Mitochondria maintain genome and translation machinery to synthesize a small subset of subunits of the oxidative phosphorylation system. To build up functional enzymes, these organellar gene products must assemble with imported subunits that are encoded in the nucleus. New findings on the early steps of cytochrome c oxidase assembly reveal how the mitochondrial translation of its core component, cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (Cox1), is directly coupled to the assembly of this respiratory complex.