diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index f872d68c7..10f60e6e3 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -179,6 +179,9 @@ include(tools/external.cmake)
 add_subdirectory(src)
 
 if (NOT "${TOIT_SYSTEM_NAME}" MATCHES "esp32")
+  # Mention the default packages so they are downloaded.
+  toit_project(default_packages "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/packages-default")
+
   add_subdirectory(tools)
   add_subdirectory(system/extensions/host)
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 921ac609b..dcf344aa2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -282,8 +282,12 @@ install-sdk:
 		install -m 755 "$$f" "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)"/vessels; \
 	done
 	mkdir -p "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)"/lib
-	cp -R "$(CURDIR)"/lib/* "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)"/lib
+	cp -R "$(CURDIR)"/lib/. "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)"/lib
 	find "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)"/lib -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
+	mkdir -p "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)"/packages-default
+	cp -R "$(CURDIR)"/packages-default/. "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)"/packages-default
+	find "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)"/packages-default -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
+	find "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)"/packages-default -type d -name '.git' -prune -exec rm -rf {} \;
 
 install: install-sdk
 
diff --git a/packages-default/README.md b/packages-default/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..af8b5af73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages-default/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Default packages
+
+This directory contains the default packages that are distributed with
+the current SDK. Applications that don't have any 'package.yaml' or
+'package.lock' file will use these packages.
diff --git a/packages-default/package.lock b/packages-default/package.lock
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..474acadd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages-default/package.lock
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+sdk: ^2.0.0-alpha.145
+prefixes:
+  host: pkg-host
+  http: pkg-http
+packages:
+  pkg-host:
+    url: github.com/toitlang/pkg-host
+    name: host
+    version: 1.15.1
+    hash: ff187c2c19d695e66c3dc1d9c09b4dc6bec09088
+  pkg-http:
+    url: github.com/toitlang/pkg-http
+    name: http
+    version: 2.7.2
+    hash: 614dd0f374e70aab09f12e9466a35b779b9a8d63
diff --git a/packages-default/package.yaml b/packages-default/package.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..88f6b38f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages-default/package.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+dependencies:
+  host:
+    url: github.com/toitlang/pkg-host
+    version: ^1.15.1
+  http:
+    url: github.com/toitlang/pkg-http
+    version: ^2.7.2
diff --git a/src/compiler/CMakeLists.txt b/src/compiler/CMakeLists.txt
index 0d229ccf5..1dd37f21a 100644
--- a/src/compiler/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/compiler/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -98,3 +98,18 @@ add_custom_target(
   )
 
 add_dependencies(toit.compile generate-lib-symlink)
+
+set(TOIT_DEFAULT_PROJECT_DIR "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/sdk/packages-default")
+
+add_custom_command(
+  OUTPUT ${TOIT_DEFAULT_PROJECT_DIR}
+  COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E create_symlink ${TOIT_SDK_SOURCE_DIR}/packages-default ${TOIT_DEFAULT_PROJECT_DIR}
+  VERBATIM
+)
+
+add_custom_target(
+  generate-default-project-symlink
+  DEPENDS ${TOIT_DEFAULT_PROJECT_DIR}
+  )
+
+add_dependencies(toit.compile generate-default-project-symlink)
diff --git a/src/compiler/compiler.cc b/src/compiler/compiler.cc
index 895b57359..9c7c32951 100644
--- a/src/compiler/compiler.cc
+++ b/src/compiler/compiler.cc
@@ -839,6 +839,10 @@ PackageLock Pipeline::load_package_lock(const List<const char*> source_paths) {
   } else {
     lock_file = find_lock_file(entry_path, filesystem());
   }
+  if (lock_file.empty()) {
+    // Use the default lock-file instead.
+    lock_file = find_lock_file_at(filesystem()->default_project_root(), filesystem());
+  }
   return PackageLock::read(lock_file,
                            entry_path,
                            source_manager(),
diff --git a/src/compiler/filesystem.cc b/src/compiler/filesystem.cc
index b19d83545..09c172a3e 100644
--- a/src/compiler/filesystem.cc
+++ b/src/compiler/filesystem.cc
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ const char* Filesystem::library_root() {
       library_root_ = builder.strdup();
     } else {
       builder.reset_to(sdk_length);
-      builder.join("..", "lib");
+      builder.join("..", LIB_SUFFIX);
       builder.canonicalize();
       // Always assign the string, without testing.
       // If the path is wrong there will be an error very soon, because the compiler can't
@@ -65,6 +65,28 @@ const char* Filesystem::library_root() {
   return library_root_;
 }
 
+const char* Filesystem::default_project_root() {
+  if (default_project_root_ == null) {
+    auto sdk = sdk_path();
+    const char* DEFAULT_PROJECT_SUFFIX = "packages-default";
+    PathBuilder builder(this);
+    builder.join(sdk);
+    int sdk_length = builder.length();
+    builder.join(DEFAULT_PROJECT_SUFFIX);
+    if (is_directory(builder.c_str())) {
+      default_project_root_ = builder.strdup();
+    } else {
+      builder.reset_to(sdk_length);
+      builder.join("..", DEFAULT_PROJECT_SUFFIX);
+      builder.canonicalize();
+      // Always assign the string, without testing.
+      // If the installation isn't correct, then we just won't find any default packages.
+      default_project_root_ = builder.strdup();
+    }
+  }
+  return default_project_root_;
+}
+
 const char* Filesystem::vessel_root() {
   if (vessel_root_ == null) {
     auto sdk = sdk_path();
diff --git a/src/compiler/filesystem.h b/src/compiler/filesystem.h
index c7290a004..df31dcd26 100644
--- a/src/compiler/filesystem.h
+++ b/src/compiler/filesystem.h
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ class Filesystem {
 
   const char* library_root();
   const char* vessel_root();
+  const char* default_project_root();
 
   /// Registers an intercepted file.
   /// The path must be absolute.
@@ -124,6 +125,7 @@ class Filesystem {
 
   UnorderedMap<std::string, InterceptedFile> intercepted_;
   const char* library_root_ = null;
+  const char* default_project_root_ = null;
   const char* vessel_root_ = null;
   const char* cwd_ = null;
 };