diff --git a/lib/maintainers.nix b/lib/maintainers.nix
index 4672dc59d431..c956d0a4a374 100644
--- a/lib/maintainers.nix
+++ b/lib/maintainers.nix
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@
   cwoac = "Oliver Matthews <oliver@codersoffortune.net>";
   DamienCassou = "Damien Cassou <damien@cassou.me>";
   danbst = "Danylo Hlynskyi <abcz2.uprola@gmail.com>";
+  dancek = "Hannu Hartikainen <hannu.hartikainen@gmail.com>";
   danielfullmer = "Daniel Fullmer <danielrf12@gmail.com>";
   dasuxullebt = "Christoph-Simon Senjak <christoph.senjak@googlemail.com>";
   davidak = "David Kleuker <post@davidak.de>";
diff --git a/nixos/modules/module-list.nix b/nixos/modules/module-list.nix
index 1398542a5c17..bd427bc679c7 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/module-list.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/module-list.nix
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@
   ./services/hardware/bluetooth.nix
   ./services/hardware/brltty.nix
   ./services/hardware/freefall.nix
+  ./services/hardware/illum.nix
   ./services/hardware/irqbalance.nix
   ./services/hardware/nvidia-optimus.nix
   ./services/hardware/pcscd.nix
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/hardware/illum.nix b/nixos/modules/services/hardware/illum.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ff73c99a6537
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/hardware/illum.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+
+with lib;
+
+let
+  cfg = config.services.illum;
+in {
+
+  options = {
+
+    services.illum = {
+
+      enable = mkOption {
+        default = false;
+        type = types.bool;
+        description = ''
+          Enable illum, a daemon for controlling screen brightness with brightness buttons.
+        '';
+      };
+
+    };
+
+  };
+
+  config = mkIf cfg.enable {
+
+    systemd.services.illum = {
+      description = "Backlight Adjustment Service";
+      wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
+      serviceConfig.ExecStart = "${pkgs.illum}/bin/illum-d";
+    };
+
+  };
+
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/illum/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/system/illum/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4cdfeec12b79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/illum/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+{ stdenv, fetchgit, pkgconfig, ninja, libevdev, libev }:
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+  version = "0.4";
+  name = "illum-${version}";
+
+  src = fetchgit {
+    url = "https://github.com/jmesmon/illum.git";
+    fetchSubmodules = true;
+    rev = "48ce8631346b1c88a901a8e4fa5fa7e8ffe8e418";
+    sha256 = "05v3hz7n6b1mlhc6zqijblh1vpl0ja1y8y0lafw7mjdz03wxhfdb";
+  };
+
+  buildInputs = [ pkgconfig ninja libevdev libev ];
+
+  configurePhase = ''
+    bash ./configure
+  '';
+
+  buildPhase = ''
+    ninja
+  '';
+
+  installPhase = ''
+    mkdir -p $out/bin
+    mv illum-d $out/bin
+  '';
+
+  meta = {
+    homepage = https://github.com/jmesmon/illum;
+    description = "Daemon that wires button presses to screen backlight level";
+    platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
+    maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.dancek ];
+    license = stdenv.lib.licenses.agpl3;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 7f4c71a00480..d7b8c4e8ee09 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -17545,6 +17545,8 @@ with pkgs;
 
   hplipWithPlugin_3_15_9 = hplip_3_15_9.override { withPlugin = true; };
 
+  illum = callPackage ../tools/system/illum { };
+
   # using the new configuration style proposal which is unstable
   jack1 = callPackage ../misc/jackaudio/jack1.nix { };