diff --git a/base_manifest_extension/README.rst b/base_manifest_extension/README.rst
new file mode 100644
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/base_manifest_extension/README.rst
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+.. image:: https://img.shields.io/badge/licence-AGPL--3-blue.svg
+    :target: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0-standalone.html
+    :alt: License: AGPL-3
+
+=========================
+Extra options in manifest
+=========================
+
+This is a technical module to allow developers to make use of a couple of new keys in module manifests.
+
+The following new keys are available currently:
+
+depends_if_installed
+    Your module will depend on modules listed here, but only if those modules are already installed. This is useful if your module is supposed to override behavior of a third module if present, but it's not a hard dependency of your module. Think of auth_* and their interactions.
+
+Usage
+=====
+
+* depend on this module and use the keys described above
+
+Roadmap
+=======
+
+* ``breaks`` to mark some modules as being incompatible. This also could be versioned (``'breaks': ['my_module<<0.4.2']``)
+* ``demo_if_installed``, ``data_if_installed``, ``qweb_if_installed`` being dicts with module names as keys and a list of files as values in order to pull some data files in case some other module is installed
+* ``rdepends_if_installed`` to make another installed module depend on the current module
+* ``_if_module`` on models to load certain models only if the appropriate module is installed
+
+Bug Tracker
+===========
+
+Bugs are tracked on `GitHub Issues
+<https://github.com/OCA/server-tools/issues>`_. In case of trouble, please
+check there if your issue has already been reported. If you spotted it first,
+help us smashing it by providing a detailed and welcomed feedback.
+
+Credits
+=======
+
+Images
+------
+
+* Odoo Community Association: `Icon <https://github.com/OCA/maintainer-tools/blob/master/template/module/static/description/icon.svg>`_.
+
+Contributors
+------------
+
+* Holger Brunn <hbrunn@therp.nl>
+
+Do not contact contributors directly about help with questions or problems concerning this addon, but use the `community mailing list <mailto:community@mail.odoo.com>`_ or the `appropriate specialized mailinglist <https://odoo-community.org/groups>`_ for help, and the bug tracker linked in `Bug Tracker`_ above for technical issues.
+
+Maintainer
+----------
+
+.. image:: https://odoo-community.org/logo.png
+   :alt: Odoo Community Association
+   :target: https://odoo-community.org
+
+This module is maintained by the OCA.
+
+OCA, or the Odoo Community Association, is a nonprofit organization whose
+mission is to support the collaborative development of Odoo features and
+promote its widespread use.
+
+To contribute to this module, please visit https://odoo-community.org.
diff --git a/base_manifest_extension/__init__.py b/base_manifest_extension/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..85185497d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/base_manifest_extension/__init__.py
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+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# © 2017 Therp BV <http://therp.nl>
+# License AGPL-3.0 or later (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html).
+from .hooks import post_load_hook
diff --git a/base_manifest_extension/__openerp__.py b/base_manifest_extension/__openerp__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8f89a484f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/base_manifest_extension/__openerp__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# © 2017 Therp BV <http://therp.nl>
+# License AGPL-3.0 or later (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html).
+{
+    "name": "More options in manifest",
+    "version": "8.0.1.0.0",
+    "author": "Therp BV,Odoo Community Association (OCA)",
+    "license": "AGPL-3",
+    "category": "Hidden/Dependency",
+    "summary": "Adds some useful keys to manifest files",
+    "depends": [
+        'base',
+    ],
+    "post_load": 'post_load_hook',
+}
diff --git a/base_manifest_extension/hooks.py b/base_manifest_extension/hooks.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fd6f857e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/base_manifest_extension/hooks.py
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+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# © 2017 Therp BV <http://therp.nl>
+# License AGPL-3.0 or later (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html).
