diff --git a/modules/hardware/cpu/intel-microcode.nix b/modules/hardware/cpu/intel-microcode.nix
index fa7a6edc7374..b8e97b4ca4ac 100644
--- a/modules/hardware/cpu/intel-microcode.nix
+++ b/modules/hardware/cpu/intel-microcode.nix
@@ -23,17 +23,7 @@ with pkgs.lib;
 
   config = mkIf config.hardware.cpu.intel.updateMicrocode {
     hardware.firmware = [ pkgs.microcodeIntel ];
-
-    # This cannot be done using boot.kernelModules
-    # discussion at http://lists.science.uu.nl/pipermail/nix-dev/2012-February/007959.html
-    jobs.microcode = {
-      name = "microcode";
-      description = "load microcode";
-      startOn = "started udev";
-      exec = "modprobe microcode";
-      path = [config.system.sbin.modprobe];
-      task = true;
-    };
+    boot.kernelModules = [ "microcode" ];
   };
 
 }
diff --git a/modules/services/hardware/udev.nix b/modules/services/hardware/udev.nix
index c4c348c7c25c..0802d4f7dbcc 100644
--- a/modules/services/hardware/udev.nix
+++ b/modules/services/hardware/udev.nix
@@ -236,6 +236,17 @@ in
         daemonType = "fork";
 
         exec = "udevd --daemon";
+
+        postStart =
+          ''
+            # Do the loading of additional stage 2 kernel modules.
+            # This needs to be done while udevd is running, because
+            # the modules may call upon udev's firmware loading rule.
+            for i in ${toString config.boot.kernelModules}; do
+                echo "loading kernel module ‘$i’..."
+                ${config.system.sbin.modprobe}/sbin/modprobe $i || true
+            done
+          '';
       };
 
     jobs.udevtrigger =
diff --git a/modules/system/boot/modprobe.nix b/modules/system/boot/modprobe.nix
index 4dd866a43952..ef3ed3bed94a 100644
--- a/modules/system/boot/modprobe.nix
+++ b/modules/system/boot/modprobe.nix
@@ -100,11 +100,6 @@ with pkgs.lib;
         # We need this when the kernel (or some module) auto-loads a
         # module.
         echo ${config.system.sbin.modprobe}/sbin/modprobe > /proc/sys/kernel/modprobe
-
-        # Do the loading of additional stage 2 kernel modules.
-        for i in ${toString config.boot.kernelModules}; do
-            ${config.system.sbin.modprobe}/sbin/modprobe $i || true
-        done
       '';
 
   };