diff --git a/pystencils/optimizations.py b/pystencils/optimizations.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6e72a265728ea4efee1ccb7b7516f33c709d461e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pystencils/optimizations.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+"""
+Default Sympy optimizations applied in pystencils kernels using :func:`sympy.codegen.rewriting.optimize`.
+
+See :func:`sympy.codegen.rewriting.optimize`.
+"""
+
+
+try:
+    from sympy.codegen.rewriting import optims_c99
+except ImportError:
+    optims_c99 = []
+
+
+optims_pystencils_cpu = [] + list(optims_c99)
+optims_pystencils_gpu = [] + list(optims_c99)