Index: head/sys/dev/kbd/kbd.c
===================================================================
--- head/sys/dev/kbd/kbd.c
+++ head/sys/dev/kbd/kbd.c
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
 static	SLIST_HEAD(, keyboard_driver) keyboard_drivers =
 	SLIST_HEAD_INITIALIZER(keyboard_drivers);
 
-SET_DECLARE(kbddriver_set, const keyboard_driver_t);
+SET_DECLARE(kbddriver_set, keyboard_driver_t);
 
 /* local arrays */
 
@@ -163,12 +163,18 @@
 int
 kbd_add_driver(keyboard_driver_t *driver)
 {
-	if (SLIST_NEXT(driver, link))
-		return (EINVAL);
+
+	if ((driver->flags & KBDF_REGISTERED) != 0)
+		return (0);
+
+	KASSERT(SLIST_NEXT(driver, link) == NULL,
+	    ("%s: keyboard driver list garbage detected", __func__));
 	if (driver->kbdsw->get_fkeystr == NULL)
 		driver->kbdsw->get_fkeystr = genkbd_get_fkeystr;
 	if (driver->kbdsw->diag == NULL)
 		driver->kbdsw->diag = genkbd_diag;
+
+	driver->flags |= KBDF_REGISTERED;
 	SLIST_INSERT_HEAD(&keyboard_drivers, driver, link);
 	return (0);
 }
@@ -176,6 +182,11 @@
 int
 kbd_delete_driver(keyboard_driver_t *driver)
 {
+
+	if ((driver->flags & KBDF_REGISTERED) == 0)
+		return (EINVAL);
+
+	driver->flags &= ~KBDF_REGISTERED;
 	SLIST_REMOVE(&keyboard_drivers, driver, keyboard_driver, link);
 	SLIST_NEXT(driver, link) = NULL;
 	return (0);
@@ -185,7 +196,6 @@
 int
 kbd_register(keyboard_t *kbd)
 {
-	const keyboard_driver_t **list;
 	const keyboard_driver_t *p;
 	keyboard_t *mux;
 	keyboard_info_t ki;
@@ -226,24 +236,7 @@
 			return (index);
 		}
 	}
-	SET_FOREACH(list, kbddriver_set) {
-		p = *list;
-		if (strcmp(p->name, kbd->kb_name) == 0) {
-			kbd->kb_drv = p;
-			keyboard[index] = kbd;
 
-			if (mux != NULL) {
-				bzero(&ki, sizeof(ki));
-				strcpy(ki.kb_name, kbd->kb_name);
-				ki.kb_unit = kbd->kb_unit;
-
-				(void)kbdd_ioctl(mux, KBADDKBD, (caddr_t) &ki);
-			}
-
-			return (index);
-		}
-	}
-
 	return (-1);
 }
 
@@ -282,18 +275,12 @@
 keyboard_switch_t *
 kbd_get_switch(char *driver)
 {
-	const keyboard_driver_t **list;
 	const keyboard_driver_t *p;
 
 	SLIST_FOREACH(p, &keyboard_drivers, link) {
 		if (strcmp(p->name, driver) == 0)
 			return (p->kbdsw);
 	}
-	SET_FOREACH(list, kbddriver_set) {
-		p = *list;
-		if (strcmp(p->name, driver) == 0)
-			return (p->kbdsw);
-	}
 
 	return (NULL);
 }
@@ -435,18 +422,12 @@
 int
 kbd_configure(int flags)
 {
-	const keyboard_driver_t **list;
 	const keyboard_driver_t *p;
 
 	SLIST_FOREACH(p, &keyboard_drivers, link) {
 		if (p->configure != NULL)
 			(*p->configure)(flags);
 	}
-	SET_FOREACH(list, kbddriver_set) {
-		p = *list;
-		if (p->configure != NULL)
-			(*p->configure)(flags);
-	}
 
 	return (0);
 }
@@ -1507,19 +1488,27 @@
 	}
 }
 
-static void
-kbd_drv_init(void)
+void
+kbdinit(void)
 {
-	const keyboard_driver_t **list;
-	const keyboard_driver_t *p;
+	keyboard_driver_t *drv, **list;
 
 	SET_FOREACH(list, kbddriver_set) {
-		p = *list;
-		if (p->kbdsw->get_fkeystr == NULL)
-			p->kbdsw->get_fkeystr = genkbd_get_fkeystr;
-		if (p->kbdsw->diag == NULL)
-			p->kbdsw->diag = genkbd_diag;
+		drv = *list;
+
+		/*
+		 * The following printfs will almost universally get dropped,
+		 * with exception to kernel configs with EARLY_PRINTF and
+		 * special setups where msgbufinit() is called early with a
+		 * static buffer to capture output occurring before the dynamic
+		 * message buffer is mapped.
+		 */
+		if (kbd_add_driver(drv) != 0)
+			printf("kbd: failed to register driver '%s'\n",
+			    drv->name);
+		else if (bootverbose)
+			printf("kbd: registered driver '%s'\n",
+			    drv->name);
 	}
-}
 
-SYSINIT(kbd_drv_init, SI_SUB_DRIVERS, SI_ORDER_FIRST, kbd_drv_init, NULL);
+}
Index: head/sys/dev/kbd/kbdreg.h
===================================================================
--- head/sys/dev/kbd/kbdreg.h
+++ head/sys/dev/kbd/kbdreg.h
@@ -107,8 +107,11 @@
     keyboard_switch_t * const	kbdsw;
     /* backdoor for the console driver */
     int				(* const configure)(int);
+    int				flags;
 } keyboard_driver_t;
 
+#define	KBDF_REGISTERED		0x0001
+
 /* keyboard */
 struct keyboard {
 	/* the following fields are managed by kbdio */
@@ -396,6 +399,9 @@
 #define LED_SCR		(1 << 2)
 #define LED_MASK	(LED_CAP | LED_NUM | LED_SCR)
 */
+
+/* Initialization for the kbd layer, performed by cninit. */
+void	kbdinit(void);
 
 int 	genkbd_commonioctl(keyboard_t *kbd, u_long cmd, caddr_t arg);
 int 	genkbd_keyaction(keyboard_t *kbd, int keycode, int up,
Index: head/sys/kern/kern_cons.c
===================================================================
--- head/sys/kern/kern_cons.c
+++ head/sys/kern/kern_cons.c
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@
 #include <sys/conf.h>
 #include <sys/cons.h>
 #include <sys/fcntl.h>
+#include <sys/kbio.h>
 #include <sys/kdb.h>
 #include <sys/kernel.h>
 #include <sys/malloc.h>
@@ -69,6 +70,8 @@
 
 #include <ddb/ddb.h>
 
+#include <dev/kbd/kbdreg.h>
+
 #include <machine/cpu.h>
 #include <machine/clock.h>
 
@@ -122,6 +125,14 @@
 			|RB_SINGLE
 			|RB_VERBOSE
 			|RB_ASKNAME)) == RB_MUTE);
+
+	/*
+	 * Bring up the kbd layer just in time for cnprobe.  Console drivers
+	 * have a dependency on kbd being ready, so this fits nicely between the
+	 * machdep callers of cninit() and MI probing/initialization of consoles
+	 * here.
+	 */
+	kbdinit();
 
 	/*
 	 * Find the first console with the highest priority.