diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/Makefile.shared.configs b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/Makefile.shared.configs
index e484020a0..943bbd1b6 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/Makefile.shared.configs
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/Makefile.shared.configs
@@ -25,9 +25,40 @@
 # variable NVGPU_COMMON_CFLAGS that needs to be used by the parent Makefile
 # to update corresponding cflags variable.
 
+# Default is the regular profile. That can be overridden if necessary. by
+# setting the NVGPU_FORCE_SAFETY_PROFILE. This is a useful hack while we
+# wait for the userspace tmake build to make its way into a proper safety
+# profile build.
+profile := default
+
+# Decide whether to use the safety profile or the regular profile.
+ifeq ($(NV_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_IS_SAFETY),1)
+profile := safety
+endif
+ifeq ($(NVGPU_FORCE_SAFETY_PROFILE),1)
+profile := safety
+endif
+
+NVGPU_COMMON_CFLAGS		:=
+
+#
+# Flags always enabled regardless of build profile.
+#
+
+NVGPU_COMMON_CFLAGS		+=		\
+	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_GK20A_NVHOST		\
+	-DCONFIG_GK20A_CYCLE_STATS		\
+	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_T19X_GRHOST		\
+	-DCONFIG_NVGPU_SUPPORT_TURING		\
+	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_GK20A_PMU=1		\
+	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_ACR=1			\
+	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_GR_VIRTUALIZATION	\
+	-DCONFIG_GK20A_VIDMEM=1			\
+	-DCONFIG_PCI_MSI
+
 # Enable debugger APIs for safety build until devctl whitelisting is done
 NVGPU_DEBUGGER                  := 1
-NVGPU_COMMON_CFLAGS             := -DNVGPU_DEBUGGER
+NVGPU_COMMON_CFLAGS             += -DNVGPU_DEBUGGER
 
 # Enable cyclestats APIs for safety build until complete debugger support is enabled
 NVGPU_CYCLESTATS_SUPPORT        := 1
@@ -53,7 +84,10 @@ NVGPU_COMMON_CFLAGS             += -DNVGPU_ENGINE
 NVGPU_FEATURE_CHANNEL_TSG_SCHEDULING := 1
 NVGPU_COMMON_CFLAGS                  += -DNVGPU_FEATURE_CHANNEL_TSG_SCHEDULING
 
-ifeq ($(NV_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_IS_SAFETY),0)
+#
+# Flags enabled for only the regular build profile.
+#
+ifneq ($(profile),safety)
 NVGPU_FECS_TRACE_SUPPORT        := 1
 NVGPU_COMMON_CFLAGS             += -DCONFIG_GK20A_CTXSW_TRACE
 
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/Makefile.tmk b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/Makefile.tmk
index eae2fd485..1abdbfa90 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/Makefile.tmk
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/Makefile.tmk
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ ARCH_PY				:= $(NV_SOURCE)/core-private/tools/arch/arch.py
 NVGPU_NEXT_SOURCE := \
 		$(NV_COMPONENT_DIR)/../../../../nvgpu-next/drivers/gpu/nvgpu
 
-NVGPU_POSIX			:= -D__NVGPU_POSIX__
+NVGPU_POSIX			:= 1
 NVGPU_ARCH			:= $(NV_COMPONENT_DIR)/../../../arch
 NVGPU_ARCH_YAML                 := $(NVGPU_ARCH)/*.yaml
 
@@ -51,18 +51,11 @@ NV_COMPONENT_INCLUDES		:=				\
 ifneq ($(NV_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_OS_IS_QNX),1)
 NV_COMPONENT_SYSTEM_SHARED_LIBRARIES += pthread
 endif
-NV_COMPONENT_CFLAGS		+= $(NVGPU_POSIX)
-
-NV_COMPONENT_CFLAGS            	+= \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_GK20A_NVHOST \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_T19X_GRHOST \
-	-DCONFIG_NVGPU_SUPPORT_TURING \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_GK20A_PMU=1 \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_ACR=1 \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_GR_VIRTUALIZATION \
-	-DCONFIG_GK20A_VIDMEM=1 \
-	-DCONFIG_PCI_MSI
+NV_COMPONENT_CFLAGS		+=    \
+	-D__NVGPU_POSIX__             \
+	-DCONFIG_NVGPU_SUPPORT_TURING
 
