--- a/modutils/insmod.c
+++ b/modutils/insmod.c
@@ -9,6 +9,99 @@
 
 #include "libbb.h"
 #include "modutils.h"
+#include <sys/utsname.h>
+#ifndef CONFIG_FEATURE_2_4_MODULES
+#include <sys/mman.h>
+#include <asm/unistd.h>
+#include <sys/syscall.h>
+#endif
+
+static char *g_filename = NULL;
+
+static int FAST_FUNC check_module_name_match(const char *filename, struct stat *statbuf,
+				   void *userdata, int depth)
+{
+	char *fullname = (char *) userdata;
+	char *tmp;
+
+	if (fullname[0] == '\0')
+		return FALSE;
+
+	tmp = bb_get_last_path_component_nostrip(filename);
+	if (strcmp(tmp, fullname) == 0) {
+		/* Stop searching if we find a match */
+		g_filename = xstrdup(filename);
+		return FALSE;
+	}
+
+	return TRUE;
+}
+
+static int find_module(char *filename)
+{
+	char *module_dir, real_module_dir[FILENAME_MAX];
+	int len, slen, ret = ENOENT, k_version;
+	struct utsname myuname;
+	const char *suffix;
+	struct stat st;
+
+	/* check the kernel version */
+	if ((uname(&myuname) != 0) || (myuname.release[0] != '2'))
+		return EINVAL;
+
+	k_version = myuname.release[2] - '0';
+#if ENABLE_FEATURE_2_4_MODULES
+	if (k_version <= 4)
+		suffix = ".o";
+	else
+#endif
+		suffix = ".ko";
+
+	len = strlen(filename);
+	slen = strlen(suffix);
+
+	/* check for suffix and absolute path first */
+	if ((len < slen + 2) || (strcmp(filename + len - slen, suffix) != 0)) {
+		filename = xasprintf("%s%s", filename, suffix);
+	} else {
+		filename = strdup(filename);
+		if ((stat(filename, &st) == 0) && S_ISREG(st.st_mode)) {
+			g_filename = filename;
+			return 0;
+		}
+		free(filename);
+		return ENOENT;
+	}
+
+	/* next: scan /lib/modules/<release> */
+	/* Jump through hoops in case /lib/modules/`uname -r`
+	* is a symlink.  We do not want recursive_action to
+	* follow symlinks, but we do want to follow the
+	* /lib/modules/`uname -r` dir, So resolve it ourselves
+	* if it is a link... */
+	module_dir = concat_path_file(CONFIG_DEFAULT_MODULES_DIR, myuname.release);
+	if (realpath(module_dir, real_module_dir) != NULL) {
+		free(module_dir);
+		module_dir = real_module_dir;
+	}
+
+	recursive_action(module_dir, ACTION_RECURSE,
+		check_module_name_match, 0, filename, 0);
+
+	/* Check if we have a complete path */
+	if (g_filename == NULL)
+		goto done;
+
+	if ((stat(g_filename, &st) == 0) && S_ISREG(st.st_mode))
+		ret = 0;
+	else
+		free(g_filename);
+
+done:
+	free(filename);
+
+	return ret;
+}
 
 int insmod_main(int argc, char **argv) MAIN_EXTERNALLY_VISIBLE;
 int insmod_main(int argc UNUSED_PARAM, char **argv)
@@ -33,9 +126,15 @@ int insmod_main(int argc UNUSED_PARAM, c
 	if (!filename)
 		bb_show_usage();
 
-	rc = bb_init_module(filename, parse_cmdline_module_options(argv));
+	rc = find_module(filename);
+	if (rc || (g_filename == NULL))
+			goto done;
+
+	rc = bb_init_module(g_filename, parse_cmdline_module_options(argv));
 	if (rc)
 		bb_error_msg("can't insert '%s': %s", filename, moderror(rc));
+	free (g_filename);
 
+done:
 	return rc;
 }
--- a/modutils/Config.in
+++ b/modutils/Config.in
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ config FEATURE_MODUTILS_SYMBOLS
 config DEFAULT_MODULES_DIR
 	string "Default directory containing modules"
 	default "/lib/modules"
-	depends on DEPMOD || MODPROBE || MODPROBE_SMALL
+	depends on DEPMOD || INSMOD || MODPROBE || MODPROBE_SMALL
 	help
 	  Directory that contains kernel modules.
 	  Defaults to "/lib/modules"