diff --git a/kernels/src/kernels/layer/func.py b/kernels/src/kernels/layer/func.py
index d98551e3..b7cfd567 100644
--- a/kernels/src/kernels/layer/func.py
+++ b/kernels/src/kernels/layer/func.py
@@ -64,12 +64,14 @@ def __init__(
         func_name: str,
         revision: str | None = None,
         version: int | None = None,
+        trust_remote_code: bool | list[str] = False,
     ):
         if revision is not None and version is not None:
             raise ValueError("Either a revision or a version must be specified, not both.")
 
         self._repo_id = repo_id
         self.func_name = func_name
+        self._trust_remote_code = trust_remote_code
 
         # We are going to resolve these lazily, since we do not want
         # to do a network request for every registered FuncRepository.
@@ -85,7 +87,9 @@ def _resolve_revision(self) -> str:
         )
 
     def load(self) -> Type["nn.Module"]:
-        kernel = get_kernel(self._repo_id, revision=self._resolve_revision())
+        kernel = get_kernel(
+            self._repo_id, revision=self._resolve_revision(), trust_remote_code=self._trust_remote_code
+        )
         return _get_kernel_func(self, kernel)
 
     def __eq__(self, other):
@@ -95,10 +99,11 @@ def __eq__(self, other):
             and self._repo_id == other._repo_id
             and self._revision == other._revision
             and self._version == other._version
+            and self._trust_remote_code == other._trust_remote_code
         )
 
     def __hash__(self):
-        return hash((self.func_name, self._repo_id, self._revision, self._version))
+        return hash((self.func_name, self._repo_id, self._revision, self._version, self._trust_remote_code))
 
     def __str__(self) -> str:
         return f"`{self._repo_id}` (revision: {self._resolve_revision()}), function `{self.func_name}`"
@@ -224,6 +229,7 @@ def __init__(
         *,
         lockfile: Path | None = None,
         func_name: str,
+        trust_remote_code: bool | list[str] = False,
     ):
         """
         Construct a function repository.
@@ -233,10 +239,13 @@ def __init__(
             lockfile (`Path`, *optional*): Path to the lockfile. If not provided,
                 the lockfile will be inferred from the caller's context.
             func_name (`str`): The name of the function within the kernel repository.
+            trust_remote_code (`bool`, *optional*, defaults to `False`):
+                Whether to allow loading kernels from untrusted organisations.
         """
         self._repo_id = repo_id
         self._lockfile = lockfile
         self.func_name = func_name
+        self._trust_remote_code = trust_remote_code
         self._revision = self._resolve_revision()
 
     def _resolve_revision(self) -> str:
@@ -252,7 +261,7 @@ def _resolve_revision(self) -> str:
         return locked_sha
 
     def load(self) -> Type["nn.Module"]:
-        kernel = get_kernel(repo_id=self._repo_id, revision=self._revision)
+        kernel = get_kernel(repo_id=self._repo_id, revision=self._revision, trust_remote_code=self._trust_remote_code)
         return _get_kernel_func(self, kernel)
 
     def __eq__(self, other):
@@ -261,10 +270,11 @@ def __eq__(self, other):
             and self.func_name == other.func_name
             and self._repo_id == other._repo_id
             and self._revision == other._revision
+            and self._trust_remote_code == other._trust_remote_code
         )
 
     def __hash__(self):
-        return hash((self.func_name, self._repo_id, self._revision))
+        return hash((self.func_name, self._repo_id, self._revision, self._trust_remote_code))
 
     def __str__(self) -> str:
         return f"`{self._repo_id}` (revision: {self._revision}), function `{self.func_name}`"
diff --git a/kernels/src/kernels/layer/layer.py b/kernels/src/kernels/layer/layer.py
index 505aacb8..d280b6b9 100644
--- a/kernels/src/kernels/layer/layer.py
+++ b/kernels/src/kernels/layer/layer.py
@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@ class LayerRepository:
             The specific revision (branch, tag, or commit) to download. Cannot be used together with `version`.
         version (`int`, *optional*):
             The kernel version to download. Cannot be used together with `revision`.
+        trust_remote_code (`bool | list[str]`, *optional*, defaults to `False`):
+            Whether to allow loading kernels from untrusted organisations. A list
+            of signing identities can be provided for future verification support;
+            until then it warns and falls back to the default trust check.
 
