diff --git a/system/i18n.nix b/system/i18n.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..836fa2200a2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/system/i18n.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+{pkgs, config, ...}:
+
+###### interface
+let
+  inherit (pkgs.lib) mkOption mkIf;
+
+  options = {
+    i18n = {
+      defaultLocale = mkOption {
+        default = "en_US.UTF-8";
+        example = "nl_NL.UTF-8";
+        description = "
+          The default locale.  It determines the language for program
+          messages, the format for dates and times, sort order, and so on.
+          It also determines the character set, such as UTF-8.
+        ";
+      };
+
+      consoleFont = mkOption {
+        default = "lat9w-16";
+        example = "LatArCyrHeb-16";
+        description = "
+          The font used for the virtual consoles.  Leave empty to use
+          whatever the <command>setfont</command> program considers the
+          default font.
+        ";
+      };
+
+      consoleKeyMap = mkOption {
+        default = "us";
+        example = "fr";
+        description = "
+          The keyboard mapping table for the virtual consoles.
+        ";
+      };
+    };
+  };
+in
+
+###### implementation
+
+mkIf config.services.pulseaudio.enable {
+  require = [
+    options
+  ];
+
+}
diff --git a/system/options.nix b/system/options.nix
index c0e09721259c..efa9372fcf44 100644
--- a/system/options.nix
+++ b/system/options.nix
@@ -2083,39 +2083,6 @@ in
   };
 
 
-  i18n = {
-
-    defaultLocale = mkOption {
-      default = "en_US.UTF-8";
-      example = "nl_NL.UTF-8";
-      description = "
-        The default locale.  It determines the language for program
-        messages, the format for dates and times, sort order, and so on.
-        It also determines the character set, such as UTF-8.
-      ";
-    };
-
-    consoleFont = mkOption {
-      default = "lat9w-16";
-      example = "LatArCyrHeb-16";
-      description = "
-        The font used for the virtual consoles.  Leave empty to use
-        whatever the <command>setfont</command> program considers the
-        default font.
-      ";
-    };
-
-    consoleKeyMap = mkOption {
-      default = "us";
-      example = "fr";
-      description = "
-        The keyboard mapping table for the virtual consoles.
-      ";
-    };
-
-  };
-
-
   nesting = {
     children = mkOption {
       default = [];
@@ -2154,6 +2121,9 @@ in
     # security
     (import ../system/sudo.nix)
 
+    # i18n
+    (import ../system/i18n.nix)
+
     # environment
     (import ../etc/default.nix)
 
@@ -2186,6 +2156,9 @@ in
     (import ../upstart-jobs/rogue.nix)
     (import ../upstart-jobs/guest-users.nix)
     (import ../upstart-jobs/pulseaudio.nix)
+    (import ../upstart-jobs/kbd.nix)
+
+
 
     # fonts
     (import ../system/fonts.nix)
diff --git a/upstart-jobs/default.nix b/upstart-jobs/default.nix
index f96b9cb30844..04e4a470b0dc 100644
--- a/upstart-jobs/default.nix
+++ b/upstart-jobs/default.nix
@@ -66,10 +66,7 @@ let
 
   optional = cond: service: pkgs.lib.optional cond (makeJob service);
 
-  requiredTTYs =
-    config.services.mingetty.ttys
-    ++ config.boot.extraTTYs
-    ++ [config.services.syslogd.tty];
+  requiredTTYs = config.requiredTTYs;
 
   jobs = map makeJob
     ([
@@ -138,15 +135,6 @@ let
       inherit nssModulesPath;
     })
 
-    # Console font and keyboard maps.
-    (import ../upstart-jobs/kbd.nix {
-      inherit (pkgs) glibc kbd gzip;
-      ttyNumbers = requiredTTYs;
-      defaultLocale = config.i18n.defaultLocale;
-      consoleFont = config.i18n.consoleFont;
-      consoleKeyMap = config.i18n.consoleKeyMap;
-    })
-
     # Handles the maintenance/stalled event (single-user shell).
     (import ../upstart-jobs/maintenance-shell.nix {
       inherit (pkgs) bash;
diff --git a/upstart-jobs/kbd.nix b/upstart-jobs/kbd.nix
index 8be001b03d60..504b902bcb13 100644
--- a/upstart-jobs/kbd.nix
+++ b/upstart-jobs/kbd.nix
@@ -1,78 +1,109 @@
-{glibc, kbd, gzip, ttyNumbers, defaultLocale, consoleFont, consoleKeyMap}:
+{pkgs, config, ...}:
 
 let
+  inherit (pkgs.lib) mkOption;
 
