diff --git a/console-tools/Config.in b/console-tools/Config.in
index f82d4ce13..bd9dfb381 100644
--- a/console-tools/Config.in
+++ b/console-tools/Config.in
@@ -31,6 +31,12 @@ config DUMPKMAP
 	  This program dumps the kernel's keyboard translation table to
 	  stdout, in binary format. You can then use loadkmap to load it.
 
+config KBD_MODE
+	bool "kbd_mode"
+	default n
+	help
+	  This program reports and sets keyboard mode.
+
 config LOADFONT
 	bool "loadfont"
 	default n
diff --git a/console-tools/Kbuild b/console-tools/Kbuild
index a55bc087c..cf3825ec6 100644
--- a/console-tools/Kbuild
+++ b/console-tools/Kbuild
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ lib-$(CONFIG_CLEAR)		+= clear.o
 lib-$(CONFIG_DEALLOCVT)		+= deallocvt.o
 lib-$(CONFIG_DUMPKMAP)		+= dumpkmap.o
 lib-$(CONFIG_SETCONSOLE)	+= setconsole.o
+lib-$(CONFIG_KBD_MODE)		+= kbd_mode.o
 lib-$(CONFIG_LOADFONT)		+= loadfont.o
 lib-$(CONFIG_LOADKMAP)		+= loadkmap.o
 lib-$(CONFIG_OPENVT)		+= openvt.o
diff --git a/console-tools/kbd_mode.c b/console-tools/kbd_mode.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0000ea180
--- /dev/null
+++ b/console-tools/kbd_mode.c
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/* vi: set sw=4 ts=4: */
+/*
+ * Mini loadkmap implementation for busybox
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2007 Loïc Grenié <loic.grenie@gmail.com>
+ *   written using Andries Brouwer <aeb@cwi.nl>'s kbd_mode from
+ *   console-utils v0.2.3, licensed under GNU GPLv2
+ *
+ * Licensed under GPLv2 or later, see file LICENSE in this tarball for details.
+ *
+ */
+
+#include <getopt.h>
+#include "libbb.h"
+#include <linux/kd.h>
+
+int kbd_mode_main(int argc, char **argv) MAIN_EXTERNALLY_VISIBLE;
+int kbd_mode_main(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+	static const char opts[] = "saku";
+
+	const char *opt = argv[1];
+	const char *p;
+	int fd;
+
+	fd = get_console_fd();
+	if (fd < 0) /* get_console_fd() already complained */
+		return EXIT_FAILURE;
+
+	if (opt == NULL) {
+		/* No arg */
+		const char *msg = "unknown";
+		int mode;
+
+		ioctl(fd, KDGKBMODE, &mode);
+		switch(mode) {
+		case K_RAW:
+			msg = "raw (scancode)";
+			break;
+		case K_XLATE:
+			msg = "default (ASCII)";
+			break;
+		case K_MEDIUMRAW:
+			msg = "mediumraw (keycode)";
+			break;
+		case K_UNICODE:
+			msg = "Unicode (UTF-8)";
+			break;
+		}
+		printf("The keyboard is in %s mode\n", msg);
+	}
+	else if (argc > 2 /* more than 1 arg */
+	 || *opt != '-' /* not an option */
+	 || (p = strchr(opts, opt[1])) == NULL /* not an option we expect */
+	 || opt[2] != '\0' /* more than one option char */
+	) {
+		bb_show_usage();
+		/* return EXIT_FAILURE; - not reached */
+	}
+	else {
+#if K_RAW != 0 || K_XLATE != 1 || K_MEDIUMRAW != 2 || K_UNICODE != 3
+#error kbd_mode must be changed
+#endif
+		/* The options are in the order of the various K_xxx */
+		ioctl(fd, KDSKBMODE, p - opts);
+	}
+
+	if (ENABLE_FEATURE_CLEAN_UP)
+		close(fd);
+	return EXIT_SUCCESS;
+}
diff --git a/include/applets.h b/include/applets.h
index 5b64e3a5a..587ccbf51 100644
--- a/include/applets.h
+++ b/include/applets.h
@@ -202,6 +202,7 @@ USE_IPLINK(APPLET(iplink, _BB_DIR_BIN, _BB_SUID_NEVER))
 USE_IPROUTE(APPLET(iproute, _BB_DIR_BIN, _BB_SUID_NEVER))
 USE_IPRULE(APPLET(iprule, _BB_DIR_BIN, _BB_SUID_NEVER))
 USE_IPTUNNEL(APPLET(iptunnel, _BB_DIR_BIN, _BB_SUID_NEVER))
+USE_KBD_MODE(APPLET(kbd_mode, _BB_DIR_USR_BIN, _BB_SUID_NEVER))
 USE_KILL(APPLET(kill, _BB_DIR_BIN, _BB_SUID_NEVER))
 USE_KILLALL(APPLET_ODDNAME(killall, kill, _BB_DIR_USR_BIN, _BB_SUID_NEVER, killall))
 USE_KILLALL5(APPLET_ODDNAME(killall5, kill, _BB_DIR_USR_BIN, _BB_SUID_NEVER, killall5))
diff --git a/include/usage.h b/include/usage.h
index d9a6ae729..8f0a13c32 100644
--- a/include/usage.h
+++ b/include/usage.h
@@ -1805,6 +1805,16 @@
        "	[[i|o]seq] [[i|o]key KEY] [[i|o]csum]\n" \
        "	[ttl TTL] [tos TOS] [[no]pmtudisc] [dev PHYS_DEV]"
 
+#define kbd_mode_trivial_usage \
+       "[-a|k|s|u]"
+#define kbd_mode_full_usage \
+       "Report or set the keyboard mode" \
+       "\n\nOptions set mode:\n" \
+       "	-a	Default (ASCII)\n" \
+       "	-k	Medium-raw (keyboard)\n" \
+       "	-s	Raw (scancode)\n" \
+       "	-u	Unicode (utf-8)"
+
 #define kill_trivial_usage \
        "[-l] [-signal] process-id [process-id ...]"
 #define kill_full_usage \
diff --git a/libbb/get_console.c b/libbb/get_console.c
index b12951823..0da27b1e2 100644
--- a/libbb/get_console.c
+++ b/libbb/get_console.c
@@ -67,6 +67,6 @@ int get_console_fd(void)
 		}
 	}
 
-	bb_error_msg("cannot get file descriptor referring to console");
+	bb_error_msg("can't open console");
 	return fd;                      /* total failure */
 }