diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3c9c7470
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+all:
+	@echo "This compiles and tests the C PoW library, it's not necessary to run PyBitmessage"
+
+powtest:
+	./testpow.py
+
+bitmsghash.so: bitmsghash.o
+	g++ bitmsghash.o -shared -fPIC -lpthread -lcrypto -o bitmsghash.so
+
+bitmsghash.o:
+	g++ -Wall -O3 -march=native -fPIC -c bitmsghash.cpp
+
+clean:
+	rm -f bitmsghash.o bitmsghash.so
+