diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 3c3b481efa..0b41b05ae1 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,14 @@
+2008-04-04  Dan Williams  <dcbw@redhat.com>
+
+	* src/nm-hal-manager.c
+	  src/nm-hal-manager.h
+		- (hal_init): don't look for hardware here
+		- (nm_hal_manager_start): new function; look for hardware here instead,
+			which can be done at a later time than hal_init()
+
+	* src/NetworkManager.c
+		- (main): start HAL manager after entering the main loop
+
 2008-04-03  Dan Williams  <dcbw@redhat.com>
 
 	* libnm-glib/nm-settings.c
diff --git a/src/NetworkManager.c b/src/NetworkManager.c
index 7c46cdff6d..048850c86e 100644
--- a/src/NetworkManager.c
+++ b/src/NetworkManager.c
@@ -205,6 +205,13 @@ write_pidfile (const char *pidfile)
 		nm_warning ("Closing %s failed: %s", pidfile, strerror (errno));
 }
 
+static gboolean
+start_hal (gpointer user_data)
+{
+	nm_hal_manager_start ((NMHalManager *) user_data);
+	return FALSE;
+}
+
 /*
  * main
  *
@@ -343,6 +350,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	hal_manager = nm_hal_manager_new (manager);
 	if (!hal_manager)
 		goto done;
+	g_idle_add (start_hal, hal_manager);
 
 	/* Bring up the loopback interface. */
 	nm_system_enable_loopback ();
diff --git a/src/nm-hal-manager.c b/src/nm-hal-manager.c
index 4daf363065..57cf555d0d 100644
--- a/src/nm-hal-manager.c
+++ b/src/nm-hal-manager.c
@@ -569,7 +569,6 @@ hal_init (NMHalManager *manager)
 {
 	DBusError error;
 	DBusGConnection *connection; 
-	gboolean success = FALSE;
 
 	manager->hal_ctx = libhal_ctx_new ();
 	if (!manager->hal_ctx) {
@@ -586,7 +585,7 @@ hal_init (NMHalManager *manager)
 		nm_error ("libhal_ctx_init() failed: %s\n"
 				  "Make sure the hal daemon is running?", 
 				  error.message);
-		goto out;
+		goto error;
 	}
 
 	libhal_ctx_set_user_data (manager->hal_ctx, manager);
@@ -598,25 +597,19 @@ hal_init (NMHalManager *manager)
 	if (dbus_error_is_set (&error)) {
 		nm_error ("libhal_device_property_watch_all(): %s", error.message);
 		libhal_ctx_shutdown (manager->hal_ctx, NULL);
-		goto out;
+		goto error;
 	}
 
-	/* Add any devices we know about */
-	add_killswitch_devices (manager);
-	add_initial_devices (manager);
-	success = TRUE;
+	return TRUE;
 
-out:
-	if (!success) {
-		if (dbus_error_is_set (&error))
-			dbus_error_free (&error);
-		if (manager->hal_ctx) {
-			libhal_ctx_free (manager->hal_ctx);
-			manager->hal_ctx = NULL;
-		}
+error:
+	if (dbus_error_is_set (&error))
+		dbus_error_free (&error);
+	if (manager->hal_ctx) {
+		libhal_ctx_free (manager->hal_ctx);
+		manager->hal_ctx = NULL;
 	}
-
-	return success;
+	return FALSE;
 }
 
 static void
@@ -748,6 +741,14 @@ nm_hal_manager_new (NMManager *nm_manager)
 	return manager;
 }
 
+void
+nm_hal_manager_start (NMHalManager *manager)
+{
+	/* Find hardware we care about */
+	add_killswitch_devices (manager);
+	add_initial_devices (manager);
+}
+
 static void
 destroy_creator (gpointer data, gpointer user_data)
 {
diff --git a/src/nm-hal-manager.h b/src/nm-hal-manager.h
index 7b8a0e68cb..e94353f3c5 100644
--- a/src/nm-hal-manager.h
+++ b/src/nm-hal-manager.h
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 typedef struct _NMHalManager NMHalManager;
 
 NMHalManager *nm_hal_manager_new (NMManager *nm_manager);
+void nm_hal_manager_start (NMHalManager *manager);
 void nm_hal_manager_destroy (NMHalManager *manager);
 
 #endif /* NM_HAL_MANAGER_H */