diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 866b3ab60168..dc6e42847086 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -41,8 +41,9 @@ TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(ubus ${ubox_library})
 
 find_library(json NAMES json-c json)
 
-ADD_EXECUTABLE(ubusd ubusd.c ubusd_id.c ubusd_obj.c ubusd_proto.c ubusd_event.c ubusd_acl.c ubusd_monitor.c)
-TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(ubusd ${ubox_library} ${blob_library} ${json})
+ADD_LIBRARY(ubusd_library STATIC ubusd.c ubusd_proto.c ubusd_id.c ubusd_obj.c ubusd_event.c ubusd_acl.c ubusd_monitor.c)
+ADD_EXECUTABLE(ubusd ubusd_main.c)
+TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(ubusd ubusd_library ${ubox_library} ${blob_library} ${json})
 
 ADD_EXECUTABLE(cli cli.c)
 SET_TARGET_PROPERTIES(cli PROPERTIES OUTPUT_NAME ubus)
diff --git a/libubus-internal.h b/libubus-internal.h
index c4067d343817..8cf99b3bc6b1 100644
--- a/libubus-internal.h
+++ b/libubus-internal.h
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ extern struct blob_buf b;
 extern const struct ubus_method watch_method;
 
 struct blob_attr **ubus_parse_msg(struct blob_attr *msg);
+bool ubus_validate_hdr(struct ubus_msghdr *hdr);
 void ubus_handle_data(struct uloop_fd *u, unsigned int events);
 int ubus_send_msg(struct ubus_context *ctx, uint32_t seq,
 		  struct blob_attr *msg, int cmd, uint32_t peer, int fd);
diff --git a/libubus-io.c b/libubus-io.c
index 120fb605e90a..81c1cd1309b1 100644
--- a/libubus-io.c
+++ b/libubus-io.c
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ static int recv_retry(struct ubus_context *ctx, struct iovec *iov, bool wait, in
 	return total;
 }
 
-static bool ubus_validate_hdr(struct ubus_msghdr *hdr)
+bool ubus_validate_hdr(struct ubus_msghdr *hdr)
 {
 	struct blob_attr *data = (struct blob_attr *) (hdr + 1);
 
diff --git a/ubusd.c b/ubusd.c
index c020ff416a32..0d43977c0bde 100644
--- a/ubusd.c
+++ b/ubusd.c
@@ -12,21 +12,9 @@
  */
 
 #include <sys/socket.h>
-#include <sys/stat.h>
-#include <sys/uio.h>
 #ifdef FreeBSD
 #include <sys/param.h>
 #endif
-#include <syslog.h>
-#include <signal.h>
-#include <stdio.h>
-#include <unistd.h>
-#include <fcntl.h>
-
-#include <libubox/blob.h>
-#include <libubox/uloop.h>
-#include <libubox/usock.h>
-#include <libubox/list.h>
 
 #include "ubusd.h"
 