+NVGPU_FORCE_SAFETY_PROFILE	:= 1
 -include $(NV_COMPONENT_DIR)/Makefile.shared.configs
 NV_COMPONENT_CFLAGS             += $(NVGPU_COMMON_CFLAGS)
 
diff --git a/userspace/Makefile b/userspace/Makefile
index 4b6fd964d..63e97f913 100644
--- a/userspace/Makefile
+++ b/userspace/Makefile
@@ -60,8 +60,10 @@ NVGPU_FAULT_INJECTION_ENABLEMENT=1
 
 # Linux configs. We want these so that we can mirror builds from the actual
 # Linux kernel.
-include Makefile.configs
+# include Makefile.configs
+CONFIGS := -D__NVGPU_POSIX__
 
+NVGPU_FORCE_SAFETY_PROFILE	:= 1
 include $(NVGPU_SRC)/Makefile.shared.configs
 CONFIGS+=$(NVGPU_COMMON_CFLAGS)
 
diff --git a/userspace/Makefile.tmk b/userspace/Makefile.tmk
index 5818573c1..4c2141ad1 100644
--- a/userspace/Makefile.tmk
+++ b/userspace/Makefile.tmk
@@ -107,24 +107,11 @@ NV_COMPONENT_SYSTEM_SHARED_LIBRARIES += pthread
 NV_COMPONENT_SYSTEM_SHARED_LIBRARIES += dl
 endif
 
-NV_COMPONENT_CFLAGS		+= -D__NVGPU_POSIX__
-
-NV_COMPONENT_CFLAGS            	+= \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_19x_GPU \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_GK20A_NVHOST \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_T19X_GRHOST \
-	-DCONFIG_NVGPU_SUPPORT_TURING \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_GK20A_PMU=1 \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_ACR=1 \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_GR_VIRTUALIZATION \
-	-DNVCPU_IS_AARCH64=1 \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_IOVMM=0 \
-	-DCONFIG_ARCH_TEGRA_18x_SOC=1 \
-	-DCONFIG_GK20A_VIDMEM=1 \
-	-DCONFIG_PCI_MSI \
-	-DCONFIG_SUPPORT_PMU_PSTATE \
+NV_COMPONENT_CFLAGS		+= \
+	-D__NVGPU_POSIX__ \
 	-DNVGPU_UNITTEST_FAULT_INJECTION_ENABLEMENT
 
+NVGPU_FORCE_SAFETY_PROFILE	:= 1
 -include ../drivers/gpu/nvgpu/Makefile.shared.configs
 NV_COMPONENT_CFLAGS             += $(NVGPU_COMMON_CFLAGS)
 
diff --git a/userspace/units/Makefile.units.common.tmk b/userspace/units/Makefile.units.common.tmk
index b8e52bcc8..bb945387f 100644
--- a/userspace/units/Makefile.units.common.tmk
+++ b/userspace/units/Makefile.units.common.tmk
@@ -53,21 +53,7 @@ else
 NV_COMPONENT_CFLAGS		+= -D__NVGPU_POSIX__
 endif
 
-NV_COMPONENT_CFLAGS            	+= \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_19x_GPU \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_GK20A_NVHOST \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_T19X_GRHOST \
-	-DCONFIG_NVGPU_SUPPORT_TURING \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_GK20A_PMU=1 \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_ACR=1 \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_GR_VIRTUALIZATION \
-	-DNVCPU_IS_AARCH64=1 \
-	-DCONFIG_TEGRA_IOVMM=0 \
-	-DCONFIG_ARCH_TEGRA_18x_SOC=1 \
-	-DCONFIG_GK20A_VIDMEM=1 \
-	-DCONFIG_PCI_MSI \
-	-DCONFIG_SUPPORT_PMU_PSTATE
-
+NVGPU_FORCE_SAFETY_PROFILE	:= 1
 -include $(NV_SOURCE)/kernel/nvgpu/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/Makefile.shared.configs
 NV_COMPONENT_CFLAGS             += $(NVGPU_COMMON_CFLAGS)