     Example:
         ```python
@@ -63,12 +67,14 @@ def __init__(
         layer_name: str,
         revision: str | None = None,
         version: int | None = None,
+        trust_remote_code: bool | list[str] = False,
     ):
         if revision is not None and version is not None:
             raise ValueError("Either a revision or a version must be specified, not both.")
 
         self._repo_id = repo_id
         self.layer_name = layer_name
+        self._trust_remote_code = trust_remote_code
 
         # We are going to resolve these lazily, since we do not want
         # to do a network request for every registered LayerRepository.
@@ -84,7 +90,9 @@ def _resolve_revision(self) -> str:
         )
 
     def load(self) -> Type["nn.Module"]:
-        kernel = get_kernel(self._repo_id, revision=self._resolve_revision())
+        kernel = get_kernel(
+            self._repo_id, revision=self._resolve_revision(), trust_remote_code=self._trust_remote_code
+        )
         return _get_kernel_layer(self, kernel)
 
     def __eq__(self, other):
@@ -94,10 +102,11 @@ def __eq__(self, other):
             and self._repo_id == other._repo_id
             and self._revision == other._revision
             and self._version == other._version
+            and self._trust_remote_code == other._trust_remote_code
         )
 
     def __hash__(self):
-        return hash((self.layer_name, self._repo_id, self._revision, self._version))
+        return hash((self.layer_name, self._repo_id, self._revision, self._version, self._trust_remote_code))
 
     def __str__(self) -> str:
         return f"`{self._repo_id}` (revision: {self._resolve_revision()}), layer `{self.layer_name}`"
@@ -168,6 +177,7 @@ def __init__(
         *,
         lockfile: Path | None = None,
         layer_name: str,
+        trust_remote_code: bool | list[str] = False,
     ):
         """
         Construct a layer repository.
@@ -178,6 +188,7 @@ def __init__(
         self._repo_id = repo_id
         self._lockfile = lockfile
         self.layer_name = layer_name
+        self._trust_remote_code = trust_remote_code
         self._revision = self._resolve_revision()
 
     def _resolve_revision(self) -> str:
@@ -193,7 +204,7 @@ def _resolve_revision(self) -> str:
         return locked_sha
 
     def load(self) -> Type["nn.Module"]:
-        kernel = get_kernel(repo_id=self._repo_id, revision=self._revision)
+        kernel = get_kernel(repo_id=self._repo_id, revision=self._revision, trust_remote_code=self._trust_remote_code)
         return _get_kernel_layer(self, kernel)
 
     def __eq__(self, other):
@@ -202,10 +213,11 @@ def __eq__(self, other):
             and self.layer_name == other.layer_name
             and self._repo_id == other._repo_id
             and self._revision == other._revision
+            and self._trust_remote_code == other._trust_remote_code
         )
 
     def __hash__(self):
-        return hash((self.layer_name, self._repo_id, self._revision))
+        return hash((self.layer_name, self._repo_id, self._revision, self._trust_remote_code))
 
     def __str__(self) -> str:
         return f"`{self._repo_id}` (revision: {self._revision}), layer `{self.layer_name}`"
diff --git a/kernels/src/kernels/utils.py b/kernels/src/kernels/utils.py
index 829c740f..84fb05d0 100644
--- a/kernels/src/kernels/utils.py
+++ b/kernels/src/kernels/utils.py
@@ -31,6 +31,64 @@
 
