diff --git a/sys/conf/files b/sys/conf/files
index 73f54adbc982..73f2e0bdc2cc 100644
--- a/sys/conf/files
+++ b/sys/conf/files
@@ -793,6 +793,7 @@ kern/subr_disk.c	standard
 kern/subr_disklabel.c	standard
 kern/subr_diskslice.c	standard
 kern/subr_eventhandler.c	standard
+kern/subr_hints.c	standard
 kern/subr_kobj.c	standard
 kern/subr_log.c		standard
 kern/subr_mbuf.c	standard
diff --git a/sys/kern/subr_bus.c b/sys/kern/subr_bus.c
index 67819b20e656..098b89bcdedb 100644
--- a/sys/kern/subr_bus.c
+++ b/sys/kern/subr_bus.c
@@ -2126,302 +2126,3 @@ bus_data_generation_update(void)
 {
 	bus_data_generation++;
 }
-
-/*======================================*/
-/*
- * Access functions for device resources.
- */
-
-extern char static_hints[];		/* by config for now */
-extern int hintmode;			/* 0 = off. 1 = config, 2 = fallback */
-static char *hintp;
-
-/*
- * Evil wildcarding resource string lookup.
- * This walks the supplied env string table and returns a match.
- * The start point can be remembered for incremental searches.
- */
-static int
-res_find(int *line, int *startln,
-    const char *name, int *unit, const char *resname, const char *value,
-    const char **ret_name, int *ret_namelen, int *ret_unit,
-    const char **ret_resname, int *ret_resnamelen, const char **ret_value)
-{
-	int n = 0, hit;
-	char r_name[32];
-	int r_unit;
-	char r_resname[32];
-	char r_value[128];
-	const char *s, *cp;
-	char *p;
-
-	if (hintp == NULL) {
-		switch (hintmode) {
-		case 0:		/* config supplied nothing */
-			hintp = kern_envp;
-			break;
-		case 1:		/* static hints only */
-			hintp = static_hints;
-			break;
-		case 2:		/* fallback mode */
-			cp = kern_envp;
-			while (cp) {
-				if (strncmp(cp, "hint.", 5) == 0) {
-					cp = NULL;
-					hintp = kern_envp;
-					break;
-				}
-				while (*cp != '\0')
-					cp++;
-				cp++;
-				if (*cp == '\0') {
-					cp = NULL;
-					hintp = static_hints;
-					break;
-				}
-			}
-			break;
-		default:
-			break;
-		}
-		if (hintp == NULL)
-			hintp = kern_envp;
-	}
-
-	cp = hintp;
-	while (cp) {
-		hit = 1;
-		(*line)++;
-		if (strncmp(cp, "hint.", 5) != 0)
-			hit = 0;
-		else
-			n = sscanf(cp, "hint.%32[^.].%d.%32[^=]=%128s",
-			    r_name, &r_unit, r_resname, r_value);
-		if (hit && n != 4) {
-			printf("CONFIG: invalid hint '%s'\n", cp);
-			/* XXX: abuse bogus index() declaration */
-			p = index(cp, 'h');
-			*p = 'H';
-			hit = 0;
-		}
-		if (hit && startln && *startln >= 0 && *line < *startln)
-			hit = 0;
-		if (hit && name && strcmp(name, r_name) != 0)
-			hit = 0;
-		if (hit && unit && *unit != r_unit)
-			hit = 0;
-		if (hit && resname && strcmp(resname, r_resname) != 0)
-			hit = 0;
-		if (hit && value && strcmp(value, r_value) != 0)
-			hit = 0;
-		if (hit)
-			break;
-		while (*cp != '\0')
-			cp++;
-		cp++;
-		if (*cp == '\0') {
-			cp = NULL;
-			break;
-		}
-	}
-	if (cp == NULL)
-		return ENOENT;
-
-	s = cp;
-	/* This is a bit of a hack, but at least is reentrant */
-	/* Note that it returns some !unterminated! strings. */
-	s = index(s, '.') + 1;		/* start of device */
-	if (ret_name)
-		*ret_name = s;
-	s = index(s, '.') + 1;		/* start of unit */
-	if (ret_namelen)
-		*ret_namelen = s - *ret_name - 1; /* device length */
-	if (ret_unit)
-		*ret_unit = r_unit;
-	s = index(s, '.') + 1;		/* start of resname */
-	if (ret_resname)
-		*ret_resname = s;
-	s = index(s, '=') + 1;		/* start of value */
-	if (ret_resnamelen)
-		*ret_resnamelen = s - *ret_resname - 1; /* value len */
-	if (ret_value)
-		*ret_value = s;
-	if (startln)			/* line number for anchor */
-		*startln = *line + 1;
-	return 0;
-}
-
-/*
- * Search all the data sources for matches to our query.  We look for
- * dynamic hints first as overrides for static or fallback hints.
