diff --git a/.github/workflows/rust.yml b/.github/workflows/rust.yml
index f6c69ec63..5b9e51c75 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/rust.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/rust.yml
@@ -48,6 +48,12 @@ jobs:
           components: rust-src
       # TODO: cache Rust binaries
 
+    - name: Build template
+      uses: actions-rs/cargo@v1
+      with:
+          command: build
+          args: --target x86_64-unknown-uefi --manifest-path template/Cargo.toml
+
     - name: Build
       run: ./build.py build
       working-directory: ./uefi-test-runner
diff --git a/BUILDING.md b/BUILDING.md
index 9e7482764..93236ff07 100644
--- a/BUILDING.md
+++ b/BUILDING.md
@@ -5,30 +5,25 @@ UEFI applications are simple COFF (Windows) executables, with the special
 [Rust supports building UEFI applications](https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/pull/56769)
 though the `x86_64-unknown-uefi` target.
 
-## Steps
+## Template
 
-The following steps allow you to build a simple UEFI app.
+The [template](template) subdirectory contains a minimal example of a UEFI
+application. Copy it to a new directory to get started.
 
-- Create a new `#![no_std]` binary, add `#![no_main]` to use a custom entry point,
-  and make sure you have an entry point function which matches the one below:
-  ```rust
-  #![feature(abi_efiapi)]
-  use uefi::prelude::*;
+- [template/.cargo/config](template/.cargo/config) file sets some `build-std` options.
+- [template/Cargo.toml](template/Cargo.toml) shows the necessary
+  dependencies. Note that when creating your project the
+  [`uefi`](https://crates.io/crates/uefi) and
+  [`uefi-services`](https://crates.io/crates/uefi-services) dependencies should
+  be changed to the latest releases on [crates.io](https://crates.io).
+- [template/src/main.rs](template/src/main.rs) has a minimal entry point that
+  initializes services and exits successfully.
 
-  extern crate rlibc;
-
-  #[entry]
-  fn main(handle: Handle, mut system_table: SystemTable<Boot>) -> Status;
-  ```
-  Note that Rust EFI target requires the entry function to be exported with an `efi_main` symbol,
-  the `#[entry]` macro takes care of that, so the function name is irrelevant.
-
-  You will also want to add a dependency to the [`rlibc`](https://docs.rs/rlibc/) crate and
-  explicitly link it with `extern crate rlibc;` line to avoid linking errors.
+## Building and running
 
 - Build using a `nightly` version of the compiler and activate the
   [`build-std`](https://doc.rust-lang.org/nightly/cargo/reference/unstable.html#build-std)
-  Cargo feature: `cargo build -Z build-std --target x86_64-unknown-uefi`.
+  Cargo feature: `cargo +nightly build -Z build-std --target x86_64-unknown-uefi`.
 
 - The `target` directory will contain a `x86_64-unknown-uefi` subdirectory,
   where you will find the `uefi_app.efi` file - a normal UEFI executable.
@@ -40,6 +35,5 @@ The following steps allow you to build a simple UEFI app.
 
 - To run this in QEMU:
   - You will need a recent version of QEMU as well as OVMF to provide UEFI support
-  - Check the `build.py` script for an idea of what arguments to pass to QEMU
-
-You can use the `uefi-test-runner` directory as sample code for building a simple UEFI app.
+  - Check the [`build.py`](uefi-test-runner/build.py) script for an idea of
+    what arguments to pass to QEMU
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index b2cac8f73..2a08e4860 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ uefi-macros = "0.3.2"
 
 [workspace]
 members = [
+    "template",
     "uefi-macros",
     "uefi-services",
     "uefi-test-runner",
diff --git a/template/.cargo/config b/template/.cargo/config
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4be91559e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/.cargo/config
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+[unstable]
+build-std = ["core", "compiler_builtins", "alloc"]
diff --git a/template/Cargo.toml b/template/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..774a18497
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+[package]
+name = "uefi_app"
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition = "2018"
+
+[dependencies]
+rlibc = "1.0.0"
+
+# In a real application, change these to point to the latest release
+# on crates.io.
+uefi = { path = "..", features = ["exts"] }
+uefi-services = { path = "../uefi-services" }
diff --git a/template/src/main.rs b/template/src/main.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..721fc0342
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/src/main.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#![no_main]
+#![no_std]
+#![feature(abi_efiapi)]
+
+extern crate rlibc;
+
+use uefi::prelude::*;
+use uefi::ResultExt;
+
+#[entry]
+fn main(_handle: Handle, mut system_table: SystemTable<Boot>) -> Status {
+    uefi_services::init(&mut system_table).unwrap_success();
+
+    Status::SUCCESS
+}