diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 873d37a08ef1608090d954a72d39cfa29bc75064..513f97b408304df1895aaa686df4d0c4c71fd773 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 *~
 /target
+/local.conf
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 388800237a87ebfa786132d6ea35dafc691739bc..cdcf07bf6778d7592d9fa8d7cbe8c10afbe5292f 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -60,6 +60,24 @@ bookworm:
     CARGO_HOME: /cargo
   after_script: []
 
+makefile:
+  tags:
+    - linux
+  stage: build
+  image: registry.gitlab.com/sequoia-pgp/build-docker-image/bookworm-prebuild:latest
+  needs:
+    - codespell
+  script:
+    - make build
+    - make test
+    - make clean
+    - DEBUG=debug make test
+  variables:
+    BUILD: /target
+    CARGO_HOME: /cargo
+    CARGO_TARGET_DIR:
+  after_script: []
+
 all_commits:
   # Test each commit up to main, to facilitate bisecting.
   stage: test
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1ecad5c64c2ada6a85930a5029da77729fadf1f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+# Copyright 2023, pEp Foundation
+# This file is part of pEpEngineSequoiaBackend
+# This file may be used under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 3
+# see COPYING
+
+# Build config defaults
+DEBUG?=debug
+PREFIX?=/usr/local
+CARGO?=cargo
+BUILD?=_build
+# Build config overrides
+-include ./local.conf
+
+# Make sure CARGO_TARGET_DIR is not set by the user -- it would be ignored.
+CARGO_TARGET_DIR?=
+ifneq ($(CARGO_TARGET_DIR),)
+    $(error "the user should not set 'CARGO_TARGET_DIR': 'BUILD' can be used \
+             instead.")
+endif
+
+#export as env var to sub-shells
+export CARGO_TARGET_DIR=$(BUILD)
+
+# constants
+LIB_NAME=libpep_engine_sequoia_backend
+
+# determine library file extension
+PLATFORM:=$(shell uname)
+ifeq ($(PLATFORM),Linux)
+    DYNLIB_EXT=so
+else ifeq ($(PLATFORM),Darwin)
+    DYNLIB_EXT=dylib
+else
+    $(error "Dont know how to build for '$(PLATFORM)'")
+endif
+
+# DEBUG can be defined as "release", "debug" or "maintainer".
+ifeq ($(DEBUG),maintainer)  # For compatibility with other pEp repos.
+    VARIANT_NAME=debug
+    VARIANT_FLAGS=
+else ifeq ($(DEBUG),debug)
+    VARIANT_NAME=debug
+    VARIANT_FLAGS=
+else ifeq ($(DEBUG),release)
+    VARIANT_NAME=release
+    VARIANT_FLAGS=--release
+else
+    $(error "build option 'DEBUG' must be 'release', 'debug' or 'maintainer'")
+endif
+
+LIB_DYNAMIC_PATH=$(CARGO_TARGET_DIR)/$(VARIANT_NAME)/$(LIB_NAME).$(DYNLIB_EXT)
+LIB_STATIC_PATH=$(CARGO_TARGET_DIR)/$(VARIANT_NAME)/$(LIB_NAME).a
+PKGCONFIG_PATH=$(CARGO_TARGET_DIR)/$(VARIANT_NAME)/pep_engine_sequoia_backend.pc
+LIB_DIR=$(PREFIX)/lib/
+PKGCONFIG_DIR=$(PREFIX)/share/pkgconfig/
+
+CARGO_FLAGS+=$(VARIANT_FLAGS)
+
+ifneq ($(filter Darwin %BSD,$(shell uname -s)),)
+    INSTALL?=ginstall
+else
+    INSTALL?=install
+endif
+
+.PHONY: all build install uninstall test clean
+all: build
+
+build:
+	$(CARGO) build $(CARGO_FLAGS)
+
+install: build
+	mkdir -p $(LIB_DIR) $(PKGCONFIG_DIR)
+	$(INSTALL) $(LIB_DYNAMIC_PATH) $(LIB_DIR)
+	$(INSTALL) $(LIB_STATIC_PATH) $(LIB_DIR)
+	$(INSTALL) $(PKGCONFIG_PATH) $(PKGCONFIG_DIR)
+
+uninstall:
+	rm -f $(LIB_DIR)/$(LIB_NAME).$(DYNLIB_EXT)
+	rm -f $(LIB_DIR)/$(LIB_NAME).a
+	rm -f $(PKGCONFIG_DIR)/pep_engine_sequoia_backend.pc
+
+test:
+	$(CARGO) test $(CARGO_FLAGS)
+
+clean:
+	$(CARGO) clean
diff --git a/local.conf.example b/local.conf.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f255f17637487264648340d945213a0e78c5e96c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/local.conf.example
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# This is an Example build config (local.conf)
+# The values here reflect the defaults.
+# If needed, copy this file into a file called
+# `local.conf` and adjust the values
+
+# The dir where the build artifacts get installed into
+# PREFIX=/usr/local
+
+# Build variant: one of release , debug , maintainer (maintainer exists for
+# compatibility with other pEp projects: in this project maintainer and debug
+# builds are the same).  The default is debug .
+# DEBUG=release
+
+# Defines the build dir.  This can be a relative or an absolute path.
+# BUILD=_build
+
+