diff --git a/pkgs/lib/default.nix b/pkgs/lib/default.nix
index aec2fb0bcc0..2f916d3ddd7 100644
--- a/pkgs/lib/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/lib/default.nix
@@ -23,4 +23,4 @@ in
   # !!! don't include everything at top-level; perhaps only the most
   # commonly used functions.
   // trivial // lists // strings // stringsWithDeps // attrsets // sources
-  // properties // options // types // meta // debug // misc
+  // properties // options // types // meta // debug // misc // modules
diff --git a/pkgs/lib/misc.nix b/pkgs/lib/misc.nix
index 60aecd5aa63..8fe29151976 100644
--- a/pkgs/lib/misc.nix
+++ b/pkgs/lib/misc.nix
@@ -200,14 +200,16 @@ rec {
   # Merge sets of attributes and use the function f to merge
   # attributes values.
   zip = f: sets:
+    zipWithNames (concatMap builtins.attrNames sets) f sets;
+
+  zipWithNames = names: f: sets:
     builtins.listToAttrs (map (name: {
       inherit name;
       value =
         f name
           (map (__getAttr name)
             (filter (__hasAttr name) sets));
-    }) (concatMap builtins.attrNames sets));
-
+    }) names);
 
   lazyGenericClosure = {startSet, operator}:
     let
diff --git a/pkgs/lib/modules.nix b/pkgs/lib/modules.nix
index 61cf7624bc5..09f096eba18 100644
--- a/pkgs/lib/modules.nix
+++ b/pkgs/lib/modules.nix
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ with import ./trivial.nix;
 with import ./lists.nix;
 with import ./misc.nix;
 with import ./attrsets.nix;
+with import ./options.nix;
 with import ./properties.nix;
 
 rec {
@@ -32,6 +33,10 @@ rec {
     else
       f;
 
+  isModule = m:
+       (m ? config && isAttrs m.config && ! isOption m.config)
+    || (m ? options && isAttrs m.options && ! isOption m.options);
+
   # Convert module to a set which has imports / options and config
   # attributes.
   unifyModuleSyntax = m:
@@ -48,7 +53,7 @@ rec {
       getConfig = m:
         removeAttrs (delayProperties m) ["require"];
     in
-      if m ? config || m ? options then
+      if isModule m then
         m
       else
         {
@@ -88,4 +93,165 @@ rec {
         [ m ]
     ) modules;
 