@@ -92,7 +80,7 @@ void ubus_msg_free(struct ubus_msg_buf *ub)
 	}
 }
 
-static ssize_t ubus_msg_writev(int fd, struct ubus_msg_buf *ub, size_t offset)
+ssize_t ubus_msg_writev(int fd, struct ubus_msg_buf *ub, size_t offset)
 {
 	static struct iovec iov[2];
 	static struct {
@@ -177,258 +165,3 @@ void ubus_msg_send(struct ubus_client *cl, struct ubus_msg_buf *ub)
 	}
 	ubus_msg_enqueue(cl, ub);
 }
-
-static struct ubus_msg_buf *ubus_msg_head(struct ubus_client *cl)
-{
-	return cl->tx_queue[cl->txq_cur];
-}
-
-static void ubus_msg_dequeue(struct ubus_client *cl)
-{
-	struct ubus_msg_buf *ub = ubus_msg_head(cl);
-
-	if (!ub)
-		return;
-
-	ubus_msg_free(ub);
-	cl->txq_ofs = 0;
-	cl->tx_queue[cl->txq_cur] = NULL;
-	cl->txq_cur = (cl->txq_cur + 1) % ARRAY_SIZE(cl->tx_queue);
-}
-
-static void handle_client_disconnect(struct ubus_client *cl)
-{
-	while (ubus_msg_head(cl))
-		ubus_msg_dequeue(cl);
-
-	ubusd_monitor_disconnect(cl);
-	ubusd_proto_free_client(cl);
-	if (cl->pending_msg_fd >= 0)
-		close(cl->pending_msg_fd);
-	uloop_fd_delete(&cl->sock);
-	close(cl->sock.fd);
-	free(cl);
-}
-
-static void client_cb(struct uloop_fd *sock, unsigned int events)
-{
-	struct ubus_client *cl = container_of(sock, struct ubus_client, sock);
-	struct ubus_msg_buf *ub;
-	static struct iovec iov;
-	static struct {
-		int fd;
-		struct cmsghdr h;
-	} fd_buf = {
-		.h = {
-			.cmsg_type = SCM_RIGHTS,
-			.cmsg_level = SOL_SOCKET,
-			.cmsg_len = sizeof(fd_buf),
-		}
-	};
-	struct msghdr msghdr = {
-		.msg_iov = &iov,
-		.msg_iovlen = 1,
-	};
-
-	/* first try to tx more pending data */
-	while ((ub = ubus_msg_head(cl))) {
-		ssize_t written;
-
-		written = ubus_msg_writev(sock->fd, ub, cl->txq_ofs);
-		if (written < 0) {
-			switch(errno) {
-			case EINTR:
-			case EAGAIN:
-				break;
-			default:
-				goto disconnect;
-			}
-			break;
-		}
-
-		cl->txq_ofs += written;
-		if (cl->txq_ofs < ub->len + sizeof(ub->hdr))
-			break;
-
-		ubus_msg_dequeue(cl);
-	}
-
-	/* prevent further ULOOP_WRITE events if we don't have data
-	 * to send anymore */
-	if (!ubus_msg_head(cl) && (events & ULOOP_WRITE))
-		uloop_fd_add(sock, ULOOP_READ | ULOOP_EDGE_TRIGGER);
-
-retry:
-	if (!sock->eof && cl->pending_msg_offset < (int) sizeof(cl->hdrbuf)) {
-		int offset = cl->pending_msg_offset;
-		int bytes;
-
-		fd_buf.fd = -1;
-
-		iov.iov_base = ((char *) &cl->hdrbuf) + offset;
-		iov.iov_len = sizeof(cl->hdrbuf) - offset;
-
-		if (cl->pending_msg_fd < 0) {
-			msghdr.msg_control = &fd_buf;
-			msghdr.msg_controllen = sizeof(fd_buf);
-		} else {
-			msghdr.msg_control = NULL;
-			msghdr.msg_controllen = 0;
-		}
-
-		bytes = recvmsg(sock->fd, &msghdr, 0);
-		if (bytes < 0)
-			goto out;
-
-		if (fd_buf.fd >= 0)
-			cl->pending_msg_fd = fd_buf.fd;
-
-		cl->pending_msg_offset += bytes;
-		if (cl->pending_msg_offset < (int) sizeof(cl->hdrbuf))
-			goto out;
-
-		if (blob_pad_len(&cl->hdrbuf.data) > UBUS_MAX_MSGLEN)
-			goto disconnect;
-
-		cl->pending_msg = ubus_msg_new(NULL, blob_raw_len(&cl->hdrbuf.data), false);
