diff --git a/systems/common/core/zsh.nix b/systems/common/core/zsh.nix
index e69de29..7e047db 100644
--- a/systems/common/core/zsh.nix
+++ b/systems/common/core/zsh.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#
+# This is a basic enablement of zsh at the host level as a safe guard
+# in case enabling zsh as a home-manager module (see /home/ta/core/cli)
+# at the user level fails for some reason.
+#
+
+{
+  programs.zsh = {
+    enable = true;
+    enableCompletion = true;
+  };
+}
\ No newline at end of file