diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8f9cc959..18a8ddfa 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 include Makefile.inc
 
-SUBDIR=		conf.d etc init.d man scripts sh src
+SUBDIR=		conf.d etc init.d local.d man scripts sh src
 
 # Build our old net foo or not
 _OLDNET_SH=	case "${MKOLDNET}" in \
diff --git a/conf.d/Makefile b/conf.d/Makefile
index 034dc744..374bfdb7 100644
--- a/conf.d/Makefile
+++ b/conf.d/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 DIR=	${CONFDIR}
-CONF=	bootmisc fsck hostname local localmount network staticroute urandom
+CONF=	bootmisc fsck hostname localmount network staticroute urandom
 
 TARGETS+=	network staticroute
 CLEANFILES+=	network staticroute
diff --git a/conf.d/local b/conf.d/local
deleted file mode 100644
index 97dbbccd..00000000
--- a/conf.d/local
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-# Here is where you can put anything you need to start
-# that there is not an init script for.
-
-local_start() {
-	# This is a good place to load any misc programs
-	# on startup (use &>/dev/null to hide output)
-
-	# We should always return 0
-	return 0
-}
-
-local_stop() {
-	# This is a good place to unload any misc.
-	# programs you started above.
-	
-	# We should always return 0
-	return 0
-}
diff --git a/init.d/local.in b/init.d/local.in
index 63d5e927..5583fead 100644
--- a/init.d/local.in
+++ b/init.d/local.in
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # Copyright (c) 2007-2008 Roy Marples <roy@marples.name>
 # All rights reserved. Released under the 2-clause BSD license.
 
-description="Executes user commands in /etc/conf.d/local"
+description="Executes user programs in @SYSCONFDIR@/local.d"
 
 depend()
 {
@@ -12,22 +12,40 @@ depend()
 
 start()
 {
-	ebegin "Starting local"
+	einfo "Starting local"
+
+	local file
+	for file in @SYSCONFDIR@/local.d/*.start ; do
+		[ -x $file ] && $file
+	done
 
 	if type local_start >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+		ewarn "@SYSCONFDIR@/conf.d/local should be removed."
+		ewarn "Please move the code from the local_start function"
+		ewarn "to scripts with an .start extension"
+		ewarn "in @SYSCONFDIR@/local.d"
 		local_start
 	fi
 
-	eend $? "Failed to start local"
+	return 0
 }
 
 stop()
 {
-	ebegin "Stopping local"
+	einfo "Stopping local"
+
+	local file
+	for file in @SYSCONFDIR@/local.d/*.stop; do
+		[ -x $file ] && $file
+	done
 
 	if type local_start >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+		ewarn "@SYSCONFDIR@/conf.d/local should be removed."
+		ewarn "Please move the code from the local_stop function"
+		ewarn "to scripts with an .stop extension"
+		ewarn "in @SYSCONFDIR@/local.d"
 		local_stop
 	fi
 
-	eend $? "Failed to stop local"
+	return 0
 }
diff --git a/local.d/Makefile b/local.d/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7a7d31dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/local.d/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+DIR=	${LOCALDIR}
+CONF=	README
+
+MK=		../mk
+include ${MK}/os.mk
+include ${MK}/scripts.mk
diff --git a/local.d/README b/local.d/README
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d3c11566
--- /dev/null
+++ b/local.d/README
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+This directory should contain programs or scripts which are to be run
+when the local service is started or stopped.
+
+If a file in this directory is executable and it has a .start extension,
+it will be run when the local service is started. If a file is
+executable and it has a .stop extension, it will be run when the local
+service is stopped.
+
+All files are processed in lexical order.
diff --git a/mk/sys.mk b/mk/sys.mk
index e22731b6..e9bbf602 100644
--- a/mk/sys.mk
+++ b/mk/sys.mk
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ PICFLAG?=		-fPIC
 SYSCONFDIR?=		${PREFIX}/etc
 INITDIR?=		${SYSCONFDIR}/init.d
 CONFDIR?=		${SYSCONFDIR}/conf.d
+LOCALDIR?=		${SYSCONFDIR}/local.d
 
 BINDIR?=		${PREFIX}/sbin
 BINMODE?=		0755