+  # think about where to put this chunk of code!
+  # required by other pieces as well
+  requiredTTYs = config.services.mingetty.ttys
+    ++ config.boot.extraTTYs
+    ++ [config.services.syslogd.tty];
+  ttyNumbers = requiredTTYs;
   ttys = map (nr: "/dev/tty" + toString nr) ttyNumbers;
+  defaultLocale = config.i18n.defaultLocale;
+  consoleFont = config.i18n.consoleFont;
+  consoleKeyMap = config.i18n.consoleKeyMap;
 
 in
 
+###### implementation
+
+# most options are defined in i18n.nix
+
 {
-  name = "kbd";
 
-  extraPath = [
-    kbd
+  inherit requiredTTYs; # pass them to upstart-job/default.nix
+
+  # dummy option so that requiredTTYs can be passed, see above (FIXME)
+  require = [
+    {
+      requiredTTYs = mkOption {
+        default = [];
+      };
+    }
   ];
-  
-  job = "
-    description \"Keyboard / console initialisation\"
 
-    start on udev
-
-    script
-
-      export LANG=${defaultLocale}
-      export PATH=${gzip}/bin:$PATH # Needed by setfont
-
-      set +e # continue in case of errors
+  services = {
+    extraJobs = [{
+      name = "kbd";
 
+      extraPath = [
+        pkgs.kbd
+      ];
       
-      # Enable or disable UTF-8 mode.  This is based on
-      # unicode_{start,stop}.
-      echo 'Enabling or disabling Unicode mode...'
+      job = "
+        description \"Keyboard / console initialisation\"
 
-      charMap=$(${glibc}/bin/locale charmap)
+        start on udev
 
-      if test \"$charMap\" = UTF-8; then
+        script
 
-        for tty in ${toString ttys}; do
+          export LANG=${defaultLocale}
+          export PATH=${pkgs.gzip}/bin:$PATH # Needed by setfont
 
-          # Tell the console output driver that the bytes arriving are
-          # UTF-8 encoded multibyte sequences. 
-          echo -n -e '\\033%G' > $tty
+          set +e # continue in case of errors
 
-        done
+          
+          # Enable or disable UTF-8 mode.  This is based on
+          # unicode_{start,stop}.
+          echo 'Enabling or disabling Unicode mode...'
 
-        # Set the keyboard driver in UTF-8 mode.
-        ${kbd}/bin/kbd_mode -u
+          charMap=$(${pkgs.glibc}/bin/locale charmap)
 
-      else
+          if test \"$charMap\" = UTF-8; then
 
-        for tty in ${toString ttys}; do
+            for tty in ${toString ttys}; do
 
-          # Tell the console output driver that the bytes arriving are
-          # UTF-8 encoded multibyte sequences. 
-          echo -n -e '\\033%@' > $tty
+              # Tell the console output driver that the bytes arriving are
+              # UTF-8 encoded multibyte sequences. 
+              echo -n -e '\\033%G' > $tty
 
-        done
+            done
 
-        # Set the keyboard driver in ASCII (or any 8-bit character
-        # set) mode.
-        ${kbd}/bin/kbd_mode -a
+            # Set the keyboard driver in UTF-8 mode.
+            ${pkgs.kbd}/bin/kbd_mode -u
 
-      fi
+          else
+
+            for tty in ${toString ttys}; do
+
+              # Tell the console output driver that the bytes arriving are
+              # UTF-8 encoded multibyte sequences. 
+              echo -n -e '\\033%@' > $tty
+
+            done
+
+            # Set the keyboard driver in ASCII (or any 8-bit character
+            # set) mode.
+            ${pkgs.kbd}/bin/kbd_mode -a
+
+          fi
 
 
-      # Set the console font.
-      for tty in ${toString ttys}; do
-        ${kbd}/bin/setfont -C $tty ${consoleFont}
-      done
+          # Set the console font.
+          for tty in ${toString ttys}; do
+            ${pkgs.kbd}/bin/setfont -C $tty ${consoleFont}
+          done
 
 
-      # Set the keymap.
-      ${kbd}/bin/loadkeys '${consoleKeyMap}'
+          # Set the keymap.
+          ${pkgs.kbd}/bin/loadkeys '${consoleKeyMap}'
 
 
-    end script
-  ";
-  
+        end script
+      ";
+    
+    }];
+  };
+
 }