diff --git a/hermit/Makefile b/hermit/Makefile
index a2eb565e5..c2aa11492 100644
--- a/hermit/Makefile
+++ b/hermit/Makefile
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ include/hermit/config.inc: include/hermit/config.h
 	@awk '/^#define KERNEL_STACK_SIZE/{ print "%define KERNEL_STACK_SIZE", $$3 }' include/hermit/config.h >> include/hermit/config.inc
 	@awk '/^#define VIDEO_MEM_ADDR/{ print "%define VIDEO_MEM_ADDR", $$3 }' include/hermit/config.h >> include/hermit/config.inc
 	@awk '/^#define DYNAMIC_TICKS/{ print "%define DYNAMIC_TICKS", $$3 }' include/hermit/config.h >> include/hermit/config.inc
+	@awk '/^#define SAVE_FPU/{ print "%define SAVE_FPU", $$3 }' include/hermit/config.h >> include/hermit/config.inc
 
 %.o : %.asm include/hermit/config.inc
 	@echo [ASM] $@
diff --git a/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/entry.asm b/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/entry.asm
index 40c8ec917..f94eeadd9 100644
--- a/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/entry.asm
+++ b/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/entry.asm
@@ -574,10 +574,12 @@ common_switch:
     call get_current_stack     ; get new rsp
     mov rsp, rax
 
+%ifdef SAVE_FPU
     ; set task switched flag
     mov rax, cr0
     or rax, 8
     mov cr0, rax
+%endif
 
     ; call cleanup code
     call finish_task_switch
diff --git a/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/tasks.c b/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/tasks.c
index b10bbdabe..84976e8dd 100644
--- a/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/tasks.c
+++ b/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/tasks.c
@@ -97,6 +97,14 @@ static int thread_entry(void* arg, size_t ep)
 	if (init_tls())
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
+#ifndef SAVE_FPU
+	// set task switched flag for the first FPU access
+	// => initialize the FPU
+	size_t cr0 = read_cr0();
+	cr0 |= CR0_TS;
+	write_cr0(cr0);
+#endif
+
 	//vma_dump();
 
 	// set first argument
diff --git a/hermit/include/hermit/config.h b/hermit/include/hermit/config.h
index e2bd8cb0f..904cede19 100644
--- a/hermit/include/hermit/config.h
+++ b/hermit/include/hermit/config.h
@@ -41,11 +41,12 @@ extern "C" {
 #define VIDEO_MEM_ADDR		0xB8000 /* the video memory address */
 #define CACHE_LINE		64
 #define KERNEL_STACK_SIZE	(8*1024)
-#define DEFAULT_STACK_SIZE	(128*1024)
+#define DEFAULT_STACK_SIZE	(64*1024*1024)
 #define KMSG_SIZE		(4*1024)
 #define INT_SYSCALL		0x80
 #define MAILBOX_SIZE	32
 //#define WITH_PCI_IDS
+#define SAVE_FPU
 
 #define BYTE_ORDER		LITTLE_ENDIAN