diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-wheel.yml b/.github/workflows/build-wheel.yml
index e289f3da69..0d6ca87df1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-wheel.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-wheel.yml
@@ -456,6 +456,16 @@ jobs:
           path: ${{ env.CUDA_CORE_CYTHON_TESTS_DIR }}/test_*${{ env.PY_EXT_SUFFIX }}
           if-no-files-found: error
 
+      - name: Build cuda.core test binaries
+        run: bash ${{ env.CUDA_CORE_TEST_BINARIES_DIR }}/build_test_binaries.sh
+
+      - name: Upload cuda.core test binaries
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a  # v7.0.1
+        with:
+          name: ${{ env.CUDA_CORE_ARTIFACT_NAME }}-test-binaries
+          path: ${{ env.CUDA_CORE_TEST_BINARIES_DIR }}/*.o
+          if-no-files-found: error
+
       # Note: This overwrites CUDA_PATH etc
       - name: Set up mini CTK
         uses: ./.github/actions/fetch_ctk
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-wheel-linux.yml b/.github/workflows/test-wheel-linux.yml
index 4d64242ea0..3a6e2eb972 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-wheel-linux.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-wheel-linux.yml
@@ -279,6 +279,19 @@ jobs:
           pwd
           ls -lahR $CUDA_CORE_CYTHON_TESTS_DIR
 
+      - name: Download cuda.core test binaries
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@3e5f45b2cfb9172054b4087a40e8e0b5a5461e7c  # v8.0.1
+        with:
+          name: ${{ env.CUDA_CORE_ARTIFACT_NAME }}-test-binaries
+          path: ${{ env.CUDA_CORE_TEST_BINARIES_DIR }}
+          run-id: ${{ inputs.run-id || github.run_id }}
+          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Display structure of downloaded cuda.core test binaries
+        run: |
+          pwd
+          ls -lahR $CUDA_CORE_TEST_BINARIES_DIR
+
       - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.PY_VER }}
         uses: actions/setup-python@a309ff8b426b58ec0e2a45f0f869d46889d02405  # v6.2.0
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-wheel-windows.yml b/.github/workflows/test-wheel-windows.yml
index 6ccacfff8f..6db50b89da 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-wheel-windows.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-wheel-windows.yml
@@ -259,6 +259,19 @@ jobs:
           Get-Location
           Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Force $env:CUDA_CORE_CYTHON_TESTS_DIR | Select-Object Mode, LastWriteTime, Length, FullName
 
+      - name: Download cuda.core test binaries
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@3e5f45b2cfb9172054b4087a40e8e0b5a5461e7c  # v8.0.1
+        with:
+          name: ${{ env.CUDA_CORE_ARTIFACT_NAME }}-test-binaries
+          path: ${{ env.CUDA_CORE_TEST_BINARIES_DIR }}
+          run-id: ${{ inputs.run-id || github.run_id }}
+          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Display structure of downloaded cuda.core test binaries
+        run: |
+          Get-Location
+          Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Force $env:CUDA_CORE_TEST_BINARIES_DIR | Select-Object Mode, LastWriteTime, Length, FullName
+
       - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.PY_VER }}
         uses: actions/setup-python@a309ff8b426b58ec0e2a45f0f869d46889d02405  # v6.2.0
         with:
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c55480b755..d2a5bf6e52 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ cache_driver
 cache_runtime
 cache_nvrtc
 
