diff --git a/overlays/base/usr/lib/systemd/system/arcline-mok-enroll.service b/overlays/base/usr/lib/systemd/system/arcline-mok-enroll.service
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f7bd1b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/overlays/base/usr/lib/systemd/system/arcline-mok-enroll.service
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Enroll Arcline secure boot MOK (one-time)
+Documentation=docs/secureboot.md
+DefaultDependencies=no
+Before=sysinit.target
+
+[Service]
+Type=oneshot
+ExecStart=/usr/local/sbin/arcline-mok-enroll.sh
+RemainAfterExit=yes
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=sysinit.target
diff --git a/overlays/base/usr/local/sbin/arcline-mok-enroll.sh b/overlays/base/usr/local/sbin/arcline-mok-enroll.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..8ab185c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/overlays/base/usr/local/sbin/arcline-mok-enroll.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Arcline OS — one-time MOK enrollment (runs at first boot, then disables itself)
+# No-op when no key was shipped in the image (secure boot off by default).
+set -euo pipefail
+
+KEY=/etc/arcline/MOK.der
+UNIT=arcline-mok-enroll.service
+
+if [[ ! -f "$KEY" ]]; then
+  echo "arcline: no MOK key shipped — secure boot enrollment skipped"
+  systemctl disable --now "$UNIT" 2>/dev/null || true
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+if mokutil --test-key "$KEY" 2>/dev/null | grep -q enabled; then
+  echo "arcline: MOK already enrolled"
+else
+  echo "arcline: importing MOK — you will be prompted to confirm it on the next reboot"
+  mokutil --import "$KEY" || true
+fi
+
+# enrollment is one-time; disable ourselves so this never runs again
+systemctl disable --now "$UNIT" 2>/dev/null || true
diff --git a/scripts/build-iso.sh b/scripts/build-iso.sh
index 5dee636..5bde7e4 100755
--- a/scripts/build-iso.sh
+++ b/scripts/build-iso.sh
@@ -45,6 +45,16 @@ INITRD="$(find "$ROOTFS/boot" -maxdepth 1 -name 'initrd.img-*' | sort -V | tail
 cp -L "$KERNEL" "$ISOFILES/live/vmlinuz"
 cp -L "$INITRD" "$ISOFILES/live/initrd.img"
 
+# ── 2b. secure boot (optional: ARCLINE_SIGN=1 + a MOK keypair) ──────────────
+if [[ "${ARCLINE_SIGN:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
+  log "secure boot: signing boot chain and shipping MOK in the live image"
+  [[ -f "$BUILD_DIR/keys/MOK.der" ]] || die "ARCLINE_SIGN=1 but no MOK keypair — run: scripts/secureboot/gen-keys.sh"
+  mkdir -p "$ROOTFS/etc/arcline"
+  cp "$BUILD_DIR/keys/MOK.der" "$ROOTFS/etc/arcline/MOK.der"
+  "$ROOT/scripts/secureboot/sign-image.sh" "$ROOTFS" --keydir "$BUILD_DIR/keys"
+  "$ROOT/scripts/secureboot/sign-image.sh" "$ISOFILES" --keydir "$BUILD_DIR/keys"
+fi
+
 log "compressing rootfs → squashfs (this takes a while)"
 # The squashfs is the live root. Keep it complete — offline man pages and
 # docs are a product promise (see the landing page), so nothing is excluded.
diff --git a/scripts/secureboot/gen-keys.sh b/scripts/secureboot/gen-keys.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..2202ba2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/secureboot/gen-keys.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Arcline OS — secure boot: MOK key generation
+#
+#   scripts/secureboot/gen-keys.sh [--keydir build/keys]
+#
+# Generates a Machine Owner Key (MOK) signing keypair for self-signing the
+# kernel and EFI boot chain. MOK is the pragmatic secure-boot path for a
+# self-hosted distro: you enroll the key once (one-time prompt at first boot)
+# and then every Arcline update is verified against it. No third-party CA.
+#
+# Outputs (default build/keys/):
+#   MOK.priv   — private signing key (keep this secret, back it up)
+#   MOK.pem    — certificate in PEM form (for sbsign)
+#   MOK.der    — certificate in DER form (for mokutil enrollment)
+#
+# Requires openssl. Enrollment on a target system is handled by
+# arcline-mok-enroll.service (see overlays/base).
+# ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+set -euo pipefail
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../../scripts/common.sh"
+
+KEYDIR="${1:-$BUILD_DIR/keys}"
+[[ "${1:-}" == "--keydir" ]] && KEYDIR="${2:?usage: gen-keys.sh [--keydir <dir>]}"
+
+command -v openssl >/dev/null || die "openssl not found"
+
+if [[ -f "$KEYDIR/MOK.priv" && -f "$KEYDIR/MOK.pem" && -f "$KEYDIR/MOK.der" ]]; then
+  log "MOK keypair already exists in $KEYDIR — keeping it (delete to regenerate)"
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+mkdir -p "$KEYDIR"
+log "generating MOK signing keypair in $KEYDIR"
+openssl req -new -x509 -newkey rsa:3072 -sha256 -nodes \
+  -keyout "$KEYDIR/MOK.priv" \
+  -outform DER -out "$KEYDIR/MOK.der" \
+  -subj "/CN=Arcline OS MOK/OU=Secure Boot/O=Arcline IT LLC" \
+  -days 3650
+openssl x509 -in "$KEYDIR/MOK.der" -inform DER -out "$KEYDIR/MOK.pem" -outform PEM
+
+chmod 600 "$KEYDIR/MOK.priv"
+log "generated: MOK.priv (keep secret), MOK.pem, MOK.der"
+log "to enroll on a running system:"
+log "  sudo mokutil --import $KEYDIR/MOK.der"
diff --git a/scripts/secureboot/sign-image.sh b/scripts/secureboot/sign-image.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..e3aea2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/secureboot/sign-image.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Arcline OS — secure boot: sign an image with the MOK
+#
+#   scripts/secureboot/sign-image.sh <rootfs-or-isofiles-dir> [--keydir build/keys]
+#
+# Signs every PE binary in the boot chain with the MOK:
+#   - kernels (vmlinuz*) in /boot and /live
+#   - EFI binaries (*.efi) in /boot (grubx64, shimx64, mmx64, ...)
+#
+# sbsign replaces files in place (already-signed files are skipped). GRUB
+# .mod modules are not PE and are out of scope here — see docs/secureboot.md.
+#
+# Requires sbsigntool. Keypair from scripts/secureboot/gen-keys.sh.
+# ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+set -euo pipefail
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../../scripts/common.sh"
+
+TARGET="${1:?usage: sign-image.sh <rootfs-or-isofiles-dir> [--keydir <dir>]}"
+KEYDIR="$BUILD_DIR/keys"
+[[ "${2:-}" == "--keydir" ]] && KEYDIR="${3:?usage: sign-image.sh <dir> [--keydir <dir>]}"
+
+[[ -d "$TARGET" ]] || die "target '$TARGET' does not exist"
+[[ -f "$KEYDIR/MOK.priv" && -f "$KEYDIR/MOK.pem" ]] || die "MOK keypair not found in $KEYDIR (run: scripts/secureboot/gen-keys.sh)"
+command -v sbsign >/dev/null   || die "sbsign not found (package: sbsigntool)"
+command -v sbverify >/dev/null || die "sbverify not found (package: sbsigntool)"
+
+signed=0; skipped=0
+sign_file() {
+  local f="$1"
+  if sbverify --cert "$KEYDIR/MOK.pem" "$f" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    skipped=$((skipped+1))
+    return
+  fi
+  local tmp="$f.arcline-signed"
+  if sbsign --key "$KEYDIR/MOK.priv" --cert "$KEYDIR/MOK.pem" --output "$tmp" "$f" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    mv "$tmp" "$f"
+    log "signed: $f"
+    signed=$((signed+1))
+  else
+    warn "could not sign: $f"
+    rm -f "$tmp"
+  fi
+}
+
+log "signing boot chain in $TARGET"
+while IFS= read -r -d '' f; do sign_file "$f"; done < <(find "$TARGET" -type f \( -name 'vmlinuz*' -o -name '*.efi' \) -print0)
+# also sign any live-boot kernel staged by the ISO build
+while IFS= read -r -d '' f; do sign_file "$f"; done < <(find "$TARGET/live" -maxdepth 1 -type f -name 'vmlinuz*' -print0 2>/dev/null)
+
+log "secure boot signing done: $signed signed, $skipped already signed"
diff --git a/tests/smoke/verify-rootfs.sh b/tests/smoke/verify-rootfs.sh
index 1ac6531..f8a3896 100755
--- a/tests/smoke/verify-rootfs.sh
+++ b/tests/smoke/verify-rootfs.sh
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ have_file "usr/local/sbin/arcline-rollback" \
   && ok "btrfs rollback tooling present" || bad "missing arcline-rollback"
 have_file "usr/lib/systemd/system/arcline-snapshot.timer" \
   && ok "snapshot timer unit present" || bad "missing arcline-snapshot.timer"
+have_file "usr/lib/systemd/system/arcline-mok-enroll.service" \
+  && ok "secure-boot MOK enrollment unit present" || bad "missing arcline-mok-enroll.service"
 
 grep -qi 'arcline' "$ROOTFS/etc/arcline-release" 2>/dev/null \
   && ok "arcline-release present" || bad "missing /etc/arcline-release"