diff --git a/target/bootdisk/kernel.conf b/target/bootdisk/kernel.conf
index ec86f5630..f64048786 100644
--- a/target/bootdisk/kernel.conf
+++ b/target/bootdisk/kernel.conf
@@ -30,3 +30,6 @@ CONFIG_MAGIC_SYSRQ=y
 
 # ramdisk size of 8192 KB
 CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RAM_SIZE=8192
+
+# console on serial port
+CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_CONSOLE=y