diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4ac38401..bab14091 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@
 #
 #   make sbom                         SPDX SBOM of the source tree (sbom.spdx, sbom.spdx.json)
 #   make kernel ARCH=<arch> [GOAL=g]  kernel/Makefile goal (default: all)
+#   make ARCH=<arch> clean qemu       the kernel for <arch> (amd64 aarch64 riscv64),
+#                                     cleaned, built and booted in QEMU: the
+#                                     acceptance boot (.claude/CLAUDE.md)
 #   make boards                       list boards and whether they can be built
 #   make <other goal>                 goes to v3/Makefile (make help-hosted)
 # ==============================================================================
@@ -56,7 +59,12 @@ BOARD_DIR := $(if $(TARGET),$(BOARD_DIR_$(TARGET)))
 SUBMAKE := $(MAKE) --no-print-directory
 
 .DEFAULT_GOAL := all
-.PHONY: all boot_image boot_images docs clean clean-docs kernel boards help help-hosted sbom sbom-board
+.PHONY: all boot_image boot_images docs clean clean-docs kernel boards help help-hosted sbom sbom-board \
+        qemu qemu-esp qemu-gdb
+
+# ARCH given on the command line and no TARGET: `clean` is the kernel's for that
+# ISA, as `qemu` always is (make ARCH=<arch> clean qemu).
+KERNEL_CLEAN := $(if $(TARGET),,$(filter command line,$(origin ARCH)))
 
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # all
@@ -182,7 +190,10 @@ clean-docs:
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # clean
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-ifeq ($(TARGET),)
+ifneq ($(KERNEL_CLEAN),)
+clean:
+	@$(SUBMAKE) -f kernel/Makefile ARCH=$(ARCH) clean
+else ifeq ($(TARGET),)
 clean:
 	@if [ -d build ]; then find build -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 ! -name cache -exec rm -rf {} +; fi
 	rm -f v3/include/version.h
@@ -204,6 +215,9 @@ GOAL ?= all
 kernel:
 	@$(SUBMAKE) -f kernel/Makefile TARGET=kernel $(GOAL)
 
+qemu qemu-esp qemu-gdb:
+	@$(SUBMAKE) -f kernel/Makefile $(if $(ARCH),ARCH=$(ARCH)) $@
+
 boards:
 	@$(foreach b,$(BOARDS),printf '  %-9s %-8s %s\n' "$(b)" \
 	    "$(if $(call board_ready,$(b)),ready,no port)" "$(call board_field,$(b),BOARD_DESC)";)