diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ccfaac58ef..cd22bf0aab 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ destdir/
 srcdistdir/
 builddir/
 utils/
+packages/
diff --git a/binpkg/BINPKG_INFO.txt b/binpkg/BINPKG_INFO.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3a0d30497f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/binpkg/BINPKG_INFO.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+A binary package built with xbps is a normal tar(1) archive, compressed
+with gzip, bzip2 or lzma and has the following structure:
+
+	/
+	/usr ------|
+	/var ------| => Package structure that will be installed.
+	/etc ------|
+	...
+	/xbps-metadata
+	/xbps-metadata/flist
+	/xbps-metadata/props.plist
+	/xbps-metadata/postpre-action.sh
+
+The xbps-metadata directory contains all the metadata related to this
+package. The flist file contains the list of files that the package will
+install. The props.plist file is a proplib(3) property list and
+has the following structure:
+
+<dict>
+	<key>architecture</key>
+	<string>x86_64</string>
+	<key>installed_size</key>
+	<integer>500000</integer>
+	<key>configuration_files</key>
+	<array>
+		<string>/etc/foo.conf</string>
+		...
+	</array>
+	<key>run_depends</key>
+	<array>
+		<string>bofh-2.0</string>
+		<string>foof-1.1</string>
+		...
+	</array>
+</dict>
+
+This plist might be extended in the future if it's required or useful.
+
+The postpre-action.sh script will be run as specified in the script,
+and will do post/pre installation steps required for this package.
diff --git a/binpkg/create.sh b/binpkg/create.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..331b51bcd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/binpkg/create.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# Builds a binary package from an installed xbps package in the
+# destination directory. This binary package is just a simple tar(1)
+# archive with gzip, bzip2 or lzma compression (all compression
+# modes that libarchive supports).
+#
+# Passed argument: pkgname.
+
+write_metadata()
+{
+	local destdir=$XBPS_DESTDIR/$pkgname-$version
+
+	if [ ! -d "$destdir" ]; then
+		echo "ERROR: $pkgname not installed into destdir."
+		exit 1
+	fi
+
+	echo -n "=> Writing package metadata ... "
+
+	# Write the files list.
+	local TMPFLIST=$(mktemp -t flist.XXXXXXXXXX) || exit 1
+	find $destdir | sort -ur | \
+		sed -e "s|$destdir||g;s|^\/$||g;/^$/d" > $TMPFLIST
+
+	# Write the property list file.
+	local TMPFPROPS=$(mktemp -t fprops.XXXXXXXXXX) || exit 1
+
+	cat > $TMPFPROPS <<_EOF
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
+<plist version="1.0">
+<dict>
+	<key>architecture</key>
+	<string>$(uname -m)</string>
+	<key>installed_size</key>
+	<integer>$(du -sb $destdir|awk '{print $1}')</integer>
+_EOF
+	# Dependencies
+	if [ -n "$run_depends" ]; then
+		printf "\t<key>run_depends</key>\n" >> $TMPFPROPS
+		printf "\t<array>\n" >> $TMPFPROPS
+		for f in ${run_depends}; do
+			printf "\t\t<string>$f</string>\n" >> $TMPFPROPS
+		done
+		printf "\t</array>\n" >> $TMPFPROPS
+	fi
+
+	# Configuration files
+	if [ -n "$config_files" ]; then
+		printf "\t<key>config_files</key>\n" >> $TMPFPROPS
+		printf "\t<array>\n" >> $TMPFPROPS
+		for f in ${config_files}; do
+			printf "\t\t<string>$f</string>\n" >> $TMPFPROPS
+		done
+		printf "\t</array>\n" >> $TMPFPROPS
+	fi
+
+	# Terminate the property list file.
+	printf "</dict>\n</plist>\n" >> $TMPFPROPS
+
+	# Write metadata files into destdir and cleanup.
+	if [ ! -d $destdir/xbps-metadata ]; then
+		mkdir -p $destdir/xbps-metadata
+	fi
+
+	cp -f $TMPFLIST $destdir/xbps-metadata/flist
+	cp -f $TMPFPROPS $destdir/xbps-metadata/props.plist
+	chmod 644 $destdir/xbps-metadata/*
+	rm -f $TMPFLIST $TMPFPROPS
+
+	echo "done."
+}
+
+make_archive()
+{
+	local destdir=$XBPS_DESTDIR/$pkgname-$version
+	local pkgsdir=$XBPS_DISTRIBUTIONDIR/packages
+
+	cd $destdir || exit 1
+
+	echo -n "=> Building package ... "
+	tar cfjp $XBPS_DESTDIR/$pkgname-$version-xbps.tbz2 .
+	[ $? -eq 0 ] && echo "done."
+
+	[ ! -d $pkgsdir ] && mkdir -p $pkgsdir
+	mv -f $XBPS_DESTDIR/$pkgname-$version-xbps.tbz2 $pkgsdir
+
+	echo "=> Built package: ${destdir}-xbps.tbz2"
+}
+
+pkg=$1
+if [ -z "$pkg" ]; then
+	echo "ERROR: missing package name as argument."
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$XBPS_DISTRIBUTIONDIR" ]; then
+	echo "ERROR: XBPS_DISTRIBUTIONDIR not set."
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$XBPS_DESTDIR" ]; then
+	echo "ERROR: XBPS_DESTDIR not set."
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ ! -f $XBPS_DISTRIBUTIONDIR/templates/$pkg.tmpl ]; then
+	echo "ERROR: missing package template file."
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+. $XBPS_DISTRIBUTIONDIR/templates/$pkg.tmpl
+
+write_metadata
+make_archive
+
+return 0
diff --git a/xbps.sh b/xbps.sh
index 15fa5c127a..91a25fb2b6 100755
--- a/xbps.sh
+++ b/xbps.sh
@@ -1271,7 +1271,7 @@ list_pkg_files()
 		msg_error "cannot find $pkg in $XBPS_DESTDIR."
 	fi
 
