diff --git a/src/build/plan.cppm b/src/build/plan.cppm
index fc4968715..b743f9265 100644
--- a/src/build/plan.cppm
+++ b/src/build/plan.cppm
@@ -2496,10 +2496,28 @@ make_plan(const mcpp::manifest::Manifest&         manifest,
         // runtime: `provides = ["mcpp:..."]`) is beneath every image, and
         // where its objects go is the runtime contract's decision, which
         // #641 made (`cxx_runtime = { shared = "self-contained" }`).
+        //
+        // A KERNEL-ABI PACKAGE UNDER NO C LIBRARY OF THE GRAPH IS NOT A LAYER.
+        // When the C library is the platform's (glibc, libSystem, the Windows
+        // CRT), openkal-linux (-macos, -windows) is a static library over it
+        // that a package (`mcpplibs.os`) depends on like any other. Treated as
+        // a layer, it went into the programs only, and a shared image that
+        // reached it was left with `kal_*` undefined: ELF linked it, and a
+        // host that had not linked the package -- CPython importing an
+        // extension module -- refused to load it (`undefined symbol:
+        // kal_process_close`); Mach-O and PE refuse the link. It is beneath
+        // every image when a C library of the graph (`mcpp:c-abi`, openkal-
+        // musl) sits on it, and placed like any static package otherwise.
+        const bool graphHasCLibrary = std::ranges::any_of(packages, [](const auto& pkg) {
+            return std::ranges::any_of(pkg.manifest.provides, [](const std::string& p) {
+                return p.starts_with("mcpp:c-abi");
+            });
+        });
         std::set<std::size_t> boundaries;
         for (std::size_t i = 1; i < packages.size(); ++i) {
             auto const& pm = packages[i].manifest;
-            const bool layer = std::ranges::any_of(pm.provides, [](const std::string& p) {
+            const bool layer = std::ranges::any_of(pm.provides, [&](const std::string& p) {
+                if (p.starts_with("mcpp:kernel-abi")) return graphHasCLibrary;
                 return p.starts_with("mcpp:") || p == "hosted-standard-library";
             });
             if (layer || mcpp::pack::is_distribution_package(pm)) boundaries.insert(i);
diff --git a/tests/e2e/940_a_kernel_abi_package_over_the_system_c_library_is_in_the_shared_image.sh b/tests/e2e/940_a_kernel_abi_package_over_the_system_c_library_is_in_the_shared_image.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..a4d937a07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/940_a_kernel_abi_package_over_the_system_c_library_is_in_the_shared_image.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# requires: elf
+# 940 -- a `kernel-abi` package over the platform's C library is linked into a
+# shared image that reaches it, like any static package.
+#
+# THE DEFECT. Every package that provides an `mcpp:` layer was a boundary of
+# static placement (#646 F1): never placed into a shared image, its objects
+# went into the programs only. That is right for a C library or a C++ runtime,
+# whose contract decides where they go. It is not right for openkal-linux
+# (-macos, -windows) on a hosted target: there the C library is the system's,
+# and the kernel-abi package is a static library over it that `mcpplibs.os`
+# depends on like any other. A shared image reaching it was left with `kal_*`
+# undefined. ELF linked it, and a host that had not linked the package itself
+# could not load it -- measured with CPython importing an extension module
+# built on `mcpplibs.os`:
+#
+#     ImportError: .../_openmui.abi3.so: undefined symbol: kal_process_close
+#
+# and Mach-O and PE refuse the link outright.
+#
+# Two legs, both a program over a dependency's shared image:
+#   A  the program reaches the kernel-abi package only through the image: the
+#      image defines its symbols and does not import them, as it does for the
+#      ordinary static package beside it.
+#   B  the program reaches the package itself too: it links and runs as
+#      before.
+set -e
+
+MCPP="${MCPP:-mcpp}"
+work="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "$work"' EXIT
+cd "$work"
+mkdir -p kernel/src sys/src ext/src app/src
+
+cat > kernel/src/kernel.c <<'EOF'
+int kal_fake_answer(void) { return 42; }
+EOF
+cat > kernel/mcpp.toml <<'EOF'
+[package]
+name     = "fakekernel"
+version  = "0.1.0"
+provides = ["mcpp:kernel-abi=openkal"]
+
+[targets.fakekernel]
+kind    = "lib"
+sources = ["src/*.c"]
+EOF
+
+cat > sys/src/sys.c <<'EOF'
+extern int kal_fake_answer(void);
+int sys_answer(void) { return kal_fake_answer(); }
+EOF
+cat > sys/mcpp.toml <<'EOF'
+[package]
+name    = "fakesys"
+version = "0.1.0"
+
+[targets.fakesys]
+kind    = "lib"
+sources = ["src/*.c"]
+
+[dependencies]
+fakekernel = { path = "../kernel" }
+EOF
+
+cat > ext/src/ext.c <<'EOF'
+extern int sys_answer(void);
+int ext_answer(void) { return sys_answer(); }
+EOF
+cat > ext/mcpp.toml <<'EOF'
+[package]
+name    = "ext"
+version = "0.1.0"
+
+[build]
+sources = ["src/*.c"]
+
+[targets.ext]
+kind = "shared"
+
+[dependencies]
+fakesys = { path = "../sys" }
+EOF
+
+write_app() {  # $1 = an extra dependency line, $2 = what main checks
+    cat > app/src/main.c <<EOF
+extern int ext_answer(void);
+extern int kal_fake_answer(void);
+int main(void) { return $2 ? 0 : 1; }
+EOF
+    cat > app/mcpp.toml <<EOF
+[package]
+name    = "app"
+version = "0.1.0"
+
+[build]
+sources = ["src/*.c"]
+allow_host_libs = true
+
+[targets.app]
+kind = "bin"
+main = "src/main.c"
+
+[dependencies]
+ext = { path = "../ext" }
+$1
+EOF
+}
+
+build_app() {  # $1 = the leg
+    rm -rf app/target
+    out=$(cd app && "$MCPP" build 2>&1) || { echo "$out" >&2; echo "FAIL: $1: the program must build" >&2; exit 1; }
+    so="$(find app/target -name 'libext.so' -type f | head -1)"
+    bin="$(find app/target -path '*/bin/app' -type f | head -1)"
+    if [ -z "$so" ] || [ -z "$bin" ]; then
+        echo "$out" >&2; echo "FAIL: $1: libext.so or bin/app was not produced" >&2; exit 1
+    fi
+    "$bin" || { echo "FAIL: $1: the program ran and answered $?" >&2; exit 1; }
+}
+
+# ── A. the image is the package's one home ────────────────────────────────
+write_app "" "ext_answer() == 42"
+build_app A
+nm --defined-only "$so" | grep -qw sys_answer || {
+    echo "FAIL: A: the shared image does not define sys_answer (its static dependency)" >&2; exit 1; }
+if nm -D --undefined-only "$so" | grep -qw kal_fake_answer; then
+    nm -D --undefined-only "$so" >&2
+    echo "FAIL: A: the shared image imports kal_fake_answer from the program; a host" \
+         "that did not link fakekernel cannot load it" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+nm --defined-only "$so" | grep -qw kal_fake_answer || {
+    echo "FAIL: A: the shared image does not define kal_fake_answer" >&2; exit 1; }
+echo "OK: A (the shared image defines the kernel-abi package's symbols)"
+
+# ── B. the program reaches the package itself ─────────────────────────────
+write_app 'fakekernel = { path = "../kernel" }' "ext_answer() == 42 && kal_fake_answer() == 42"
+build_app B
+echo "OK: B (a program reaching the package links and runs)"