diff --git a/build-logic/src/main/kotlin/MultiReleaseJarUtils.kt b/build-logic/src/main/kotlin/MultiReleaseJarUtils.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..28628b13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build-logic/src/main/kotlin/MultiReleaseJarUtils.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2017-2024 JetBrains s.r.o. and respective authors and developers.
+ * Use of this source code is governed by the Apache 2.0 license that can be found in the LICENCE file.
+ */
+
+package kotlinx.io.build
+
+import org.gradle.api.Project
+import org.gradle.api.file.FileCollection
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.SourceSetContainer
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.compile.JavaCompile
+import org.gradle.jvm.toolchain.JavaLanguageVersion
+import org.gradle.jvm.toolchain.JavaToolchainService
+import org.gradle.kotlin.dsl.get
+import org.gradle.kotlin.dsl.withType
+import org.gradle.process.CommandLineArgumentProvider
+import org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.dsl.JvmTarget
+import org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.plugin.mpp.KotlinJvmCompilation
+import org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.tasks.KotlinJvmCompile
+import java.util.*
+
+private val Project.sourceSets: SourceSetContainer
+    get() = this.extensions.getByName("sourceSets") as SourceSetContainer
+
+private val Project.javaToolchains: JavaToolchainService
+    get() = this.extensions.getByName("javaToolchains") as JavaToolchainService
+
+
+/**
+ * Setup tasks to compile `module-info.java` file for a module named [moduleName]
+ * from a source set with name [sourceSetName] using Java toolchain with version [toolchainVersion].
+
+ * It is assumed that source set with [sourceSetName] only extends main JVM source set.
+ * [parentCompilation] represent a compilation corresponding to such a main source set.
+ */
+public fun Project.configureJava9ModuleInfoCompilation(
+    sourceSetName: String,
+    toolchainVersion: JavaLanguageVersion,
+    parentCompilation: KotlinJvmCompilation,
+    moduleName: String
+) {
+    val moduleOutputs = listOf(parentCompilation.output.allOutputs)
+    val compileClasspathConfiguration = parentCompilation.configurations.compileDependencyConfiguration
+    val sourceSetNameCapitalized = sourceSetName.replaceFirstChar { it.titlecase(Locale.getDefault()) }
+    val javaCompileClasspath = configurations["${sourceSetName}CompileClasspath"]
+    javaCompileClasspath.extendsFrom(compileClasspathConfiguration)
+
+    tasks.named("compile${sourceSetNameCapitalized}Java", JavaCompile::class.java) {
+        dependsOn(moduleOutputs)
+
+        targetCompatibility = "9"
+        sourceCompatibility = "9"
+
+        javaCompiler.set(
+            javaToolchains.compilerFor {
+                languageVersion.set(toolchainVersion)
+            }
+        )
+
+        val javaSourceSet = sourceSets[sourceSetName].java
+        destinationDirectory.set(
+            javaSourceSet.destinationDirectory.asFile.get()
+                .resolve("META-INF/versions/9")
+        )
+        options.sourcepath = files(javaSourceSet.srcDirs)
+        val moduleFiles = objects.fileCollection().from(moduleOutputs)
+        val modulePath = javaCompileClasspath.filter { it !in moduleFiles.files }
+        dependsOn(modulePath)
+        classpath = objects.fileCollection().from()
+        options.compilerArgumentProviders.add(
+            JigsawArgumentsProvider(
+                moduleName,
+                moduleFiles,
+                modulePath
+            )
+        )
+    }
+}
+
+private class JigsawArgumentsProvider(
+    private val moduleName: String,
+    private val moduleFiles: FileCollection,
+    private val modulePath: FileCollection
+) : CommandLineArgumentProvider {
+    override fun asArguments(): Iterable<String> = listOf(
+        "--module-path", modulePath.asPath,
+        "--patch-module", "$moduleName=${moduleFiles.asPath}",
+        "--release", "9"
+    )
+}
diff --git a/build-logic/src/main/kotlin/kotlinx/io/conventions/kotlinx-io-multiplatform.gradle.kts b/build-logic/src/main/kotlin/kotlinx/io/conventions/kotlinx-io-multiplatform.gradle.kts
index 5ac3098b..86efa514 100644
--- a/build-logic/src/main/kotlin/kotlinx/io/conventions/kotlinx-io-multiplatform.gradle.kts
+++ b/build-logic/src/main/kotlin/kotlinx/io/conventions/kotlinx-io-multiplatform.gradle.kts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
  * Use of this source code is governed by the Apache 2.0 license that can be found in the LICENCE file.
  */
 
+import kotlinx.io.build.configureJava9ModuleInfoCompilation
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.ExperimentalKotlinGradlePluginApi
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.dsl.KotlinMultiplatformExtension
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.plugin.KotlinSourceSet
@@ -41,6 +42,20 @@ kotlin {
                 }
             }
         }
+
+        val mrjToolchain = versionCatalog.findVersion("multi.release.toolchain").getOrNull()?.requiredVersion
+            ?: throw GradleException("Version 'multi.release.toolchain' is not specified in the version catalog")
+
+        // N.B.: it seems like modules don't work well with "regular" multi-release compilation,
+        // so if we need to compile some Kotlin classes for a specific JDK release, a separate compilation is needed.
+        configureJava9ModuleInfoCompilation(
+            sourceSetName = project.sourceSets.create("java9ModuleInfo") {
+                java.srcDir("jvm/module")
+            }.name,
+            parentCompilation = compilations.getByName("main"),
+            moduleName = project.name.replace("-", "."),
+            toolchainVersion = JavaLanguageVersion.of(mrjToolchain)
+        )
     }
 
     js {
@@ -104,6 +119,15 @@ kotlin {
             }
         }
     }
+
+    tasks {
+        val jvmJar by existing(Jar::class) {
+            manifest {
+                attributes("Multi-Release" to true)
+            }
+            from(project.sourceSets["java9ModuleInfo"].output)
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 fun KotlinSourceSet.configureSourceSet() {
diff --git a/bytestring/jvm/module/module-info.java b/bytestring/jvm/module/module-info.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9fef9fb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bytestring/jvm/module/module-info.java
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+module kotlinx.io.bytestring {
+    requires transitive kotlin.stdlib;
+
+    exports kotlinx.io.bytestring;
+    exports kotlinx.io.bytestring.unsafe;
+}
diff --git a/core/jvm/module/module-info.java b/core/jvm/module/module-info.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3ff9848a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/jvm/module/module-info.java
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+module kotlinx.io.core {
+    requires transitive kotlin.stdlib;
+    requires transitive kotlinx.io.bytestring;
+
+    exports kotlinx.io;
+    exports kotlinx.io.files;
+    exports kotlinx.io.unsafe;
+}
diff --git a/gradle/libs.versions.toml b/gradle/libs.versions.toml
index a26422f1..0b4360ee 100644
--- a/gradle/libs.versions.toml
+++ b/gradle/libs.versions.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 [versions]
 kotlin = "2.0.0"
 java = "8"
+multi-release-toolchain = "17"
 dokka = "1.9.20"
 kover = "0.8.2"
 bcv = "0.16.3"