-		if (!cl->pending_msg)
-			goto disconnect;
-
-		cl->hdrbuf.hdr.seq = be16_to_cpu(cl->hdrbuf.hdr.seq);
-		cl->hdrbuf.hdr.peer = be32_to_cpu(cl->hdrbuf.hdr.peer);
-
-		memcpy(&cl->pending_msg->hdr, &cl->hdrbuf.hdr, sizeof(cl->hdrbuf.hdr));
-		memcpy(cl->pending_msg->data, &cl->hdrbuf.data, sizeof(cl->hdrbuf.data));
-	}
-
-	ub = cl->pending_msg;
-	if (ub) {
-		int offset = cl->pending_msg_offset - sizeof(ub->hdr);
-		int len = blob_raw_len(ub->data) - offset;
-		int bytes = 0;
-
-		if (len > 0) {
-			bytes = read(sock->fd, (char *) ub->data + offset, len);
-			if (bytes <= 0)
-				goto out;
-		}
-
-		if (bytes < len) {
-			cl->pending_msg_offset += bytes;
-			goto out;
-		}
-
-		/* accept message */
-		ub->fd = cl->pending_msg_fd;
-		cl->pending_msg_fd = -1;
-		cl->pending_msg_offset = 0;
-		cl->pending_msg = NULL;
-		ubusd_monitor_message(cl, ub, false);
-		ubusd_proto_receive_message(cl, ub);
-		goto retry;
-	}
-
-out:
-	if (!sock->eof || ubus_msg_head(cl))
-		return;
-
-disconnect:
-	handle_client_disconnect(cl);
-}
-
-static bool get_next_connection(int fd)
-{
-	struct ubus_client *cl;
-	int client_fd;
-
-	client_fd = accept(fd, NULL, 0);
-	if (client_fd < 0) {
-		switch (errno) {
-		case ECONNABORTED:
-		case EINTR:
-			return true;
-		default:
-			return false;
-		}
-	}
-
-	cl = ubusd_proto_new_client(client_fd, client_cb);
-	if (cl)
-		uloop_fd_add(&cl->sock, ULOOP_READ | ULOOP_EDGE_TRIGGER);
-	else
-		close(client_fd);
-
-	return true;
-}
-
-static void server_cb(struct uloop_fd *fd, unsigned int events)
-{
-	bool next;
-
-	do {
-		next = get_next_connection(fd->fd);
-	} while (next);
-}
-
-static struct uloop_fd server_fd = {
-	.cb = server_cb,
-};
-
-static int usage(const char *progname)
-{
-	fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s [<options>]\n"
-		"Options: \n"
-		"  -A <path>:		Set the path to ACL files\n"
-		"  -s <socket>:		Set the unix domain socket to listen on\n"
-		"\n", progname);
-	return 1;
-}
-
-static void sighup_handler(int sig)
-{
-	ubusd_acl_load();
-}
-
-int main(int argc, char **argv)
-{
-	const char *ubus_socket = UBUS_UNIX_SOCKET;
-	int ret = 0;
-	int ch;
-
-	signal(SIGPIPE, SIG_IGN);
-	signal(SIGHUP, sighup_handler);
-
-	openlog("ubusd", LOG_PID, LOG_DAEMON);
-	uloop_init();
-
-	while ((ch = getopt(argc, argv, "A:s:")) != -1) {
-		switch (ch) {
-		case 's':
-			ubus_socket = optarg;
-			break;
-		case 'A':
-			ubusd_acl_dir = optarg;
-			break;
-		default:
-			return usage(argv[0]);
-		}
-	}
-
-	unlink(ubus_socket);
-	umask(0111);
-	server_fd.fd = usock(USOCK_UNIX | USOCK_SERVER | USOCK_NONBLOCK, ubus_socket, NULL);
-	if (server_fd.fd < 0) {
-		perror("usock");
-		ret = -1;
-		goto out;
-	}
-	uloop_fd_add(&server_fd, ULOOP_READ | ULOOP_EDGE_TRIGGER);
-	ubusd_acl_load();
-
-	uloop_run();
-	unlink(ubus_socket);
-
-out:
-	uloop_done();
-	return ret;
-}
diff --git a/ubusd.h b/ubusd.h
index 4d879201e2f5..867cde9a384b 100644
--- a/ubusd.h
+++ b/ubusd.h
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ extern const char *ubusd_acl_dir;
 
