diff --git a/.github/workflows/bootstrap.yml b/.github/workflows/bootstrap.yml
index 5566872..1e76631 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/bootstrap.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/bootstrap.yml
@@ -274,3 +274,79 @@ jobs:
             ${{ steps.pre.outputs.dir }}/blaise_rtl.a
           retention-days: 30
           if-no-files-found: error
+
+  # ======================================================================
+  # FreeBSD cross-compile verification under emulation
+  # (docs/freebsd-x86_64-backend-design.adoc Step 8).
+  #
+  # The bootstrap job's TestRunner already runs the HOST-side static ELF
+  # checks (EI_OSABI / ET_EXEC / no PT_INTERP via
+  # TInternalLinkerE2ETests.TestCompile_FreeBSDTarget_EmitsStaticFreeBSDExe).
+  # Those cannot catch a wrong FreeBSD struct-stat offset or syscall number —
+  # only running the binary on a real FreeBSD kernel does.  This job
+  # cross-compiles the fixtures on the Linux runner, then boots a FreeBSD VM
+  # (vmactions/freebsd-vm) and executes them there.
+  #
+  # The FreeBSD output is a static, freestanding raw-syscall ET_EXEC (no libc,
+  # no rtld), so the VM needs no extra packages to run it.
+  # ======================================================================
+  freebsd-crosscheck:
+    needs: bootstrap
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 30
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+
+      # The RTL is compiled from source by the -pre binary, so the compiler
+      # needs no prebuilt blaise_rtl.a beside it — only the checked-out RTL
+      # source (present after checkout).  Pull the -pre binary the bootstrap
+      # job just built and published.
+      - name: Download -pre binary
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
+        with:
+          name: blaise-pre-${{ github.sha }}
+          path: .pre
+
+      - name: Cross-compile FreeBSD fixtures (Linux host)
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          chmod +x .pre/blaise
+          BLAISE="$PWD/.pre/blaise" scripts/freebsd-crosscheck-build.sh
+          echo "Cross-built FreeBSD binaries:"
+          ls -l target/freebsd-crosscheck
+
+      # Boot a FreeBSD VM and run the cross-compiled binaries there.  The
+      # workspace is rsync-mounted into the VM, so target/freebsd-crosscheck/*
+      # is available inside.  release pinned to a 14.x line: the struct-stat
+      # offsets in rtl.platform.layout.freebsd are verified against FreeBSD 14
+      # (stable since FreeBSD 12).  Bump when 15.x is validated.
+      - name: Run FreeBSD binaries under emulation
+        uses: vmactions/freebsd-vm@v1
+        with:
+          release: "14.2"
+          usesh: true
+          copyback: false
+          run: |
+            set -e
+            cd target/freebsd-crosscheck
+            echo "=== uname ==="
+            uname -a
+
+            echo "=== hello ==="
+            OUT="$(./hello)"
+            echo "$OUT"
+            [ "$OUT" = "Hello" ] || { echo "FAIL: hello output '$OUT' != 'Hello'"; exit 1; }
+
+            echo "=== fileio ==="
+            OUT="$(./fileio)"
+            echo "$OUT"
+            # Flatten to a single line (newlines -> '|') so the compare stays a
+            # one-line shell string inside this YAML block scalar.
+            GOT="$(printf '%s' "$OUT" | tr '\n' '|')"
+            [ "$GOT" = "file-io-ok|exists-ok|done" ] || {
+              echo "FAIL: fileio output '$GOT' != 'file-io-ok|exists-ok|done'"
+              exit 1
+            }
+
+            echo "FREEBSD_EMULATION_OK"
diff --git a/compiler/src/it/freebsd/fileio.pas b/compiler/src/it/freebsd/fileio.pas
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..50f6b6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/src/it/freebsd/fileio.pas
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+{ FreeBSD cross-compile emulation smoke test (docs/freebsd-x86_64-backend-design
+  Step 8).  Exercises the file path that STATIC ELF checks cannot catch: a wrong
+  struct-stat offset or syscall number only shows up when the binary actually
+  runs on FreeBSD.  Write a file, read it back, and stat it (FileExists), then
+  print the results.  Expected output under FreeBSD:
+
+      file-io-ok
+      exists-ok
+      done
+
+  A wrong FreeBSD st_size / st_mode offset (they differ from Linux — see
+  rtl.platform.layout.freebsd) would make ReadFile or FileExists misbehave. }
+program fileio;
+uses sysutils;
+var
+  S: string;
+begin
+  WriteFile('blaise_fbsd_it.txt', 'file-io-ok');
+  S := ReadFile('blaise_fbsd_it.txt');
+  WriteLn(S);
+  if FileExists('blaise_fbsd_it.txt') then
+    WriteLn('exists-ok');
+  DeleteFile('blaise_fbsd_it.txt');
+  WriteLn('done');
+end.
