diff --git a/spec/app/atom-spec.coffee b/spec/app/atom-spec.coffee
index b4474c3fa..055533762 100644
--- a/spec/app/atom-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/app/atom-spec.coffee
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 RootView = require 'root-view'
+{$$} = require 'space-pen'
 
 describe "the `atom` global", ->
   describe ".loadPackage(name)", ->
@@ -17,6 +18,33 @@ describe "the `atom` global", ->
       atom.loadPackage("package-with-module")
       expect(rootView.activatePackage).toHaveBeenCalledWith(extension)
 
+    describe "keymap loading", ->
+      describe "when package.json does not contain a 'keymaps' manifest", ->
+        it "loads all keymaps in the directory", ->
+          element1 = $$ -> @div class: 'test-1'
+          element2 = $$ -> @div class: 'test-2'
+
+          expect(keymap.bindingsForElement(element1)['ctrl-z']).toBeUndefined()
+          expect(keymap.bindingsForElement(element2)['ctrl-z']).toBeUndefined()
+
+          atom.loadPackage("package-with-module")
+
+          expect(keymap.bindingsForElement(element1)['ctrl-z']).toBe "test-1"
+          expect(keymap.bindingsForElement(element2)['ctrl-z']).toBe "test-2"
+
+      describe "when package.json contains a 'keymaps' manifest", ->
+        it "loads only the keymaps specified by the manifest, in the specified order", ->
+          element1 = $$ -> @div class: 'test-1'
+          element3 = $$ -> @div class: 'test-3'
+
+          expect(keymap.bindingsForElement(element1)['ctrl-z']).toBeUndefined()
+
+          atom.loadPackage("package-with-keymaps-manifest")
+
+          expect(keymap.bindingsForElement(element1)['ctrl-z']).toBe 'keymap-1'
+          expect(keymap.bindingsForElement(element1)['ctrl-n']).toBe 'keymap-2'
+          expect(keymap.bindingsForElement(element3)['ctrl-y']).toBeUndefined()
+
     it "loads stylesheets associated with the package", ->
       stylesheetPath = require.resolve("fixtures/packages/package-with-module/stylesheets/styles.css")
       expect(stylesheetElementForId(stylesheetPath).length).toBe 0
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-keymaps-manifest/keymaps/keymap-1.json b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-keymaps-manifest/keymaps/keymap-1.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..050770117
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-keymaps-manifest/keymaps/keymap-1.json
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+  ".test-1": {
+    "ctrl-z": "keymap-1"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-keymaps-manifest/keymaps/keymap-2.cson b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-keymaps-manifest/keymaps/keymap-2.cson
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..43912b006
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-keymaps-manifest/keymaps/keymap-2.cson
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+".test-1":
+  "ctrl-z": "keymap-2"
+  "ctrl-n": "keymap-2"
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-keymaps-manifest/keymaps/keymap-3.cson b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-keymaps-manifest/keymaps/keymap-3.cson
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7a839b940
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-keymaps-manifest/keymaps/keymap-3.cson
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+".test-3":
+  "ctrl-y": "keymap-3"
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-keymaps-manifest/package.cson b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-keymaps-manifest/package.cson
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e7bdccfa7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-keymaps-manifest/package.cson
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+keymaps: ["keymap-2", "keymap-1"]
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-module/keymaps/keymap-1.cson b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-module/keymaps/keymap-1.cson
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8954c80f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-module/keymaps/keymap-1.cson
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+".test-1":
+  "ctrl-z": "test-1"
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-module/keymaps/keymap-2.cson b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-module/keymaps/keymap-2.cson
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a0ffb4109
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/packages/package-with-module/keymaps/keymap-2.cson
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+".test-2":
+  "ctrl-z": "test-2"
diff --git a/spec/spec-helper.coffee b/spec/spec-helper.coffee
index c31695dfe..c7dc053ca 100644
--- a/spec/spec-helper.coffee
+++ b/spec/spec-helper.coffee
@@ -12,10 +12,9 @@ Editor = require 'editor'
 TokenizedBuffer = require 'tokenized-buffer'
 fs = require 'fs'
 require 'window'
-
 requireStylesheet "jasmine.css"
-
 require.paths.unshift(require.resolve('fixtures/packages'))
+[bindingSetsToRestore, bindingSetsByFirstKeystrokeToRestore] = []
 
 # Load TextMate bundles, which specs rely on (but not other packages)
 atom.loadPackages(atom.getAvailableTextMateBundles())
@@ -24,7 +23,11 @@ beforeEach ->
   window.fixturesProject = new Project(require.resolve('fixtures'))
   window.resetTimeouts()
 
