diff --git a/kernel/kernel.cpp b/kernel/kernel.cpp
index d90a2d16..c2c29fda 100644
--- a/kernel/kernel.cpp
+++ b/kernel/kernel.cpp
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
+#include <sortix/clock.h>
 #include <sortix/fcntl.h>
 #include <sortix/mman.h>
 #include <sortix/stat.h>
@@ -428,6 +429,70 @@ static void SystemIdleThread(void* /*user*/)
 	}
 }
 
+kthread_mutex_t driver_threads_lock = KTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
+kthread_cond_t driver_threads_cond = KTHREAD_COND_INITIALIZER;
+size_t driver_threads_done = 0;
+size_t driver_threads_total = 0;
+
+// Parallelize the initialization of slow drivers.
+static void RunDriverThread(void (*entry)(void*), void* user, const char* name)
+{
+	kthread_mutex_lock(&driver_threads_lock);
+	driver_threads_total++;
+	kthread_mutex_unlock(&driver_threads_lock);
+	if ( !RunKernelThread(entry, user, name) )
+		PanicF("RunKernelThread: %s", name);
+}
+
+static void FinishedDriverThread()
+{
+	ScopedLock lock(&driver_threads_lock);
+	driver_threads_done++;
+	kthread_cond_broadcast(&driver_threads_cond);
+}
+
+struct PS2ThreadCtx
+{
+	PS2Keyboard* keyboard;
+	PS2Mouse* mouse;
+};
+
+static void PS2Thread(void* user)
+{
+	struct PS2ThreadCtx* ctx = (struct PS2ThreadCtx*) user;
+	PS2::Init(ctx->keyboard, ctx->mouse);
+	FinishedDriverThread();
+}
+
+struct DevCtx
+{
+	Ref<Descriptor> dev;
+};
+
+static void AHCIThread(void* user)
+{
+	AHCI::Init("/dev", ((struct DevCtx*) user)->dev);
+	FinishedDriverThread();
+}
+
+static void ATAThread(void* user)
+{
+	ATA::Init("/dev", ((struct DevCtx*) user)->dev);
+	FinishedDriverThread();
+}
+
+static void BGAThread(void* /*user*/)
+{
+	BGA::Init();
+	FinishedDriverThread();
+}
+
+static void EMThread(void* user)
+{
+	EM::Init("/dev", ((struct DevCtx*) user)->dev);
+	FinishedDriverThread();
+}
+
 static void BootThread(void* /*user*/)
 {
 	//
@@ -511,6 +576,7 @@ static void BootThread(void* /*user*/)
 	Ref<Descriptor> slashdev = droot->open(&ctx, "dev", O_READ | O_DIRECTORY);
 	if ( !slashdev )
 		Panic("Unable to create descriptor for RAM filesystem /dev directory.");
+	struct DevCtx dev_ctx = { slashdev };
 
 	// Initialize the keyboard.
 	PS2Keyboard* keyboard = new PS2Keyboard();
@@ -528,7 +594,8 @@ static void BootThread(void* /*user*/)
 		Panic("Could not allocate PS2 Mouse driver");
 
 	// Initialize the PS/2 controller.
-	PS2::Init(keyboard, mouse);
+	struct PS2ThreadCtx ps2_context = { keyboard, mouse };
+	RunDriverThread(PS2Thread, &ps2_context, "ps2");
 
 	// Register /dev/tty as the current-terminal factory.
 	Ref<Inode> tty(new DevTTY(slashdev->dev, 0666, 0, 0));
@@ -616,13 +683,13 @@ static void BootThread(void* /*user*/)
 #endif
 
 	// Initialize AHCI devices.
-	AHCI::Init("/dev", slashdev);
+	RunDriverThread(AHCIThread, &dev_ctx, "ahci");
 
 	// Initialize ATA devices.
-	ATA::Init("/dev", slashdev);
+	RunDriverThread(ATAThread, &dev_ctx, "ata");
 
 	// Initialize the BGA driver.
-	BGA::Init();
+	RunDriverThread(BGAThread, NULL, "bga");
 
 	// Initialize the filesystem network.
 	NetFS::Init();
@@ -644,9 +711,15 @@ static void BootThread(void* /*user*/)
 	{
 		// Initialize the EM driver.
 		if ( enable_em )
-			EM::Init("/dev", slashdev);
+			RunDriverThread(EMThread, &dev_ctx, "em");
 	}
 
+	// Await the drivers initialized in the background threads.
+	kthread_mutex_lock(&driver_threads_lock);
+	while ( driver_threads_done != driver_threads_total )
+		kthread_cond_wait(&driver_threads_cond, &driver_threads_lock);
+	kthread_mutex_unlock(&driver_threads_lock);
+
 	//
 	// Stage 6. Executing Hosted Environment ("User-Space")
 	//