+
+  moduleApply = funs: module:
+    lib.mapAttrs (name: value:
+      if builtins.hasAttr name funs then
+        let fun = lib.getAttr name funs; in
+        fun value
+      else
+        value
+    ) module;
+
+  delayModule = module:
+    moduleApply { config = delayProperties; } module;
+
+  selectModule = name: m:
+    { inherit (m) key;
+    } // (
+      if m ? options && builtins.hasAttr name m.options then
+        { options = lib.getAttr name m.options; }
+      else {}
+    ) // (
+      if m ? config && builtins.hasAttr name m.config then
+        { config = lib.getAttr name m.config; }
+      else {}
+    );
+
+  filterModules = name: modules:
+    filter (m: m ? config || m ? options) (
+      map (selectModule name) modules
+    );
+
+  modulesNames = modules:
+    lib.concatMap (m: []
+    ++ optionals (m ? options) (lib.attrNames m.options)
+    ++ optionals (m ? config) (lib.attrNames m.config)
+    ) modules;
+
+  moduleZip = funs: modules:
+    lib.mapAttrs (name: fun:
+      fun (
+        map (lib.getAttr name) (
+          filter (builtins.hasAttr name) modules
+        )
+      )
+    ) funs;
+
+  moduleMerge = path: modules:
+    let modules_ = modules; in
+    let
+      addName = name:
+        if path == "" then name else path + "." + name;
+
+      modules = map delayModule modules_;
+
+      modulesOf = name: filterModules name modules;
+      declarationsOf = name: filter (m: m ? options) (modulesOf name);
+      definitionsOf  = name: filter (m: m ? config ) (modulesOf name);
+
+      recurseInto = name: modules:
+        moduleMerge (addName name) (modulesOf name);
+
+      recurseForOption = name: modules:
+        moduleMerge name (
+          map unifyModuleSyntax modules
+        );
+
+      errorSource = modules:
+        "The error may comes from the following files:\n" + (
+          lib.concatStringsSep "\n" (
+            map (m:
+              if m ? key then toString m.key else "<unknow location>"
+            ) modules
+          )
+        );
+
+      eol = "\n";
+
+      errDefinedWithoutDeclaration = name:
+        let
+          badModules =
+            filter (m: ! isAttrs m.config)
+              (definitionsOf name);
+        in
+          "${eol
+          }Option '${addName name}' defined without option declaration.${eol
+          }${errorSource badModules}${eol
+          }";
+
+      endRecursion =  { options = {}; config = {}; };
+
+    in if modules == [] then endRecursion else
+
+      lib.fix (result:
+        moduleZip {
+          options = lib.zip (name: values:
+            if any isOption values then
+              addOptionMakeUp
+                { name = addName name; recurseInto = recurseForOption; }
+                (mergeOptionDecls values)
+            else if all isAttrs values then
+              (recurseInto name modules).options
+            else
+              throw "${eol
+                }Unexpected type where option declarations are expected.${eol
+                }${errorSource (declarationsOf name)}${eol
+              }"
+          );
+
+          config = lib.zipWithNames (modulesNames modules) (name: values:
+            let
+              hasOpt = builtins.hasAttr name result.options;
+              opt = lib.getAttr name result.options;
+
+            in if hasOpt && isOption opt then
+              let defs = evalProperties values; in
+              lib.addErrorContext "${eol
+                }while evaluating the option '${addName name}'.${eol
+                }${errorSource (modulesOf name)}${eol
+              }" (
+                opt.apply (
+                  if defs == [] then
+                    if opt ? default then opt.default
+                    else throw "Not defined."
+                  else opt.merge defs
+                )
+              )
+
+            else if hasOpt && lib.attrNames opt == [] then
+              throw (errDefinedWithoutDeclaration name)
+
+            else if any (v: isOption (rmProperties v)) values then
+              let
+                badModules =
+                  filter (m: isOption m.config)
+                    (definitionsOf name);
+              in
+                throw "${eol
+                  }Option ${addName name} is defined in the configuration section.${eol
+                  }${errorSource badModules}${eol
+                }"
+
+            else if all isAttrs values then
+              (recurseInto name modules).config
+            else
+              throw (errDefinedWithoutDeclaration name)
+          );
+
+        } modules
+      );
+
+  fixMergeModules = initModules: {...}@args:
+    lib.fix (result:
+      # This trick avoid an infinite loop because names of attribute are
+      # know and it is not require to evaluate the result of moduleMerge to
+      # know which attribute are present as argument.
+      let module = { inherit (result) options config; }; in
+
+      moduleMerge "" (
+        moduleClosure initModules (args // module)
+      )
+    );
+
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/lib/options.nix b/pkgs/lib/options.nix
index 34492b289df..37d092ef3c5 100644
--- a/pkgs/lib/options.nix
+++ b/pkgs/lib/options.nix
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ with import ./lists.nix;
 with import ./misc.nix;
 with import ./attrsets.nix;
 with import ./properties.nix;
-with import ./modules.nix;
 
 rec {
 
@@ -69,22 +68,43 @@ rec {
           }
         else opt;
 
+      convertOptionsToModules = opt:
+        if opt ? options then
+          opt // {
+            options = map (decl:
+              let module = lib.applyIfFunction decl {}; in
+              if lib.isModule module then
+                decl
+              else
+                arg: { options = lib.applyIfFunction decl arg; }
+            ) opt.options;
+          }
+        else
+          opt;
+
       handleOptionSets = opt:
         if decl ? type && decl.type.hasOptions then
           let
+            
             optionConfig = opts: config:
-               map (f: applyIfFunction f config)
-                 (decl.options ++ [opts]);
+               map (f: lib.applyIfFunction f config)
+                 (opt.options ++ toList opts);
           in
             opt // {
               merge = list:
                 decl.type.iter
                   (path: opts:
-                     lib.fix (fixableMergeFun (recurseInto path) (optionConfig opts))
+                    (lib.fix
+                      (fixableMergeFun (recurseInto path) (optionConfig opts))
+                    ).config
                   )
                   opt.name
                   (opt.merge list);
-              options = recurseInto (decl.type.docPath opt.name) decl.options;
+              options =
+                let path = decl.type.docPath opt.name; in
+                (lib.fix
+                  (fixableMergeFun (recurseInto path) (optionConfig []))
+                ).options;
             }
         else
           opt;
@@ -99,6 +119,7 @@ rec {
         # override settings
         ensureMergeInputType
         ensureDefaultType
+        convertOptionsToModules
         handleOptionSets
       ];
 
@@ -186,121 +207,33 @@ rec {
     else head list;
 