- */
-static int
-resource_find(int *line, int *startln,
-    const char *name, int *unit, const char *resname, const char *value,
-    const char **ret_name, int *ret_namelen, int *ret_unit,
-    const char **ret_resname, int *ret_resnamelen, const char **ret_value)
-{
-	int i;
-	int un;
-
-	*line = 0;
-
-	/* Search for exact unit matches first */
-	i = res_find(line, startln, name, unit, resname, value,
-	    ret_name, ret_namelen, ret_unit, ret_resname, ret_resnamelen,
-	    ret_value);
-	if (i == 0)
-		return 0;
-	if (unit == NULL)
-		return ENOENT;
-	/* If we are still here, search for wildcard matches */
-	un = -1;
-	i = res_find(line, startln, name, &un, resname, value,
-	    ret_name, ret_namelen, ret_unit, ret_resname, ret_resnamelen,
-	    ret_value);
-	if (i == 0)
-		return 0;
-	return ENOENT;
-}
-
-int
-resource_int_value(const char *name, int unit, const char *resname, int *result)
-{
-	int error;
-	const char *str;
-	char *op;
-	unsigned long val;
-	int line;
-
-	line = 0;
-	error = resource_find(&line, NULL, name, &unit, resname, NULL,
-	    NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, &str);
-	if (error)
-		return error;
-	if (*str == '\0') 
-		return EFTYPE;
-	val = strtoul(str, &op, 0);
-	if (*op != '\0') 
-		return EFTYPE;
-	*result = val;
-	return 0;
-}
-
-int
-resource_long_value(const char *name, int unit, const char *resname,
-    long *result)
-{
-	int error;
-	const char *str;
-	char *op;
-	unsigned long val;
-	int line;
-
-	line = 0;
-	error = resource_find(&line, NULL, name, &unit, resname, NULL,
-	    NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, &str);
-	if (error)
-		return error;
-	if (*str == '\0') 
-		return EFTYPE;
-	val = strtoul(str, &op, 0);
-	if (*op != '\0') 
-		return EFTYPE;
-	*result = val;
-	return 0;
-}
-
-int
-resource_string_value(const char *name, int unit, const char *resname,
-    const char **result)
-{
-	int error;
-	const char *str;
-	int line;
-
-	line = 0;
-	error = resource_find(&line, NULL, name, &unit, resname, NULL,
-	    NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, &str);
-	if (error)
-		return error;
-	*result = str;
-	return 0;
-}
-
-/*
- * This is a bit nasty, but allows us to not modify the env strings.
- */
-static const char *
-resource_string_copy(const char *s, int len)
-{
-	static char stringbuf[256];
-	static int offset = 0;
-	const char *ret;
-
-	if (len == 0)
-		len = strlen(s);
-	if (len > 255)
-		return NULL;
-	if ((offset + len + 1) > 255)
-		offset = 0;
-	bcopy(s, &stringbuf[offset], len);
-	stringbuf[offset + len] = '\0';
-	ret = &stringbuf[offset];
-	offset += len + 1;
-	return ret;
-}
-
-/*
- * err = resource_find_at(&anchor, &name, &unit, resname, value)
- * Iteratively fetch a list of devices wired "at" something
- * res and value are restrictions.  eg: "at", "scbus0".
- * For practical purposes, res = required, value = optional.
- * *name and *unit are set.
- * set *anchor to zero before starting.
- */
-int
-resource_find_match(int *anchor, const char **name, int *unit,
-    const char *resname, const char *value)
-{
-	const char *found_name;
-	int found_namelen;
-	int found_unit;
-	int ret;
-	int newln;
-
-	newln = *anchor;
-	ret = resource_find(anchor, &newln, NULL, NULL, resname, value,
-	    &found_name, &found_namelen, &found_unit, NULL, NULL, NULL);
-	if (ret == 0) {
-		*name = resource_string_copy(found_name, found_namelen);
-		*unit = found_unit;
-	}
-	*anchor = newln;
-	return ret;
-}
-
-
-/*
- * err = resource_find_dev(&anchor, name, &unit, res, value);
- * Iterate through a list of devices, returning their unit numbers.
- * res and value are optional restrictions.  eg: "at", "scbus0".
- * *unit is set to the value.
- * set *anchor to zero before starting.
- */
-int
-resource_find_dev(int *anchor, const char *name, int *unit,
-    const char *resname, const char *value)
-{
-	int found_unit;
-	int newln;
-	int ret;
-
-	newln = *anchor;
-	ret = resource_find(anchor, &newln, name, NULL, resname, value,
-	    NULL, NULL, &found_unit, NULL, NULL, NULL);
-	if (ret == 0) {
-		*unit = found_unit;
-	}
-	*anchor = newln;
-	return ret;
-}