rtos-filesystems" all
 
 b_log "Building phoenix-rtos-devices"
 make -C "phoenix-rtos-devices" all
-
-b_log "Building hostutils"
-make -C "phoenix-rtos-hostutils" -f Makefile.old $CLEAN all
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/phoenixd" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/psdisk" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/psu" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
diff --git a/build-core-riscv64-generic.sh b/build-core-riscv64-generic.sh
index d284b58a..4d2da63e 100755
--- a/build-core-riscv64-generic.sh
+++ b/build-core-riscv64-generic.sh
@@ -31,11 +31,3 @@ make -C "phoenix-rtos-devices" all install
 
 b_log "Building coreutils"
 make -C "phoenix-rtos-utils" all install
-
-b_log "Building hostutils"
-make -C "phoenix-rtos-hostutils" -f Makefile.old all
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/syspagen" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
-
-#FIXME: tests should not always be built as a part of CORE
-b_log "Building phoenix-rtos-tests"
-make -C "phoenix-rtos-tests" all
diff --git a/build-core-sparcv8leon3-gr716.sh b/build-core-sparcv8leon3-gr716.sh
index 4c9d414f..691be369 100755
--- a/build-core-sparcv8leon3-gr716.sh
+++ b/build-core-sparcv8leon3-gr716.sh
@@ -29,8 +29,3 @@ make -C "phoenix-rtos-devices" all install
 
 b_log "Building coreutils"
 make -C "phoenix-rtos-utils" all install
-
-# FIXME: compile host tools using host-generic-pc target?
-b_log "Building hostutils"
-make -C "phoenix-rtos-hostutils" -f Makefile.old $CLEAN all
-cp "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/phoenixd" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
diff --git a/build-host-tools.sh b/build-host-tools.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..945b5db2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build-host-tools.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Shell script for building Phoenix-RTOS firmware
+#
+# Builder for Phoenix-RTOS host utils
+
+b_log "Building host corelibs"
+make -C "phoenix-rtos-corelibs" libptable
+
+b_log "Building hostutils"
+make -C "phoenix-rtos-hostutils" all
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 1807556f..1a480ac8 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -9,13 +9,14 @@
 #
 
 set -e
+ORIG_ENV="$(env)"
 
 # Colon-separated list of dirs to overlay the default rootFS.
 # It can be overwritten by build.project scripts.
 ROOTFS_OVERLAYS=""
 
-. ./phoenix-rtos-build/build.subr
-. ./build.project
+source ./phoenix-rtos-build/build.subr
+source ./build.project
 
 PREFIX_PROJECT="$(pwd)"
 
@@ -25,8 +26,10 @@ if [ -z "$PROJECT_PATH" ]; then
     exit 1;
 fi
 
+_TARGET_FOR_HOST_BUILD="host-generic-pc"
+
 PREFIX_BUILD="$PREFIX_PROJECT/_build/$TARGET"
-PREFIX_BUILD_HOST="$PREFIX_PROJECT/_build/host-generic-pc"
+PREFIX_BUILD_HOST="$PREFIX_PROJECT/_build/$_TARGET_FOR_HOST_BUILD"
 PREFIX_FS="$PREFIX_PROJECT/_fs/$TARGET"
 PREFIX_BOOT="$PREFIX_PROJECT/_boot/$TARGET"
 
@@ -48,13 +51,12 @@ CC=${CROSS}gcc
 AS=${CROSS}as
 LD=${CROSS}ld
 AR=${CROSS}ar
-OBJCPY=${CROSS}objcopy
 
 MAKEFLAGS="--no-print-directory -j 9"
 
 export TARGET TARGET_FAMILY TARGET_SUBFAMILY TARGET_PROJECT PROJECT_PATH PREFIX_PROJECT PREFIX_BUILD\
 	PREFIX_BUILD_HOST PREFIX_FS PREFIX_BOOT PREFIX_PROG PREFIX_PROG_STRIPPED PREFIX_A\
-	PREFIX_H PREFIX_ROOTFS CROSS CFLAGS CXXFLAGS LDFLAGS CC LD AR AS CLEAN MAKEFLAGS DEVICE_FLAGS PLO_SCRIPT_DIR
+	PREFIX_H PREFIX_ROOTFS CROSS CFLAGS CXXFLAGS LDFLAGS CC LD AR AS MAKEFLAGS DEVICE_FLAGS PLO_SCRIPT_DIR
 
 # export flags for ports - call make only after all necessary env variables are already set
 EXPORT_CFLAGS="$(make -f phoenix-rtos-build/Makefile.common export-cflags)"
@@ -69,12 +71,14 @@ export EXPORT_CFLAGS EXPORT_LDFLAGS
 #
 if [ $# -lt 1 ]; then
 	echo "Build options should be specified!"
-	echo "Usage: build.sh [clean] [all] [fs] [core] [test] [ports] [project] [image]";
+	echo "Usage: build.sh [clean] [all] [host] [fs] [core] [test] [ports] [project] [image]";
 	exit 1;
 fi
 
