diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 6cfe3ea..9a7d623 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ if("${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}" STREQUAL "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}")
 endif("${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}" STREQUAL "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}")
 
 # Set default flags (from opus-ng build)
-set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-O2 -fstack-protector-strong -W -Wall -Wextra -Wcast-align -Wnested-externs -Wshadow -Wstrict-prototypes -DHAVE_CONFIG_H")
+set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-g -O2 -fstack-protector-strong -W -Wall -Wextra -Wcast-align -Wnested-externs -Wshadow -Wstrict-prototypes -DHAVE_CONFIG_H")
 
 if(NOT CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING)
     # Python tells us the CFLAGS we need for Embedding Python in a C lib.
@@ -524,7 +524,7 @@ add_test(NAME c_encoder_model19_check3
          COMMAND sh -c "cd ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}; 
          ./inference.sh model05/checkpoints/checkpoint_epoch_100.pth wav/brian_g8sez.wav /dev/null --write_latent z.f32; \
          cat features_in.f32 | python3 radae_txe.py | python3 radae_rxe.py > features_out.f32; \
-         cat features_in.f32 | ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/src/test_rade_enc 3 1 > z_c.f32; \
+         cat features_in.f32 | ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/src/test_rade_enc 3 1 ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/model19_check3.bin > z_c.f32; \
          cat z_c.f32 | python3 radae_txe.py --bypass_enc | python3 radae_rxe.py > features_rx_out.f32; \
          python3 loss.py features_in.f32 features_out.f32 --features_hat2 features_rx_out.f32 --compare")
          set_tests_properties(c_encoder_model19_check3 PROPERTIES PASS_REGULAR_EXPRESSION "PASS")
diff --git a/bin/model19_check3.bin b/bin/model19_check3.bin
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7eccda5
Binary files /dev/null and b/bin/model19_check3.bin differ
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index d1bf376..dd70348 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -31,3 +31,6 @@ set_target_properties(radecore PROPERTIES
 
 add_executable(test_rade_enc test_rade_enc.c)
 target_link_libraries(test_rade_enc radecore opus m)
+
+add_executable(write_rade_weights write_rade_weights.c)
+target_link_libraries(write_rade_weights radecore opus m)
diff --git a/src/rade_enc_data.c b/src/rade_enc_data.c
index c05a255..c7aa034 100644
--- a/src/rade_enc_data.c
+++ b/src/rade_enc_data.c
@@ -227860,7 +227860,7 @@ const WeightArray radeenc_arrays[] = {
     {NULL, 0, 0, NULL}
 };
 #endif /* USE_WEIGHTS_FILE */
-
+#include <stdio.h>
 #ifndef DUMP_BINARY_WEIGHTS
 int init_radeenc(RADEEnc *model, const WeightArray *arrays) {
     if (linear_init(&model->enc_dense1, arrays, "enc_dense1_bias", NULL, NULL,"enc_dense1_weights_float", NULL, NULL, NULL, 84, 64)) return 1;
diff --git a/src/test_rade_enc.c b/src/test_rade_enc.c
index 876c47f..7e79232 100644
--- a/src/test_rade_enc.c
+++ b/src/test_rade_enc.c
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <sys/mman.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
 
 #ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
 #include "config.h"
@@ -18,8 +22,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     RADEEnc      enc_model;
     RADEEncState enc_state;
 
-    if (argc < 2) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "usage: %s bottleneck[1-3] auxdata[0-1]\n", argv[0]);
+    if (argc < 3) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "usage: %s bottleneck[1-3] auxdata[0-1] [weights_blob.bin]\n", argv[0]);
         exit(1);
     }
 
@@ -34,8 +38,34 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         num_features += 1;
     }
 
