This application discloses a computing system configured to perform a pre-linked embedding process during build-time of a root-kernel application. The computing system can pre-link one or more dynamically-linkable executable modules against exported symbols of a root-kernel image, and embed the pre-linked executable modules into the root-kernel image. The computing system can load the root-kernel image having the embedded pre-linked executable modules into a memory of an embedded system, wherein at least one processing device in the embedded system is configured to execute the embedded pre-linked executable modules directly from the memory.