+# cuda.core test object fixtures built locally / downloaded as CI artifacts
+cuda_core/tests/test_binaries/*.o
+
 # CUDA Python specific (auto-generated)
 cuda_bindings/cuda/bindings/_bindings/cyruntime.pxd
 cuda_bindings/cuda/bindings/_bindings/cyruntime.pyx
diff --git a/ci/tools/env-vars b/ci/tools/env-vars
index 30fac1cdce..8ffbfa1347 100755
--- a/ci/tools/env-vars
+++ b/ci/tools/env-vars
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ CUDA_CORE_ARTIFACT_BASENAME="cuda-core-python${PYTHON_VERSION_FORMATTED}-${HOST_
   echo "CUDA_CORE_ARTIFACT_NAME=${CUDA_CORE_ARTIFACT_BASENAME}-${SHA}"
   echo "CUDA_CORE_ARTIFACTS_DIR=$(realpath "${REPO_DIR}/cuda_core/dist")"
   echo "CUDA_CORE_CYTHON_TESTS_DIR=$(realpath "${REPO_DIR}/cuda_core/tests/cython")"
+  echo "CUDA_CORE_TEST_BINARIES_DIR=$(realpath "${REPO_DIR}/cuda_core/tests/test_binaries")"
   echo "PYTHON_VERSION_FORMATTED=${PYTHON_VERSION_FORMATTED}"
 } >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
diff --git a/cuda_core/tests/test_binaries/build_test_binaries.sh b/cuda_core/tests/test_binaries/build_test_binaries.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..6e4de10b26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cuda_core/tests/test_binaries/build_test_binaries.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Build .o test fixtures. Invoked at CI build stage
+
+SCRIPTPATH=$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")
+
+nvcc -dc -o "${SCRIPTPATH}/saxpy.o" "${SCRIPTPATH}/saxpy.cu"
+
+ls -lah "${SCRIPTPATH}/saxpy.o"
diff --git a/cuda_core/tests/test_binaries/saxpy.cu b/cuda_core/tests/test_binaries/saxpy.cu
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9e38018663
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cuda_core/tests/test_binaries/saxpy.cu
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+#include <cuda/std/cstddef>
+
+template<typename T>
+__global__ void saxpy(const T a, const T* x, const T* y, T* out, size_t N) {
+    const unsigned int tid = threadIdx.x + blockIdx.x * blockDim.x;
+    for (size_t i = tid; i < N; i += gridDim.x * blockDim.x) {
+        out[tid] = a * x[tid] + y[tid];
+    }
+}
diff --git a/cuda_core/tests/test_module.py b/cuda_core/tests/test_module.py
index 3a438f825a..f2a663238f 100644
--- a/cuda_core/tests/test_module.py
+++ b/cuda_core/tests/test_module.py
@@ -172,6 +172,36 @@ def get_saxpy_fatbin(init_cuda):
     return bytes(fatbin), sym_map
 
 
+@pytest.fixture(scope="module")
+def get_saxpy_object():
+    """Read the pre-built saxpy.o.
+
+    In CI: produced by build stage into a test wheel file.
+    In local dev: auto-built on demand if nvcc is available; if you edit
+    saxpy.cu, remove the stale saxpy.o to force a rebuild.
+    """
+    import subprocess
+    from pathlib import Path
+
+    from cuda.pathfinder import find_nvidia_binary_utility
+
+    binaries_dir = Path(__file__).parent / "test_binaries"
+    obj_path = binaries_dir / "saxpy.o"
+
+    if not obj_path.is_file():
+        if find_nvidia_binary_utility("nvcc") is None:
+            pytest.skip(
+                f"saxpy.o not found at {obj_path} and nvcc is unavailable. "
+                "In CI this is downloaded from the build stage."
+            )
+        subprocess.run(  # noqa: S603
+            ["bash", str(binaries_dir / "build_test_binaries.sh")],  # noqa: S607
+            check=True,
+        )
+
+    return obj_path.read_bytes()
+
+
 def test_get_kernel(init_cuda):
     kernel = """extern "C" __global__ void ABC() { }"""
 
@@ -330,6 +360,26 @@ def test_object_code_load_fatbin_from_file(get_saxpy_fatbin, tmp_path, convert_p
     mod_obj.get_kernel("saxpy<double>")  # force loading
 
 
+def test_object_code_load_object(get_saxpy_object):
+    obj = get_saxpy_object
+    assert isinstance(obj, bytes)
+    mod_obj = ObjectCode.from_object(obj)
+    assert mod_obj.code == obj
+    assert mod_obj.code_type == "object"
+    # object code is only valid as linker input; get_kernel is unsupported
+    with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match=r'Unsupported code type "object"'):
+        mod_obj.get_kernel("saxpy<float>")
+
+
+def test_object_code_load_object_from_file(get_saxpy_object, tmp_path):
+    obj_file = tmp_path / "test.o"
+    obj_file.write_bytes(get_saxpy_object)
+    arg = str(obj_file)
+    mod_obj = ObjectCode.from_object(arg)
+    assert mod_obj.code == arg
+    assert mod_obj.code_type == "object"
+
+
 def test_saxpy_arguments(get_saxpy_kernel_cubin, cuda12_4_prerequisite_check):
     krn, _ = get_saxpy_kernel_cubin