You can build it with a single command: gcc -nostdlib ./empty.c -o ./empty Edit: This one actually runs correctly: $ touch empty.c $ gcc -static -nos

You can build it with a single command: gcc -nostdlib ./empty.c -o ./empty Edit: This one actually runs correctly: $ touch empty.c $ gcc -static -nostartfiles ./empty.c -e_exit -o ./empty $ ./empty && echo $? > 0