diff --git a/compiler/src/it/freebsd/hello.pas b/compiler/src/it/freebsd/hello.pas
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..882b177
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/src/it/freebsd/hello.pas
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{ FreeBSD cross-compile emulation smoke test (docs/freebsd-x86_64-backend-design
+  Step 8).  Cross-compiled with --target freebsd-x86_64 on the Linux CI runner,
+  then executed inside a FreeBSD VM.  A raw-syscall static ET_EXEC: printing
+  Hello and exiting 0 proves _start, argv capture, write(2) and _exit(2) work
+  under the real FreeBSD kernel. }
+program hello;
+begin
+  WriteLn('Hello');
+end.
diff --git a/scripts/freebsd-crosscheck-build.sh b/scripts/freebsd-crosscheck-build.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..ad52272
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/freebsd-crosscheck-build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Cross-compile the FreeBSD emulation-check fixtures (compiler/src/it/freebsd/*.pas)
+# with --target freebsd-x86_64 on a Linux host.  The resulting static, freestanding
+# FreeBSD ET_EXEC binaries are then run inside a FreeBSD VM (see the freebsd-crosscheck
+# job in .github/workflows/bootstrap.yml) to validate the FreeBSD syscall leaf and
+# struct-stat layout that host-side static ELF checks cannot catch.
+#
+# Usage:
+#   BLAISE=/path/to/blaise scripts/freebsd-crosscheck-build.sh [OUTDIR]
+#
+# BLAISE   path to a native-backend blaise binary that supports --target
+#          freebsd-x86_64 (defaults to compiler/target/blaise).
+# OUTDIR   where to write the cross-compiled binaries (defaults to
+#          target/freebsd-crosscheck).
+#
+# The binaries CANNOT run on the Linux host (FreeBSD syscall numbers/ABI); this
+# script only builds and sanity-checks the emitted ELF shape.  Prints
+# FREEBSD_CROSSBUILD_OK on success.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)"
+cd "$ROOT"
+
+BLAISE="${BLAISE:-compiler/target/blaise}"
+OUTDIR="${1:-target/freebsd-crosscheck}"
+FIXDIR="compiler/src/it/freebsd"
+
+if [ ! -x "$BLAISE" ]; then
+  echo "error: blaise binary not found or not executable: $BLAISE" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+mkdir -p "$OUTDIR"
+
+# The compiler resolves blaise_rtl.a / the RTL source relative to its own binary;
+# the RTL source lives in the compiler tree.  Both unit paths mirror the normal
+# native build.
+UNIT_ARGS=(
+  --unit-path runtime/src/main/pascal
+  --unit-path stdlib/src/main/pascal
+)
+
+for src in "$FIXDIR"/*.pas; do
+  name="$(basename "$src" .pas)"
+  out="$OUTDIR/$name"
+  echo "cross-compiling $src -> $out (freebsd-x86_64)"
+  "$BLAISE" \
+    --source "$src" \
+    --backend native \
+    --target freebsd-x86_64 \
+    --output "$out" \
+    "${UNIT_ARGS[@]}"
+
+  # Sanity-check the emitted ELF is a FreeBSD (EI_OSABI=9) ET_EXEC.  readelf is
+  # part of binutils, always present on the Linux runner.
+  osabi="$(readelf -hW "$out" | awk -F: '/OS\/ABI/ {print $2}' | xargs)"
+  etype="$(readelf -hW "$out" | awk -F: '/Type:/ {print $2}' | awk '{print $1}')"
+  case "$osabi" in
+    *FreeBSD*) : ;;
+    *) echo "error: $out is not a FreeBSD binary (OS/ABI=$osabi)" >&2; exit 1 ;;
+  esac
+  if [ "$etype" != "EXEC" ]; then
+    echo "error: $out is not a static ET_EXEC (Type=$etype)" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+done
+
+# Drop the .o intermediates the compiler leaves beside each output, so the VM
+# job can run every executable in OUTDIR without tripping over object files.
+rm -f "$OUTDIR"/*.o
+
+echo "FREEBSD_CROSSBUILD_OK"