diff --git a/usr.sbin/pkg_install/create/perform.c b/usr.sbin/pkg_install/create/perform.c
index 5307698f1eb5..8d073e45304e 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pkg_install/create/perform.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/pkg_install/create/perform.c
@@ -97,16 +97,41 @@ pkg_perform(char **pkgs)
 
     /* Stick the dependencies, if any, at the top */
     if (Pkgdeps) {
+	char **deps;
+	int i;
+	int ndeps = 0;
+
 	if (Verbose && !PlistOnly)
 	    printf("Registering depends:");
-	while (Pkgdeps) {
-	    cp = strsep(&Pkgdeps, " \t\n");
-	    if (*cp) {
-		add_plist_top(&plist, PLIST_PKGDEP, cp);
+
+	/* Count number of dependencies */
+	for (cp = Pkgdeps; cp != NULL && *cp != '\0';
+			   cp = strpbrk(++cp, " \t\n")) {
+	    ndeps++;
+	}
+
+	if (ndeps != 0) {
+	    /* Create easy to use NULL-terminated list */
+	    deps = alloca(sizeof(*deps) * ndeps + 1);
+	    if (deps == NULL) {
+		errx(2, "%s: alloca() failed", __FUNCTION__);
+		/* Not reached */
+	    }
+	    for (i = 0; Pkgdeps; i++) {
+		cp = strsep(&Pkgdeps, " \t\n");
+		if (*cp)
+		    deps[i] = cp;
+	    }
+	    deps[ndeps] = NULL;
+
+	    sortdeps(deps);
+	    for (i = 0; i < ndeps; i++) {
+		add_plist_top(&plist, PLIST_PKGDEP, deps[i]);
 		if (Verbose && !PlistOnly)
-		    printf(" %s", cp);
+		    printf(" %s", deps[i]);
 	    }
 	}
+
 	if (Verbose && !PlistOnly)
 	    printf(".\n");
     }
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pkg_install/delete/perform.c b/usr.sbin/pkg_install/delete/perform.c
index d5fe32a29d48..120622cef4e3 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pkg_install/delete/perform.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/pkg_install/delete/perform.c
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ static const char rcsid[] =
 static int pkg_do(char *);
 static void sanity_check(char *);
 static void undepend(PackingList, char *);
-static int chkifdepends(char *pkgname1, char *pkgname2);
 static char LogDir[FILENAME_MAX];
 
 
@@ -38,10 +37,9 @@ int
 pkg_perform(char **pkgs)
 {
     char **matched;
-    char *tmp;
-    int i, j;
+    int i;
     int err_cnt = 0;
-    int loop_cnt, errcode;
+    int errcode;
 
     if (MatchType != MATCH_EXACT) {
 	matched = matchinstalled(MatchType, pkgs, &errcode);
@@ -65,36 +63,8 @@ pkg_perform(char **pkgs)
 	}
     }
 
+    err_cnt += sortdeps(pkgs);
     for (i = 0; pkgs[i]; i++) {
-	/*
-	 * Check to see if any other package in pkgs[i+1:] depends
-	 * on pkgs[i] and deffer removal of pkgs[i] if so.
-	 */
-	loop_cnt = 0;
-	for (j = i + 1; pkgs[j]; j++) {
-	    if (chkifdepends(pkgs[j], pkgs[i]) == 1) {
-		/*
-		 * Try to avoid deadlock if package A depends on B which in
-		 * turn depends on C and C due to an error depends on A.
-		 * Use ugly but simple method, becase it Should Never
-		 * Happen[tm] in the real life anyway.
-		 */
-		if (loop_cnt > 4096) {
-		    warnx("dependency loop detected for package %s", pkgs[j]);
-		    err_cnt++;
-		    break;
-		}
-		loop_cnt++;
-		tmp = pkgs[i];
-		pkgs[i] = pkgs[j];
-		pkgs[j] = tmp;
-		/*
-		 * Another iteration requred to check if new pkgs[i]
-		 * itself has any packages that depend on it
-		 */
-		j = i + 1;
-	    }
-	}
 	err_cnt += pkg_do(pkgs[i]);
     }
 
@@ -364,38 +334,3 @@ undepend(PackingList p, char *pkgname)
      return;
 }
 
-/*
- * Check to see if pkgname1 depends on pkgname2.
- * Returns 1 if depends, 0 if not, and -1 if error occured.
- */ 
-static int
-chkifdepends(char *pkgname1, char *pkgname2)
-{
-    FILE *fp;
-    char fname[FILENAME_MAX];
-    char fbuf[FILENAME_MAX];
-    char *tmp;
-    int retval;
-
-    sprintf(fname, "%s/%s/%s",
-	    (tmp = getenv(PKG_DBDIR)) ? tmp : DEF_LOG_DIR,
-	    pkgname2, REQUIRED_BY_FNAME);
-    fp = fopen(fname, "r");
-    if (fp == NULL) {
-	/* Probably pkgname2 doesn't have any packages that depend on it */
-	return 0;
-    }
-
-    retval = 0;
-    while (fgets(fbuf, sizeof(fbuf), fp) != NULL) {
-	if (fbuf[strlen(fbuf)-1] == '\n')
-	    fbuf[strlen(fbuf)-1] = '\0';
-	if (strcmp(fbuf, pkgname1) == 0) {	/* match */
-	    retval = 1;
-	    break;
-	}
-    }
-
-    fclose(fp);
-    return retval;
-}
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pkg_install/lib/Makefile b/usr.sbin/pkg_install/lib/Makefile
index 990bfe3e19fc..0fb00b2e0700 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pkg_install/lib/Makefile
+++ b/usr.sbin/pkg_install/lib/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 # $FreeBSD$
 