-	cat $XBPS_DESTDIR/$pkg-$ver/.xbps-filelist|sort -u
+	cat $XBPS_DESTDIR/$pkg-$ver/xbps-metadata/flist
 }
 
 #
@@ -1319,7 +1319,6 @@ stow_pkg()
 {
 	local pkg="$1"
 	local i=
-	local flist="$XBPS_BUILDDIR/.xbps-filelist-$pkgname-$version"
 
 	[ -z "$pkg" ] && return 2
 
@@ -1335,11 +1334,14 @@ stow_pkg()
 		[ "$build_style" = "meta-template" ] && return 0
 	fi
 
+	# Copy files into masterdir.
 	cd $XBPS_DESTDIR/$pkgname-$version || exit 1
-	find . > $flist
-	sed -i -e "s|^.$||g;s|^./||g;s|.xbps-filelist||g;/^$/d" $flist
 	cp -ar . $XBPS_MASTERDIR
-	mv -f $flist $XBPS_DESTDIR/$pkgname-$version/.xbps-filelist
+
+	# Build a binary package.
+	env XBPS_DESTDIR=$XBPS_DESTDIR			\
+	    XBPS_DISTRIBUTIONDIR=$XBPS_DISTRIBUTIONDIR	\
+	    $XBPS_DISTRIBUTIONDIR/binpkg/create.sh $pkgname
 
 	$XBPS_PKGDB_CMD register $pkgname $version "$short_desc"
 	[ $? -ne 0 ] && exit 1
@@ -1382,14 +1384,14 @@ unstow_pkg()
 	#
 	[ "$build_style" = "meta-template" ] && return 0
 
-	cd $XBPS_DESTDIR/$pkgname-$ver || exit 1
-	if [ ! -f .xbps-filelist ]; then
-		msg_error "$pkg is incomplete, missing .xbps-filelist file."
-	elif [ ! -O .xbps-filelist ]; then
+	cd $XBPS_DESTDIR/$pkgname-$ver/xbps-metadata || exit 1
+	if [ ! -f flist ]; then
+		msg_error "$pkg is incomplete, missing flist."
+	elif [ ! -O flist ]; then
 		msg_error "$pkg cannot be removed (permission denied)."
 	fi
 
-	for f in $(cat .xbps-filelist|sort -ur); do
+	for f in $(cat flist); do
 		if [ -f $XBPS_MASTERDIR/$f -o -h $XBPS_MASTERDIR/$f ]; then
 			rm $XBPS_MASTERDIR/$f  >/dev/null 2>&1
 			if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
@@ -1398,7 +1400,7 @@ unstow_pkg()
 		fi
 	done
 
-	for f in $(cat .xbps-filelist|sort -ur); do
+	for f in $(cat flist); do
 		if [ -d $XBPS_MASTERDIR/$f ]; then
 			rmdir $XBPS_MASTERDIR/$f >/dev/null 2>&1
 			if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then