diff --git a/drivers/dma/CMakeLists.txt b/drivers/dma/CMakeLists.txt
index 748d89a8191..63813f546e8 100644
--- a/drivers/dma/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/drivers/dma/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 zephyr_sources_ifdef(CONFIG_DMA_QMSI		dma_qmsi.c)
 zephyr_sources_ifdef(CONFIG_DMA_SAM_XDMAC	dma_sam_xdmac.c)
 zephyr_sources_ifdef(CONFIG_DMA_STM32F4X	dma_stm32f4x.c)
+
+zephyr_sources_ifdef(CONFIG_USERSPACE		dma_handlers.c)
diff --git a/drivers/dma/dma_handlers.c b/drivers/dma/dma_handlers.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8d20ed385b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/drivers/dma/dma_handlers.c
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2018 Intel Corporation
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+#include <dma.h>
+#include <syscall_handler.h>
+
+/* Both of these APIs are assuming that the drive implementations are checking
+ * the validity of the channel ID and returning -errno if it's bogus
+ */
+
+_SYSCALL_HANDLER(dma_start, dev, channel)
+{
+	_SYSCALL_OBJ(dev, K_OBJ_DRIVER_DMA);
+	return _impl_dma_start((struct device *)dev, channel);
+}
+
+_SYSCALL_HANDLER(dma_stop, dev, channel)
+{
+	_SYSCALL_OBJ(dev, K_OBJ_DRIVER_DMA);
+	return _impl_dma_stop((struct device *)dev, channel);
+}
+
diff --git a/include/dma.h b/include/dma.h
index bab824b8db2..4ab16906236 100644
--- a/include/dma.h
+++ b/include/dma.h
@@ -190,6 +190,9 @@ static inline int dma_config(struct device *dev, u32_t channel,
  * @brief Enables DMA channel and starts the transfer, the channel must be
  *        configured beforehand.
  *
+ * Implementations must check the validity of the channel ID passed in and
+ * return -EINVAL if it is invalid.
+ *
  * @param dev     Pointer to the device structure for the driver instance.
  * @param channel Numeric identification of the channel where the transfer will
  *                be processed
@@ -197,7 +200,9 @@ static inline int dma_config(struct device *dev, u32_t channel,
  * @retval 0 if successful.
  * @retval Negative errno code if failure.
  */
-static inline int dma_start(struct device *dev, u32_t channel)
+__syscall int dma_start(struct device *dev, u32_t channel);
+
+static inline int _impl_dma_start(struct device *dev, u32_t channel)
 {
 	const struct dma_driver_api *api = dev->driver_api;
 
@@ -207,6 +212,9 @@ static inline int dma_start(struct device *dev, u32_t channel)
 /**
  * @brief Stops the DMA transfer and disables the channel.
  *
+ * Implementations must check the validity of the channel ID passed in and
+ * return -EINVAL if it is invalid.
+ *
  * @param dev     Pointer to the device structure for the driver instance.
  * @param channel Numeric identification of the channel where the transfer was
  *                being processed
@@ -214,7 +222,9 @@ static inline int dma_start(struct device *dev, u32_t channel)
  * @retval 0 if successful.
  * @retval Negative errno code if failure.
  */
-static inline int dma_stop(struct device *dev, u32_t channel)
+__syscall int dma_stop(struct device *dev, u32_t channel);
+
+static inline int _impl_dma_stop(struct device *dev, u32_t channel)
 {
 	const struct dma_driver_api *api = dev->driver_api;
 
diff --git a/include/kernel.h b/include/kernel.h
index 544a9a5d173..f7994383494 100644
--- a/include/kernel.h
+++ b/include/kernel.h
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ enum k_objects {
 	K_OBJ_DRIVER_AIO_CMP,
 	K_OBJ_DRIVER_COUNTER,
 	K_OBJ_DRIVER_CRYPTO,
+	K_OBJ_DRIVER_DMA,
 	K_OBJ_DRIVER_FLASH,
 	K_OBJ_DRIVER_GPIO,
 	K_OBJ_DRIVER_I2C,
diff --git a/kernel/userspace.c b/kernel/userspace.c
index 9c68778c3bf..d1c75d924ab 100644
--- a/kernel/userspace.c
+++ b/kernel/userspace.c
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ const char *otype_to_str(enum k_objects otype)
 		return "counter driver";
 	case K_OBJ_DRIVER_CRYPTO:
 		return "crypto driver";
+	case K_OBJ_DRIVER_DMA:
+		return "dma driver";
 	case K_OBJ_DRIVER_FLASH:
 		return "flash driver";
 	case K_OBJ_DRIVER_GPIO:
diff --git a/scripts/gen_kobject_list.py b/scripts/gen_kobject_list.py
index 2fed49d098b..50b1ce51cb0 100755
--- a/scripts/gen_kobject_list.py
+++ b/scripts/gen_kobject_list.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ subsystems = [
     "aio_cmp_driver_api",
     "counter_driver_api",
     "crypto_driver_api",
+    "dma_driver_api",
     "flash_driver_api",
     "gpio_driver_api",
     "i2c_driver_api",