Some embodiments of the inventive subject matter are directed to receiving a request from a first instance of an operating system (e.g., a virtual operating system) to load a kernel extension that extends functionality of a kernel, where the kernel and the first instance of the operating system are managed by a second instance of the operating system (e.g., a global operating system), and where the first and second instances of the operating system share the kernel. Some embodiments are further directed to recording an indicator that indicates that the first of the plurality of the instances of the operating system requested to load the kernel extension, where the indicator is accessible only to the second instance of the operating system. In some embodiments, the method is further directed to loading the kernel extension, where loading the kernel extension extends functionality of the kernel. In some embodiments, the method is further directed to receiving a request by the first instance of the operating system to remove the functionality from the kernel and determining, based on the indicator, that the first instance of the operating system had previously requested to load the kernel extension. In some embodiments, the method is further directed to removing the functionality from the kernel in response to the determining, based on the indicator, that the first instance of the operating system had previously requested to load the kernel extension.