 KNOWN_BACKENDS = {"cpu", "cuda", "metal", "neuron", "rocm", "xpu", "npu"}
 
+_ALWAYS_TRUSTED_ORGS = {"kernels-community", "kernels-staging", "kernels-test", "sglang"}
+
+
+def _check_trust_remote_code(repo_id: str, trust_remote_code: bool | list[str]) -> None:
+    """Check whether a kernel repository is trusted.
+
+    When ``trust_remote_code`` is ``False`` (the default), only repositories
+    whose publisher is marked as trusted on the Hub are allowed.  Repositories
+    from untrusted publishers will raise a ``ValueError``.
+
+    When ``trust_remote_code`` is ``True``, all repositories are allowed.
+
+    When ``trust_remote_code`` is a list of strings, it is treated as a list
+    of signing identities to verify against.  Signing verification is not yet
+    implemented, so passing a list currently emits a warning and falls back
+    to the default trust check (i.e. only trusted publishers are allowed).
+    """
+    if trust_remote_code is True:
+        return
+
+    if isinstance(trust_remote_code, list):
+        import warnings
+
+        warnings.warn(
+            "Signing identity verification is not yet implemented. "
+            "The provided signing identities will be ignored and the "
+            "kernel will be treated as untrusted. Use trust_remote_code=True "
+            "to bypass trust checks.",
+            stacklevel=3,
+        )
+
+    org = repo_id.split("/", 1)[0]
+    if org in _ALWAYS_TRUSTED_ORGS:
+        return
+
+    raise ValueError(
+        f"Kernel repository '{repo_id}' is not from a trusted publisher. "
+        f"Set trust_remote_code=True to allow loading kernels from untrusted sources."
+    )
+
+    # TODO: revisit and update logic when we can check trusted publishers at the
+    # user/organization level
+    #
+    # api = _get_hf_api()
+    # try:
+    #     info = api.repo_info(repo_id, repo_type="kernel")
+    # except Exception as e:
+    #     raise ValueError(
+    #         f"Could not verify publisher trust status for kernel repository '{repo_id}'. "
+    #         "Set trust_remote_code=True to allow loading kernels from untrusted sources."
+    #     ) from e
+
+    # if not getattr(info, "trustedPublisher", False):
+    #     raise ValueError(
+    #         f"Kernel repository '{repo_id}' is not from a trusted publisher. "
+    #         f"Set trust_remote_code=True to allow loading kernels from untrusted sources."
+    #     )
+
 
 @dataclass(frozen=True)
 class RepoInfo:
@@ -293,6 +351,7 @@ def get_kernel(
     version: int | None = None,
     backend: str | None = None,
     user_agent: str | dict | None = None,
+    trust_remote_code: bool | list[str] = False,
 ) -> ModuleType:
     """
     Load a kernel from the kernel hub.
@@ -312,6 +371,12 @@ def get_kernel(
             The backend will be detected automatically if not provided.
         user_agent (`Union[str, dict]`, *optional*):
             The `user_agent` info to pass to `snapshot_download()` for internal telemetry.
+        trust_remote_code (`bool | list[str]`, *optional*, defaults to `False`):
+            Whether to allow loading kernels from untrusted organisations. When ``False``,
+            only kernels from trusted organisations are allowed. When ``True``, all
+            repositories are allowed. A list of strings will be used to verify signing
+            identities in a future release; for now it emits a warning and falls
+            back to the default trust check.
 
     Returns:
         `ModuleType`: The imported kernel module.
@@ -331,6 +396,8 @@ def get_kernel(
     if override is not None:
         return get_local_kernel(override)
 
+    _check_trust_remote_code(repo_id, trust_remote_code)
+
     revision = select_revision_or_version(repo_id, revision=revision, version=version)
     repo_info = RepoInfo(
         repo_id=repo_id,
diff --git a/kernels/tests/test_basic.py b/kernels/tests/test_basic.py
index c2978a04..fd1d9f01 100644
--- a/kernels/tests/test_basic.py
+++ b/kernels/tests/test_basic.py
@@ -233,6 +233,22 @@ def test_neuron():
     torch.testing.assert_close(relu.relu(x), x.relu())
 
 
+def test_trust_remote_code_blocks_untrusted_org():
+    """Kernels from untrusted orgs should be rejected by default."""
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match=r"not from a trusted publisher"):
+        get_kernel("kernels-test-untrusted/not-a-trused-org-kernel", version=1)
+
+
+def test_trust_remote_code_allows_trusted_org():
+    """Kernels from trusted orgs should not raise a trust error."""
+    get_kernel("kernels-community/relu", version=1)
+
+
+def test_trust_remote_code_flag_allows_untrusted():
+    """trust_remote_code=True should bypass the org check."""
+    get_kernel("kernels-test-untrusted/ci-test-kernel", version=1, trust_remote_code=True)
+
+
 def silu_and_mul_torch(x: torch.Tensor):
     d = x.shape[-1] // 2
     return F.silu(x[..., :d]) * x[..., d:]