diff --git a/system/options.nix b/system/options.nix
index 47f6a162140d..2d670e972008 100644
--- a/system/options.nix
+++ b/system/options.nix
@@ -644,28 +644,6 @@ in
       };
     };
 
-    locate = {
-
-      enable = mkOption {
-        default = false;
-        example = true;
-        description = ''
-          If enabled, NixOS will periodically update the database of
-          files used by the <command>locate</command> command.
-        '';
-      };
-
-      period = mkOption {
-        default = "15 02 * * *";
-        description = ''
-          This option defines (in the format used by cron) when the
-          locate database is updated.
-          The default is to update at 02:15 (at night) every day.
-        '';
-      };
-
-    };
-
 
     ttyBackgrounds = {
 
@@ -3050,5 +3028,6 @@ root        ALL=(ALL) SETENV: ALL
 
     # services
     (import ../upstart-jobs/cron.nix)
+    (import ../upstart-jobs/cron/locate.nix)
   ];
 }
diff --git a/upstart-jobs/cron.nix b/upstart-jobs/cron.nix
index 943c35f51d92..4220de6d647d 100644
--- a/upstart-jobs/cron.nix
+++ b/upstart-jobs/cron.nix
@@ -34,20 +34,9 @@ in
 
 ###### implementation
 let
-  # !!! This should be defined somewhere else.
-  locatedb = "/var/cache/locatedb";
-  
-  updatedbCmd =
-    "${config.services.locate.period}  root  " +
-    "mkdir -m 0755 -p $(dirname ${locatedb}) && " +
-    "nice -n 19 ${pkgs.utillinux}/bin/ionice -c 3 " +
-    "updatedb --localuser=nobody --output=${locatedb} > /var/log/updatedb 2>&1";
-  
-
   # Put all the system cronjobs together.
   systemCronJobs =
-    config.services.cron.systemCronJobs ++
-    pkgs.lib.optional config.services.locate.enable updatedbCmd;
+    config.services.cron.systemCronJobs;
 
   systemCronJobsFile = pkgs.writeText "system-crontab" ''
     SHELL=${pkgs.bash}/bin/sh
diff --git a/upstart-jobs/cron/locate.nix b/upstart-jobs/cron/locate.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2b26a10e91e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/upstart-jobs/cron/locate.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+{pkgs, config}:
+
+###### interface
+let
+  inherit (pkgs.lib) mkOption;
+
+  options = {
+    services = {
+      locate = {
+
+        enable = mkOption {
+          default = false;
+          example = true;
+          description = ''
+            If enabled, NixOS will periodically update the database of
+            files used by the <command>locate</command> command.
+          '';
+        };
+
+        period = mkOption {
+          default = "15 02 * * *";
+          description = ''
+            This option defines (in the format used by cron) when the
+            locate database is updated.
+            The default is to update at 02:15 (at night) every day.
+          '';
+        };
+
+      };
+
+    };
+  };
+in
+
+###### implementation
+let
+  locatedb = "/var/cache/locatedb";
+  
+  updatedbCmd =
+    "${config.services.locate.period}  root  " +
+    "mkdir -m 0755 -p $(dirname ${locatedb}) && " +
+    "nice -n 19 ${pkgs.utillinux}/bin/ionice -c 3 " +
+    "updatedb --localuser=nobody --output=${locatedb} > /var/log/updatedb 2>&1";
+in
+
+{
+  require = [
+    (import ../../upstart-jobs/cron.nix) # config.services.cron
+    options
+  ];
+
+  services = {
+    cron = {
+      systemCronJobs =
+        pkgs.lib.optional
+          config.services.locate.enable
+          updatedbCmd;
+    };
+  };
+}