diff --git a/src/kernels/__init__.py b/src/kernels/__init__.py
index 85057db..1df4919 100644
--- a/src/kernels/__init__.py
+++ b/src/kernels/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import importlib.metadata
 
+
 __version__ = importlib.metadata.version("kernels")
 
 from kernels.layer import (
@@ -28,6 +29,11 @@
     load_kernel,
 )
 
+
+from kernels._windows import _add_additional_dll_paths
+
+_add_additional_dll_paths()
+
 __all__ = [
     "__version__",
     "CUDAProperties",
diff --git a/src/kernels/_windows.py b/src/kernels/_windows.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6c6bd9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/kernels/_windows.py
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import os
+import platform
+
+
+def _add_additional_dll_paths():
+    """
+    Add special Windows DLL paths.
+
+    Recent versions of Python do use PATH as a load path anymore. This can
+    cause issues with libraries that are used by kernels such as dnnl. Here
+    we add several known paths.
+    """
+
+    if platform.system() == "Windows":
+        _dll_paths = [
+            # Add Intel oneAPI directories for XPU support
+            r"C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\oneAPI\dnnl\latest\bin",
+        ]
+
+        for _path in _dll_paths:
+            if os.path.exists(_path):
+                try:
+                    os.add_dll_directory(_path)
+                except Exception:
+                    pass  # Ignore if already added or permission issues