+import inspect
+from openerp.sql_db import Cursor
+from openerp.modules import module
+from openerp.modules.graph import Graph
+original = module.load_information_from_description_file
+
+
+def load_information_from_description_file(module, mod_path=None):
+    result = original(module, mod_path=mod_path)
+    # add the keys you want to react on here
+    if result.get('depends_if_installed'):
+        cr = _get_cr()
+        if cr:
+            _handle_depends_if_installed(cr, result)
+
+    return result
+
+
+def _handle_depends_if_installed(cr, manifest):
+    if not manifest.get('depends_if_installed'):
+        return
+    cr.execute(
+        'select name from ir_module_module '
+        'where state in %s and name in %s',
+        (
+            tuple(['installed', 'to install', 'to upgrade']),
+            tuple(manifest['depends_if_installed']),
+        ),
+    )
+    manifest.pop('depends_if_installed')
+    depends = manifest.setdefault('depends', [])
+    depends.extend(module for module, in cr.fetchall())
+
+
+def _get_cr():
+    cr = None
+    for frame, filename, lineno, funcname, line, index in inspect.stack():
+        # walk up the stack until we've found a cursor
+        if 'cr' in frame.f_locals and isinstance(frame.f_locals['cr'], Cursor):
+            cr = frame.f_locals['cr']
+            break
+    return cr
+
+
+def _get_graph():
+    graph = None
+    for frame, filename, lineno, funcname, line, index in inspect.stack():
+        # walk up the stack until we've found a graph
+        if 'graph' in frame.f_locals and isinstance(
+            frame.f_locals['graph'], Graph
+        ):
+            graph = frame.f_locals['graph']
+            break
+    return graph
+
+
+def post_load_hook():
+    cr = _get_cr()
+    if not cr:
+        return
+    cr.execute(
+        'select id from ir_module_module where name=%s and state in %s',
+        (
+            'base_manifest_extension',
+            tuple(['installed', 'to install', 'to upgrade']),
+        ),
+    )
+    # do nothing if we're not installed
+    if not cr.rowcount:
+        return
+
+    module.load_information_from_description_file =\
+        load_information_from_description_file
+
+    # here stuff can become tricky: On the python level, modules
+    # are not loaded in dependency order. This means that there might
+    # be modules loaded depending on us before we could patch the function
+    # above. So we reload the module graph for all modules coming after us
+
+    graph = _get_graph()
+    if not graph:
+        return
+
+    this = graph['base_manifest_extension']
+    to_reload = []
+    for node in graph.itervalues():
+        if node.depth > this.depth:
+            to_reload.append(node.name)
+    for module_name in to_reload:
+        del graph[module_name]
+    graph.add_modules(cr, to_reload)
diff --git a/base_manifest_extension/static/description/icon.png b/base_manifest_extension/static/description/icon.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3a0328b51
Binary files /dev/null and b/base_manifest_extension/static/description/icon.png differ
diff --git a/base_manifest_extension/tests/__init__.py b/base_manifest_extension/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..535989849
--- /dev/null
+++ b/base_manifest_extension/tests/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# © 2017 Therp BV <http://therp.nl>
+# License AGPL-3.0 or later (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html).
+from . import test_base_manifest_extension
diff --git a/base_manifest_extension/tests/test_base_manifest_extension.py b/base_manifest_extension/tests/test_base_manifest_extension.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..959839b90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/base_manifest_extension/tests/test_base_manifest_extension.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# © 2017 Therp BV <http://therp.nl>
+# License AGPL-3.0 or later (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html).
+import os
+import tempfile
+from openerp.tests.common import TransactionCase
+from openerp.modules.module import load_information_from_description_file,\
+    get_module_path, MANIFEST
+
+
+class TestBaseManifestExtension(TransactionCase):
+    def test_base_manifest_extension(self):
+        # write a test manifest
+        module_path = tempfile.mkdtemp(dir=os.path.join(
+            get_module_path('base_manifest_extension'), 'static'
+        ))
+        with open(os.path.join(module_path, MANIFEST), 'w') as manifest:
+            manifest.write(repr({
+                'depends_if_installed': [
+                    'base_manifest_extension',
+                    'not installed',
+                ],
+            }))
+        # parse it
+        parsed = load_information_from_description_file(
+            # this name won't really be used, but avoids a warning
+            'base', mod_path=module_path,
+        )
+        self.assertIn('base_manifest_extension', parsed['depends'])
+        self.assertNotIn('not installed', parsed['depends'])
+        self.assertNotIn('depends_if_installed', parsed)