diff --git a/templates/seL4MultiSharedData-from.template.c b/templates/seL4MultiSharedData-from.template.c
index 6d6f996..b881ce5 100644
--- a/templates/seL4MultiSharedData-from.template.c
+++ b/templates/seL4MultiSharedData-from.template.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ struct {
         __attribute__((externally_visible));
 
 /*- do register_shared_variable('%s_%s_data' % (me.parent.name, client_id), shmem_symbol) -*/
+/*- do keep_symbol(shmem_symbol) -*/
 
 volatile void * /*? shmem_name ?*/ = (volatile void *) & /*? shmem_symbol ?*/;
 
diff --git a/templates/seL4MultiSharedData-to.template.c b/templates/seL4MultiSharedData-to.template.c
index 69b2077..fa6c384 100644
--- a/templates/seL4MultiSharedData-to.template.c
+++ b/templates/seL4MultiSharedData-to.template.c
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
                 __attribute__((externally_visible));
 
         /*- do register_shared_variable('%s_%s_data' % (me.parent.name, client_id), shmem_symbol) -*/
+        /*- do keep_symbol(shmem_symbol) -*/
 
         volatile void * /*? shmem_name ?*/ = (volatile void *) & /*? shmem_symbol ?*/;