diff --git a/package/pkg-download.mk b/package/pkg-download.mk
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a565ae6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/package/pkg-download.mk
@@ -0,0 +1,219 @@
+# Download method commands
+WGET:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_WGET)) $(QUIET)
+SVN:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_SVN))
+BZR:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_BZR))
+GIT:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_GIT))
+HG:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_HG)) $(QUIET)
+SCP:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_SCP)) $(QUIET)
+SSH:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_SSH)) $(QUIET)
+LOCALFILES:=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_LOCALFILES))
+
+# Default spider mode is 'DOWNLOAD'. Other possible values are 'SOURCE_CHECK'
+# used by the _source-check target and 'SHOW_EXTERNAL_DEPS', used by the
+# external-deps target.
+DL_MODE=DOWNLOAD
+
+DL_DIR=$(call qstrip,$(BR2_DL_DIR))
+ifeq ($(DL_DIR),)
+DL_DIR:=$(TOPDIR)/dl
+endif
+
+#
+# URI scheme helper functions
+# Example URIs:
+# * http://www.example.com/dir/file
+# * scp://www.example.com:dir/file (with domainseparator :)
+#
+# geturischeme: http
+geturischeme=$(firstword $(subst ://, ,$(call qstrip,$(1))))
+# stripurischeme: www.example.com/dir/file
+stripurischeme=$(lastword $(subst ://, ,$(call qstrip,$(1))))
+# domain: www.example.com
+domain=$(firstword $(subst $(call domainseparator,$(2)), ,$(call stripurischeme,$(1))))
+# notdomain: dir/file
+notdomain=$(patsubst $(call domain,$(1),$(2))$(call domainseparator,$(2))%,%,$(call stripurischeme,$(1)))
+#
+# default domainseparator is /, specify alternative value as first argument
+domainseparator=$(if $(1),$(1),/)
+
+################################################################################
+# The DOWNLOAD_{GIT,SVN,BZR,HG,LOCALFILES} helpers are in charge of getting a
+# working copy of the source repository for their corresponding SCM,
+# checking out the requested version / commit / tag, and create an
+# archive out of it. DOWNLOAD_SCP uses scp to obtain a remote file with
+# ssh authentication. DOWNLOAD_WGET is the normal wget-based download
+# mechanism.
+#
+# The SOURCE_CHECK_{GIT,SVN,BZR,HG,WGET,LOCALFILES,SCP} helpers are in charge of
+# simply checking that the source is available for download. This can be used
+# to make sure one will be able to get all the sources needed for
+# one's build configuration.
+#
+# The SHOW_EXTERNAL_DEPS_{GIT,SVN,BZR,HG,WGET,LOCALFILES,SCP} helpers simply
+# output to the console the names of the files that will be downloaded, or path
+# and revision of the source repositories, producing a list of all the
+# "external dependencies" of a given build configuration.
+################################################################################
+
+define DOWNLOAD_GIT
+	test -e $(DL_DIR)/$($(PKG)_SOURCE) || \
+	(pushd $(DL_DIR) > /dev/null && \
+	$(GIT) clone --bare $($(PKG)_SITE) $($(PKG)_BASE_NAME) && \
+	pushd $($(PKG)_BASE_NAME) > /dev/null && \
+	$(GIT) archive --format=tar --prefix=$($(PKG)_BASE_NAME)/ $($(PKG)_DL_VERSION) | \
+		gzip -c > $(DL_DIR)/$($(PKG)_SOURCE) && \
+	popd > /dev/null && \
+	rm -rf $($(PKG)_DL_DIR) && \
+	popd > /dev/null)
+endef
+
+# TODO: improve to check that the given PKG_DL_VERSION exists on the remote
+# repository
+define SOURCE_CHECK_GIT
+  $(GIT) ls-remote --heads $($(PKG)_SITE) > /dev/null
+endef
+
+define SHOW_EXTERNAL_DEPS_GIT
+	echo $($(PKG)_SOURCE)
+endef
+
+
+define DOWNLOAD_BZR
+	test -e $(DL_DIR)/$($(PKG)_SOURCE) || \
+	$(BZR) export $(DL_DIR)/$($(PKG)_SOURCE) $($(PKG)_SITE) -r $($(PKG)_DL_VERSION)
+endef
+
+define SOURCE_CHECK_BZR
+	$(BZR) ls --quiet $($(PKG)_SITE) > /dev/null
+endef
+
+define SHOW_EXTERNAL_DEPS_BZR
+	echo $($(PKG)_SOURCE)
+endef
+