-    if (init_radeenc(&enc_model, radeenc_arrays) != 0) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Error initialising encoder model\n");
+    int fd;
+    void *data;
+    int len;
+    int nb_arrays;
+    struct stat st;
+    WeightArray *list;
+
+    if (argc == 4) {
+        const char *filename = argv[3];
+        fprintf(stderr, "loading %s ....\n", filename);
+        int ret = stat(filename, &st);
+        assert(ret != -1);
+        len = st.st_size;
+        fprintf(stderr, "size is %d\n", len);
+        fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY);
+        assert(fd != -1);
+        // note this needs to stay mapped at run time 
+        data = mmap(NULL, len, PROT_READ, MAP_SHARED, fd, 0);
+        nb_arrays = parse_weights(&list, data, len);
+        for (int i=0;i<nb_arrays;i++) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "found %s: size %d\n", list[i].name, list[i].size);
+        }
+        if (init_radeenc(&enc_model, list) != 0) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "Error initialising encoder model from %s\n", argv[3]);
+            exit(1);       
+        }
+    } else if (init_radeenc(&enc_model, radeenc_arrays) != 0) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Error initialising built-in encoder model\n");
         exit(1);        
     }
     rade_init_encoder(&enc_state);
@@ -78,5 +108,12 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         nb_feature_vecs++;
     }
     fprintf(stderr, "%d feature vectors processed\n", nb_feature_vecs);
+
+    if (argc == 4) {
+        munmap(data, len);
+        close(fd);
+        free(list);
+    }
+
     return 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/write_rade_weights.c b/src/write_rade_weights.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0b9896e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/write_rade_weights.c
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+/* Writes the compiled-in core encoder and decoder weights to a binary
+   blob file, that can be used later to run-time init a model. */
+
+/* Copyright (c) 2023 Amazon */
+/*
+   Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+   modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
+   are met:
+
+   - Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+   notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+
+   - Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
+   notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
+   documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
+
+   THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
+   ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+   LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
+   A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE FOUNDATION OR
+   CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL,
+   EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
+   PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR
+   PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF
+   LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
+   NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
+   SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+*/
+
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#include "config.h"
+#endif
+
+#include <assert.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <stddef.h>
+#include "nnet.h"
+#include "os_support.h"
+#include "arch.h"
+
+/* This is a bit of a hack because we need to build nnet_data.c and plc_data.c without USE_WEIGHTS_FILE,
+   but USE_WEIGHTS_FILE is defined in config.h. */
+#undef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#ifdef USE_WEIGHTS_FILE
+#undef USE_WEIGHTS_FILE
+#endif
+#include "rade_enc_data.c"
+#include "rade_dec_data.c"
+
+void write_weights(const WeightArray *list, FILE *fout)
+{
+  int i=0;
+  unsigned char zeros[WEIGHT_BLOCK_SIZE] = {0};
+  while (list[i].name != NULL) {
+    WeightHead h;
+    if (strlen(list[i].name) >= sizeof(h.name) - 1) {
+      printf("[write_weights] warning: name %s too long\n", list[i].name);
+    }
+    memcpy(h.head, "DNNw", 4);
+    h.version = WEIGHT_BLOB_VERSION;
+    h.type = list[i].type;
+    h.size = list[i].size;
+    h.block_size = (h.size+WEIGHT_BLOCK_SIZE-1)/WEIGHT_BLOCK_SIZE*WEIGHT_BLOCK_SIZE;
+    OPUS_CLEAR(h.name, sizeof(h.name));
+    strncpy(h.name, list[i].name, sizeof(h.name));
+    h.name[sizeof(h.name)-1] = 0;
+    celt_assert(sizeof(h) == WEIGHT_BLOCK_SIZE);
+    fwrite(&h, 1, WEIGHT_BLOCK_SIZE, fout);
+    fwrite(list[i].data, 1, h.size, fout);
+    fwrite(zeros, 1, h.block_size-h.size, fout);
+    i++;
+  }
+}
+
+int main(int argc,char *argv[])
+{
+  if (argc != 2) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "usage: %s weights_blob.bin\n", argv[0]);
+    exit(1);
+  }
+  FILE *fout = fopen(argv[1], "w");
+  assert(fout != NULL);
+  write_weights(radeenc_arrays, fout);
+  write_weights(radedec_arrays, fout);
+  fclose(fout);
+  return 0;
+}