 
-  # Handle the traversal of option sets.  All sets inside 'opts' are zipped
-  # and options declaration and definition are separated.  If no option are
-  # declared at a specific depth, then the function recurse into the values.
-  # Other cases are handled by the optionHandler which contains two
-  # functions that are used to defined your goal.
-  # - export is a function which takes two arguments which are the option
-  # and the list of values.
-  # - notHandle is a function which takes the list of values are not handle
-  # by this function.
-  handleOptionSets = optionHandler@{export, notHandle, ...}: path: opts:
-    if all isAttrs opts then
-      lib.zip (attr: opts:
-        let
-          recurseInto = name: attrs:
-            handleOptionSets optionHandler name attrs;
-
-          # Compute the path to reach the attribute.
-          name = if path == "" then attr else path + "." + attr;
-
-          # Divide the definitions of the attribute "attr" between
-          # declaration (isOption) and definitions (!isOption).
-          test = partition (x: isOption (rmProperties x)) opts;
-          decls = map rmProperties test.right; defs = test.wrong;
-
-          # Make the option declaration more user-friendly by adding default
-          # settings and some verifications based on the declaration content
-          # (like type correctness).
-          opt = addOptionMakeUp
-            { inherit name recurseInto; }
-            (mergeOptionDecls decls);
-
-          # Return the list of option sets.
-          optAttrs = map delayProperties defs;
-
-          # return the list of option values.
-          # Remove undefined values that are coming from evalIf.
-          optValues = evalProperties defs;
-        in
-          if decls == [] then recurseInto name optAttrs
-          else lib.addErrorContext "while evaluating the option ${name}:" (
-            export opt optValues
-          )
-      ) opts
-   else lib.addErrorContext "while evaluating ${path}:" (notHandle opts);
-
-  # Merge option sets and produce a set of values which is the merging of
-  # all options declare and defined.  If no values are defined for an
-  # option, then the default value is used otherwise it use the merge
-  # function of each option to get the result.
-  mergeOptionSets =
-    handleOptionSets {
-      export = opt: values:
-        opt.apply (
-          if values == [] then
-            if opt ? default then opt.default
-            else throw "Not defined."
-          else opt.merge values
-        );
-      notHandle = opts: throw "Used without option declaration.";
-    };
-
-  # Keep all option declarations.
-  filterOptionSets =
-    handleOptionSets {
-      export = opt: values: opt;
-      notHandle = opts: {};
-    };
-
-
   fixableMergeFun = merge: f: config:
     merge (
-      # remove require because this is not an option.
-      map (m: removeAttrs m ["require"]) (
-        # Delay top-level properties like mkIf
-        map delayProperties (
-          # generate the list of option sets.
-          f config
-        )
-      )
+      # generate the list of option sets.
+      f config
     );
 
   fixableMergeModules = merge: initModules: {...}@args: config:
     fixableMergeFun merge (config:
-      # filter the list of option sets.
-      selectDeclsAndDefs (
-        # generate the list of modules from a closure of imports/require
-        # attribtues.
-        moduleClosure initModules (args // { inherit config; })
-      )
+      lib.moduleClosure initModules (args // { inherit config; })
     ) config;
 
 
   fixableDefinitionsOf = initModules: {...}@args:
-    fixableMergeModules (mergeOptionSets "") initModules args;
+    fixableMergeModules (modules: (lib.moduleMerge "" modules).config) initModules args;
 
   fixableDeclarationsOf = initModules: {...}@args:
-    fixableMergeModules (filterOptionSets "") initModules args;
+    fixableMergeModules (modules: (lib.moduleMerge "" modules).options) initModules args;
 
   definitionsOf = initModules: {...}@args:
-    lib.fix (fixableDefinitionsOf initModules args);
+    (lib.fix (module:
+      fixableMergeModules (lib.moduleMerge "") initModules args module.config
+    )).config;
 
   declarationsOf = initModules: {...}@args:
-    lib.fix (fixableDeclarationsOf initModules args);
-
-
-  fixMergeModules = merge: initModules: {...}@args:
-    lib.fix (fixableMergeModules merge initModules args);
-
-
-  # old interface.
-  fixOptionSetsFun = merge: {...}@args: initModules: config:
-    fixableMergeModules (merge "") initModules args config;
-
-  fixOptionSets = merge: args: initModules:
-    fixMergeModules (merge "") initModules args;
+    (lib.fix (module:
+      fixableMergeModules (lib.moduleMerge "") initModules args module.config
+    )).options;
 
 
   # Generate documentation template from the list of option declaration like