-  # reset config after each spec; don't load or save from/to `config.json`
+  # used to reset keymap after each spec
+  bindingSetsToRestore = _.clone(keymap.bindingSets)
+  bindingSetsByFirstKeystrokeToRestore = _.clone(keymap.bindingSetsByFirstKeystroke)
+
+  # reset config before each spec; don't load or save from/to `config.json`
   window.config = new Config()
   spyOn(config, 'load')
   spyOn(config, 'save')
@@ -42,6 +45,8 @@ beforeEach ->
   spyOn(TokenizedBuffer.prototype, "tokenizeInBackground").andCallFake -> @tokenizeNextChunk()
 
 afterEach ->
+  keymap.bindingSets = bindingSetsToRestore
+  keymap.bindingSetsByFirstKeystrokeToRestore = bindingSetsByFirstKeystrokeToRestore
   delete window.rootView if window.rootView
   $('#jasmine-content').empty()
   window.fixturesProject.destroy()
diff --git a/src/app/atom-package.coffee b/src/app/atom-package.coffee
index 9c3dd071d..16ab72d15 100644
--- a/src/app/atom-package.coffee
+++ b/src/app/atom-package.coffee
@@ -3,29 +3,42 @@ fs = require 'fs'
 
 module.exports =
 class AtomPackage extends Package
+  metadata: null
+  keymapsDirPath: null
+
   constructor: (@name) ->
     super
-    @module = require(@path)
-    @module.name = @name
+    @keymapsDirPath = fs.join(@path, 'keymaps')
+    if @requireModule
+      @module = require(@path)
+      @module.name = @name
 
   load: ->
     try
+      @loadMetadata()
       @loadKeymaps()
       @loadStylesheets()
-      rootView.activatePackage(@module)
+      rootView.activatePackage(@module) if @module
     catch e
       console.error "Failed to load package named '#{@name}'", e.stack
 
+  loadMetadata: ->
+    if metadataPath = fs.resolveExtension(fs.join(@path, "package"), ['cson', 'json'])
+      @metadata = fs.readObject(metadataPath)
+
   loadKeymaps: ->
     for keymapPath in @getKeymapPaths()
       keymap.load(keymapPath)
 
   getKeymapPaths: ->
-    keymapsDirPath = fs.join(@path, 'keymaps')
-    if fs.exists keymapsDirPath
-      fs.list keymapsDirPath
+    if keymaps = @metadata?.keymaps
+      keymaps.map (relativePath) =>
+        fs.resolve(@keymapsDirPath, relativePath, ['cson', 'json', ''])
     else
-      []
+      if fs.exists(@keymapsDirPath)
+        fs.list(@keymapsDirPath)
+      else
+        []
 
   loadStylesheets: ->
     for stylesheetPath in @getStylesheetPaths()
diff --git a/src/app/package.coffee b/src/app/package.coffee
index 47e99039b..49d6445ac 100644
--- a/src/app/package.coffee
+++ b/src/app/package.coffee
@@ -11,10 +11,21 @@ class Package
     else
       new AtomPackage(name).load()
 
+
+  name: null
+  path: null
+  requireModule: null
+  module: null
+
   constructor: (@name) ->
     @path = require.resolve(@name, verifyExistence: false)
     throw new Error("No package found named '#{@name}'") unless @path
-    @path = fs.directory(@path) unless fs.isDirectory(@path)
+
+    if fs.isDirectory(@path)
+      @requireModule = false
+    else
+      @requireModule = true
+      @path = fs.directory(@path)
 
   load: ->
     for grammar in @getGrammars()
diff --git a/src/stdlib/fs.coffee b/src/stdlib/fs.coffee
index e3b87eb07..4d2bd1760 100644
--- a/src/stdlib/fs.coffee
+++ b/src/stdlib/fs.coffee
@@ -124,11 +124,27 @@ module.exports =
   md5ForPath: (path) ->
     $native.md5ForPath(path)
 
-  resolve: (paths...) ->
-    to = paths.pop()
-    for from in paths
-      path = @join(from, to)
-      return path if @exists(path)
+  resolve: (args...) ->
+    extensions = args.pop() if _.isArray(_.last(args))
+    pathToResolve = args.pop()
+    loadPaths = args
+
+    for loadPath in loadPaths
+      candidatePath = @join(loadPath, pathToResolve)
+      if extensions
+        if resolvedPath = @resolveExtension(candidatePath, extensions)
+          return resolvedPath
+      else
+        return candidatePath if @exists(candidatePath)
+    undefined
+
+  resolveExtension: (path, extensions) ->
+    for extension in extensions
+      if extension == ""
+        return path if @exists(path)
+      else
+        pathWithExtension = path + "." + extension
+        return pathWithExtension if @exists(pathWithExtension)
     undefined
 
   isCompressedExtension: (ext) ->