diff --git a/etc/profile.sh b/etc/profile.sh
index 99f7d7c1e8b..e070222e666 100644
--- a/etc/profile.sh
+++ b/etc/profile.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ export FONTCONFIG_FILE=/etc/fonts/fonts.conf
 export LANG=@defaultLocale@
 export EDITOR=nano
 export INFOPATH=/var/run/current-system/sw/info:/var/run/current-system/sw/share/info
+export LOCATE_PATH=/var/cache/locatedb
 
 
 # A nice prompt.
diff --git a/system/options.nix b/system/options.nix
index 8f482de5ebf..4fee59cc4ea 100644
--- a/system/options.nix
+++ b/system/options.nix
@@ -546,6 +546,29 @@
     };
 
 
+    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 = {
 
       enable = mkOption {
diff --git a/upstart-jobs/cron.nix b/upstart-jobs/cron.nix
index a7145f1d284..847ca2728dc 100644
--- a/upstart-jobs/cron.nix
+++ b/upstart-jobs/cron.nix
@@ -2,11 +2,24 @@
 
 let
 
-  systemCronJobs = config.services.cron.systemCronJobs;
+  # !!! 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;
 
   systemCronJobsFile = pkgs.writeText "system-crontab" ''
     SHELL=${pkgs.bash}/bin/sh
-    PATH=${pkgs.coreutils}/bin
+    PATH=${pkgs.coreutils}/bin:${pkgs.findutils}/bin:${pkgs.gnused}/bin:${pkgs.su}/bin
     MAILTO=
     ${pkgs.lib.concatStrings (map (job: job + "\n") systemCronJobs)}
   '';