 LIB=	install
-SRCS=	file.c msg.c plist.c str.c exec.c global.c pen.c match.c
+SRCS=	file.c msg.c plist.c str.c exec.c global.c pen.c match.c \
+	deps.c
 CFLAGS+= ${DEBUG}
 NOPROFILE= yes
 NOPIC=	yes
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pkg_install/lib/deps.c b/usr.sbin/pkg_install/lib/deps.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4c06da8df1fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/usr.sbin/pkg_install/lib/deps.c
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+#ifndef lint
+static const char rcsid[] =
+  "$FreeBSD$";
+#endif
+
+/*
+ * FreeBSD install - a package for the installation and maintainance
+ * of non-core utilities.
+ *
+ * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+ * modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
+ * are met:
+ * 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+ *    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+ * 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
+ *    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
+ *    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
+ *
+ * Maxim Sobolev
+ * 14 March 2001
+ *
+ * Routines used to do various operations with dependencies
+ * among installed packages.
+ *
+ */
+
+#include "lib.h"
+
+#include <err.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+/*
+ * Sort given NULL-terminated list of installed packages (pkgs) in
+ * such a way that if package A depends on package B then after
+ * sorting A will be listed before B no matter how they were
+ * originally positioned in the list.
+ */
+int
+sortdeps(char **pkgs)
+{
+    char *tmp;
+    int i, j, loop_cnt;
+    int err_cnt = 0;
+
+    for (i = 0; pkgs[i]; i++) {
+	/*
+	 * Check to see if any other package in pkgs[i+1:] depends
+	 * on pkgs[i] and swap those two packages if so.
+	 */
+	loop_cnt = 0;
+	for (j = i + 1; pkgs[j]; j++) {
+	    if (chkifdepends(pkgs[j], pkgs[i]) == 1) {
+		/*
+		 * Try to avoid deadlock if package A depends on B which in
+		 * turn depends on C and C due to an error depends on A.
+		 * Use ugly but simple method, becase it Should Never
+		 * Happen[tm] in the real life anyway.
+		 */
+		if (loop_cnt > 4096) {
+		    warnx("dependency loop detected for package %s", pkgs[j]);
+		    err_cnt++;
+		    break;
+		}
+		loop_cnt++;
+		tmp = pkgs[i];
+		pkgs[i] = pkgs[j];
+		pkgs[j] = tmp;
+		/*
+		 * Another iteration requred to check if new pkgs[i]
+		 * itself has any packages that depend on it
+		 */
+		j = i + 1;
+	    }
+	}
+    }
+    return err_cnt;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Check to see if pkgname1 depends on pkgname2.
+ * Returns 1 if depends, 0 if not, and -1 if error occured.
+ */ 
+int
+chkifdepends(char *pkgname1, char *pkgname2)
+{
+    FILE *fp;
+    char fname[FILENAME_MAX];
+    char fbuf[FILENAME_MAX];
+    char *tmp;
+    int retval;
+
+    sprintf(fname, "%s/%s/%s",
+	    (tmp = getenv(PKG_DBDIR)) ? tmp : DEF_LOG_DIR,
+	    pkgname2, REQUIRED_BY_FNAME);
+    fp = fopen(fname, "r");
+    if (fp == NULL) {
+	/* Probably pkgname2 doesn't have any packages that depend on it */
+	return 0;
+    }
+
+    retval = 0;
+    while (fgets(fbuf, sizeof(fbuf), fp) != NULL) {
+	if (fbuf[strlen(fbuf)-1] == '\n')
+	    fbuf[strlen(fbuf)-1] = '\0';
+	if (strcmp(fbuf, pkgname1) == 0) {	/* match */
+	    retval = 1;
+	    break;
+	}
+    }
+
+    fclose(fp);
+    return retval;
+}
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pkg_install/lib/lib.h b/usr.sbin/pkg_install/lib/lib.h
index fae802da1430..0ed689984366 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pkg_install/lib/lib.h
+++ b/usr.sbin/pkg_install/lib/lib.h
@@ -177,6 +177,10 @@ int		pkg_perform(char **);
 /* Query installed packages */
 char		**matchinstalled(match_t, char **, int *);
 
+/* Dependencies */
+int		sortdeps(char **);
+int		chkifdepends(char *, char *);
+
 /* Externs */
 extern Boolean	Verbose;
 extern Boolean	Fake;