+B_CLEAN="n"
 B_FS="n"
 B_CORE="n"
+B_HOST="n"
 B_PORTS="n"
 B_PROJECT="n"
 B_IMAGE="n"
@@ -88,11 +92,13 @@ for arg in "${ARGS[@]}"; do
 	case "$arg"
 	in
 		clean)
-			CLEAN="clean";;
+			B_CLEAN="y";;
 		fs)
 			B_FS="y";;
 		core)
 			B_CORE="y";;
+		host)
+			B_HOST="y";;
 		test|tests)
 			B_TEST="y";;
 		ports)
@@ -102,7 +108,7 @@ for arg in "${ARGS[@]}"; do
 		image)
 			B_IMAGE="y";;
 		all)
-			B_FS="y"; B_CORE="y"; B_PORTS="y"; B_PROJECT="y"; B_IMAGE="y";;
+			B_FS="y"; B_CORE="y"; B_HOST="y"; B_PORTS="y"; B_PROJECT="y"; B_IMAGE="y";;
 		*)
 			echo "Unknown build option: \"$arg\"."
 			exit 1;;
@@ -112,7 +118,7 @@ done
 #
 # Clean if requested
 #
-if [ -n "$CLEAN" ]; then
+if [ "$B_CLEAN" = "y" ]; then
 	b_log "Cleaning build dirs"
 	rm -rf "$PREFIX_BUILD" "$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST"
 	rm -rf "$PREFIX_FS"
@@ -164,6 +170,26 @@ if [ "${B_FS}" = "y" ] && [ -d  "${PREFIX_ROOTSKEL}" ]; then
 	install -m 664 "${PREFIX_BUILD}/git-version" "$PREFIX_FS/root/etc"
 fi
 
+#
+# Build host tools
+#
+if [ "${B_HOST}" = "y" ]; then
+	if [ "$TARGET" != "$_TARGET_FOR_HOST_BUILD" ]; then
+		# if not already building for host - re-exec with clean env
+		(env "$ORIG_ENV" TARGET=$_TARGET_FOR_HOST_BUILD ./phoenix-rtos-build/build.sh host)
+	else
+		source ./phoenix-rtos-build/build-host-tools.sh
+	fi
+fi
+
+# always install hostutils if they are present
+b_log "Installing hostutils"
+HOSTUTILS=(metaelf phoenixd psdisk psu syspagen)
+for tool in "${HOSTUTILS[@]}"; do
+	toolfile="$PREFIX_BUILD_HOST/prog.stripped/$tool"
+	[ -e "$toolfile" ] && cp -a "$toolfile" "$PREFIX_BOOT"
+done
+
 #
 # Build core part
 #
diff --git a/makes/binary.mk b/makes/binary.mk
index 5d68f7e0..cf4e389c 100644
--- a/makes/binary.mk
+++ b/makes/binary.mk
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 # - LOCAL_CFLAGS  - additional CFLAGS for current component compilation
 # - LOCAL_CXXFLAGS - additional CXXFLAGS for current component compilation
 # - LOCAL_LDFLAGS - additional LDFLAGS for current component linking
+# - LOCAL_LDLIBS  - additional LDLIBS for current component linking
 # - LOCAL_INSTALL_PATH - custom rootfs dir for the binary to be installed (if not provided - DEFAULT_INSTALL_PATH)
 
 # Global variables (not reset by this script):
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ $(OBJS.$(NAME)): | $(DEPS)
 $(OBJS.$(NAME)): CFLAGS:=-I"$(ABS_HEADERS_DIR)" $(CFLAGS) $(LOCAL_CFLAGS)
 $(OBJS.$(NAME)): CXXFLAGS:=-I"$(ABS_HEADERS_DIR)" $(CXXFLAGS) $(LOCAL_CXXFLAGS)
 $(PREFIX_PROG)$(NAME): LDFLAGS:=$(LDFLAGS) $(LOCAL_LDFLAGS)
+$(PREFIX_PROG)$(NAME): LDLIBS:=$(LOCAL_LDLIBS) $(LDLIBS)
 
 # dynamically generated dependencies (file-to-file dependencies)
 DEPS.$(NAME) := $(patsubst %,$(PREFIX_O)%.d,$(SRCS))
@@ -122,4 +124,5 @@ LIBS :=
 LOCAL_CFLAGS :=
 LOCAL_CXXFLAGS :=
 LOCAL_LDFLAGS :=
+LOCAL_LDLIBS :=
 LOCAL_INSTALL_PATH :=
diff --git a/makes/static-lib.mk b/makes/static-lib.mk
index 123622b9..f8c6d7e8 100644
--- a/makes/static-lib.mk
+++ b/makes/static-lib.mk
@@ -26,10 +26,11 @@ endif
 
 # binary.mk clears all variables it uses so we should expect that they are not set here. Leaving them set would
 # influence next binary.mk call leading to unexpected errors
-ifneq ($(DEP_LIB)$(LIBS)$(LOCAL_LDFLAGS)$(LOCAL_INSTALL_PATH),)
+ifneq ($(DEP_LIB)$(LIBS)$(LOCAL_LDFLAGS)$(LOCAL_LDLIBS)$(LOCAL_INSTALL_PATH),)
   $(warning $(NAME): DEP_LIB=$(DEP_LIB))
   $(warning $(NAME): LIBS=$(LIBS))
   $(warning $(NAME): LOCAL_LDFLAGS=$(LOCAL_LDFLAGS))
+  $(warning $(NAME): LOCAL_LDLIBS=$(LOCAL_LDLIBS))
   $(warning $(NAME): LOCAL_INSTALL_PATH=$(LOCAL_INSTALL_PATH))
   $(error $(NAME): static-lib.mk invoked with args reserved for binary.mk)
 endif