diff --git a/headers/os/kernel/OS.h b/headers/os/kernel/OS.h
index 339b50dfdf..739828442c 100644
--- a/headers/os/kernel/OS.h
+++ b/headers/os/kernel/OS.h
@@ -702,7 +702,10 @@ typedef struct {
 
 	bigtime_t		_busy_wait_time;			/* reserved for whatever */
 	int32			cached_pages;
-	int32			pad[3];   	               	/* just in case... */
+
+	uint32			abi;						/* the system API */
+
+	int32			pad[2];   	               	/* just in case... */
 } system_info;
 
 /* system private, use macro instead */
diff --git a/src/system/kernel/system_info.cpp b/src/system/kernel/system_info.cpp
index ff39b36596..41d877d217 100644
--- a/src/system/kernel/system_info.cpp
+++ b/src/system/kernel/system_info.cpp
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ _get_system_info(system_info *info, size_t size)
 	strlcpy(info->kernel_name, kKernelName, B_FILE_NAME_LENGTH);
 	strlcpy(info->kernel_build_date, __DATE__, B_OS_NAME_LENGTH);
 	strlcpy(info->kernel_build_time, __TIME__, B_OS_NAME_LENGTH);
+	info->abi = B_HAIKU_ABI;
 
 	// all other stuff is architecture specific
 	return arch_get_system_info(info, size);