+
+define DOWNLOAD_SVN
+	test -e $(DL_DIR)/$($(PKG)_SOURCE) || \
+	(pushd $(DL_DIR) > /dev/null && \
+	$(SVN) export -r $($(PKG)_DL_VERSION) $($(PKG)_SITE) $($(PKG)_DL_DIR) && \
+	$(TAR) czf $($(PKG)_SOURCE) $($(PKG)_BASE_NAME)/ && \
+	rm -rf $($(PKG)_DL_DIR) && \
+	popd > /dev/null)
+endef
+
+define SOURCE_CHECK_SVN
+  $(SVN) ls $($(PKG)_SITE) > /dev/null
+endef
+
+define SHOW_EXTERNAL_DEPS_SVN
+  echo $($(PKG)_SOURCE)
+endef
+
+# SCP URIs should be of the form scp://[user@]host:filepath
+# Note that filepath is relative to the user's home directory, so you may want
+# to prepend the path with a slash: scp://[user@]host:/absolutepath
+define DOWNLOAD_SCP
+	test -e $(DL_DIR)/$(2) || \
+	$(SCP) '$(call stripurischeme,$(call qstrip,$(1)))' $(DL_DIR)/$(2)
+endef
+
+define SOURCE_CHECK_SCP
+	$(SSH) $(call domain,$(1),:) ls '$(call notdomain,$(1),:)' > /dev/null
+endef
+
+define SHOW_EXTERNAL_DEPS_SCP
+	echo $(2)
+endef
+
+
+define DOWNLOAD_HG
+	test -e $(DL_DIR)/$($(PKG)_SOURCE) || \
+	(pushd $(DL_DIR) > /dev/null && \
+	$(HG) clone --noupdate --rev $($(PKG)_DL_VERSION) $($(PKG)_SITE) $($(PKG)_BASE_NAME) && \
+	$(HG) archive --repository $($(PKG)_BASE_NAME) --type tgz --prefix $($(PKG)_BASE_NAME)/ \
+	              --rev $($(PKG)_DL_VERSION) $(DL_DIR)/$($(PKG)_SOURCE) && \
+	rm -rf $($(PKG)_DL_DIR) && \
+	popd > /dev/null)
+endef
+
+# TODO: improve to check that the given PKG_DL_VERSION exists on the remote
+# repository
+define SOURCE_CHECK_HG
+  $(HG) incoming --force -l1 $($(PKG)_SITE) > /dev/null
+endef
+
+define SHOW_EXTERNAL_DEPS_HG
+  echo $($(PKG)_SOURCE)
+endef
+
+# Download a file using wget. Only download the file if it doesn't
+# already exist in the download directory. If the download fails,
+# remove the file (because wget -O creates a 0-byte file even if the
+# download fails).
+define DOWNLOAD_WGET
+	test -e $(DL_DIR)/$(2) || \
+	$(WGET) -O $(DL_DIR)/$(2) '$(call qstrip,$(1))' || \
+	(rm -f $(DL_DIR)/$(2) ; exit 1)
+endef
+
+define SOURCE_CHECK_WGET
+  $(WGET) --spider '$(call qstrip,$(1))'
+endef
+
+define SHOW_EXTERNAL_DEPS_WGET
+  echo $(2)
+endef
+
+define DOWNLOAD_LOCALFILES
+	test -e $(DL_DIR)/$($(PKG)_SOURCE) || \
+		$(LOCALFILES) $(call qstrip,$(subst file://,,$($(PKG)_SITE)))/$($(PKG)_SOURCE) $(DL_DIR)
+endef
+
+define SOURCE_CHECK_LOCALFILES
+  test -e $(call qstrip,$(subst file://,,$($(PKG)_SITE)))/$($(PKG)_SOURCE)
+endef
+
+define SHOW_EXTERNAL_DEPS_LOCALFILES
+  echo $($(PKG)_SITE)/$($(PKG)_SOURCE)
+endef
+
+################################################################################
+# DOWNLOAD -- Download helper. Will try to download source from:
+# 1) BR2_PRIMARY_SITE if enabled
+# 2) Download site
+# 3) BR2_BACKUP_SITE if enabled
+#
+# Argument 1 is the source location
+# Argument 2 is the source filename
+#
+# E.G. use like this:
+# $(call DOWNLOAD,$(FOO_SITE),$(FOO_SOURCE))
+################################################################################
+
+define DOWNLOAD
+	$(call DOWNLOAD_INNER,$(1),$(if $(2),$(2),$(notdir $(1))))
+endef
+
+define DOWNLOAD_INNER
+	$(Q)if test -n "$(call qstrip,$(BR2_PRIMARY_SITE))" ; then \
+		case "$(call geturischeme,$(BR2_PRIMARY_SITE))" in \
+			scp) $(call $(DL_MODE)_SCP,$(BR2_PRIMARY_SITE),$(2)) && exit ;; \
+			*) $(call $(DL_MODE)_WGET,$(BR2_PRIMARY_SITE),$(2)) && exit ;; \
+		esac ; \
+	fi ; \
+	if test -n "$(1)" ; then \
+		case "$($(PKG)_SITE_METHOD)" in \
+			git) $($(DL_MODE)_GIT) && exit ;; \
+			svn) $($(DL_MODE)_SVN) && exit ;; \
+			bzr) $($(DL_MODE)_BZR) && exit ;; \
+			file) $($(DL_MODE)_LOCALFILES) && exit ;; \
+			scp) $($(DL_MODE)_SCP) && exit ;; \
+			hg) $($(DL_MODE)_HG) && exit ;; \
+			*) $(call $(DL_MODE)_WGET,$(1),$(2)) && exit ;; \
+		esac ; \
+	fi ; \
+	if test -n "$(call qstrip,$(BR2_BACKUP_SITE))" ; then \
+		$(call $(DL_MODE)_WGET,$(BR2_BACKUP_SITE)/$(2),$(2)) && exit ; \
+	fi ; \
+	exit 1
+endef