diff --git a/lib/autobuild.rb b/lib/autobuild.rb
index 4aab3afb..97c2d23a 100644
--- a/lib/autobuild.rb
+++ b/lib/autobuild.rb
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ module Autobuild
 require 'autobuild/import/svn'
 require 'autobuild/import/archive'
 require 'autobuild/import/tar'
+require 'autobuild/import/subpackage'
 
 require 'autobuild/package'
 require 'autobuild/configurable'
diff --git a/lib/autobuild/import/subpackage.rb b/lib/autobuild/import/subpackage.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..26da7b87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/autobuild/import/subpackage.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+module Autobuild
+    class Subpackage < Importer
+        def initialize(source, options = {})
+            @source = source
+
+            parent_name = options[:parent]
+            unless parent_name
+              raise PackageException,
+                    "Subpackage must provide a parent package."
+            end
+
+            @parent = Autoproj.workspace.manifest.package_definition_by_name(parent_name)
+            unless @parent
+              raise PackageException,
+                    "Parent package #{parent_name} does not exist."
+            end
+
+            super(options.merge(repository_id: source))
+        end
+
+        # Does nothing, parent will do update
+        def update(_package, _options = Hash.new)
+            false
+        end
+
+        # Does nothing, parent will be checked out
+        def checkout(package, _options = Hash.new)
+            package.depends_on(@parent.autobuild)
+        end
+
+        # Does nothing, parent will do snapshot
+        def snapshot(*)
+            true
+        end
+    end
+
+    def self.subpackage(source, options = {})
+        Subpackage.new(source, options)
+    end
+end