 struct ubus_msg_buf *ubus_msg_new(void *data, int len, bool shared);
 void ubus_msg_send(struct ubus_client *cl, struct ubus_msg_buf *ub);
+ssize_t ubus_msg_writev(int fd, struct ubus_msg_buf *ub, size_t offset);
 void ubus_msg_free(struct ubus_msg_buf *ub);
 struct blob_attr **ubus_parse_msg(struct blob_attr *msg);
 
diff --git a/ubusd_main.c b/ubusd_main.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..81868c1482bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ubusd_main.c
@@ -0,0 +1,271 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2011-2014 Felix Fietkau <nbd@openwrt.org>
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-only
+ */
+
+#include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#ifdef FreeBSD
+#include <sys/param.h>
+#endif
+#include <syslog.h>
+
+#include <libubox/usock.h>
+
+#include "ubusd.h"
+
+static struct ubus_msg_buf *ubus_msg_head(struct ubus_client *cl)
+{
+	return cl->tx_queue[cl->txq_cur];
+}
+
+static void ubus_msg_dequeue(struct ubus_client *cl)
+{
+	struct ubus_msg_buf *ub = ubus_msg_head(cl);
+
+	if (!ub)
+		return;
+
+	ubus_msg_free(ub);
+	cl->txq_ofs = 0;
+	cl->tx_queue[cl->txq_cur] = NULL;
+	cl->txq_cur = (cl->txq_cur + 1) % ARRAY_SIZE(cl->tx_queue);
+}
+
+static void handle_client_disconnect(struct ubus_client *cl)
+{
+	while (ubus_msg_head(cl))
+		ubus_msg_dequeue(cl);
+
+	ubusd_monitor_disconnect(cl);
+	ubusd_proto_free_client(cl);
+	if (cl->pending_msg_fd >= 0)
+		close(cl->pending_msg_fd);
+	uloop_fd_delete(&cl->sock);
+	close(cl->sock.fd);
+	free(cl);
+}
+
+static void client_cb(struct uloop_fd *sock, unsigned int events)
+{
+	struct ubus_client *cl = container_of(sock, struct ubus_client, sock);
+	struct ubus_msg_buf *ub;
+	static struct iovec iov;
+	static struct {
+		int fd;
+		struct cmsghdr h;
+	} fd_buf = {
+		.h = {
+			.cmsg_type = SCM_RIGHTS,
+			.cmsg_level = SOL_SOCKET,
+			.cmsg_len = sizeof(fd_buf),
+		}
+	};
+	struct msghdr msghdr = {
+		.msg_iov = &iov,
+		.msg_iovlen = 1,
+	};
+
+	/* first try to tx more pending data */
+	while ((ub = ubus_msg_head(cl))) {
+		ssize_t written;
+
+		written = ubus_msg_writev(sock->fd, ub, cl->txq_ofs);
+		if (written < 0) {
+			switch(errno) {
+			case EINTR:
+			case EAGAIN:
+				break;
+			default:
+				goto disconnect;
+			}
+			break;
+		}
+
+		cl->txq_ofs += written;
+		if (cl->txq_ofs < ub->len + sizeof(ub->hdr))
+			break;
+
+		ubus_msg_dequeue(cl);
+	}
+
+	/* prevent further ULOOP_WRITE events if we don't have data
+	 * to send anymore */
+	if (!ubus_msg_head(cl) && (events & ULOOP_WRITE))
+		uloop_fd_add(sock, ULOOP_READ | ULOOP_EDGE_TRIGGER);
+
+retry:
+	if (!sock->eof && cl->pending_msg_offset < (int) sizeof(cl->hdrbuf)) {
+		int offset = cl->pending_msg_offset;
+		int bytes;
+
+		fd_buf.fd = -1;
+
+		iov.iov_base = ((char *) &cl->hdrbuf) + offset;
+		iov.iov_len = sizeof(cl->hdrbuf) - offset;
+
+		if (cl->pending_msg_fd < 0) {
+			msghdr.msg_control = &fd_buf;
+			msghdr.msg_controllen = sizeof(fd_buf);
+		} else {
+			msghdr.msg_control = NULL;
+			msghdr.msg_controllen = 0;
+		}
+
+		bytes = recvmsg(sock->fd, &msghdr, 0);
+		if (bytes < 0)
+			goto out;
+
+		if (fd_buf.fd >= 0)
+			cl->pending_msg_fd = fd_buf.fd;
+
+		cl->pending_msg_offset += bytes;
+		if (cl->pending_msg_offset < (int) sizeof(cl->hdrbuf))
+			goto out;
+
+		if (blob_pad_len(&cl->hdrbuf.data) > UBUS_MAX_MSGLEN)
+			goto disconnect;
+
+		cl->pending_msg = ubus_msg_new(NULL, blob_raw_len(&cl->hdrbuf.data), false);
+		if (!cl->pending_msg)
+			goto disconnect;
+
+		cl->hdrbuf.hdr.seq = be16_to_cpu(cl->hdrbuf.hdr.seq);
+		cl->hdrbuf.hdr.peer = be32_to_cpu(cl->hdrbuf.hdr.peer);
+
+		memcpy(&cl->pending_msg->hdr, &cl->hdrbuf.hdr, sizeof(cl->hdrbuf.hdr));
+		memcpy(cl->pending_msg->data, &cl->hdrbuf.data, sizeof(cl->hdrbuf.data));
+	}
+
+	ub = cl->pending_msg;
+	if (ub) {
+		int offset = cl->pending_msg_offset - sizeof(ub->hdr);
+		int len = blob_raw_len(ub->data) - offset;
+		int bytes = 0;
+
+		if (len > 0) {
+			bytes = read(sock->fd, (char *) ub->data + offset, len);
+			if (bytes <= 0)
+				goto out;
+		}
+
+		if (bytes < len) {
+			cl->pending_msg_offset += bytes;
+			goto out;
+		}
+
+		/* accept message */
+		ub->fd = cl->pending_msg_fd;
+		cl->pending_msg_fd = -1;
+		cl->pending_msg_offset = 0;
+		cl->pending_msg = NULL;
+		ubusd_monitor_message(cl, ub, false);
+		ubusd_proto_receive_message(cl, ub);
+		goto retry;
+	}
+
+out:
+	if (!sock->eof || ubus_msg_head(cl))
+		return;
+
+disconnect:
+	handle_client_disconnect(cl);
+}
+
+static bool get_next_connection(int fd)
+{
+	struct ubus_client *cl;
+	int client_fd;
+
+	client_fd = accept(fd, NULL, 0);
+	if (client_fd < 0) {
+		switch (errno) {
+		case ECONNABORTED:
+		case EINTR:
+			return true;
+		default:
+			return false;
+		}
+	}
+
+	cl = ubusd_proto_new_client(client_fd, client_cb);
+	if (cl)
+		uloop_fd_add(&cl->sock, ULOOP_READ | ULOOP_EDGE_TRIGGER);
+	else
+		close(client_fd);
+
+	return true;
+}
+
+static void server_cb(struct uloop_fd *fd, unsigned int events)
+{
+	bool next;
+
+	do {
+		next = get_next_connection(fd->fd);
+	} while (next);
+}
+
+static struct uloop_fd server_fd = {
+	.cb = server_cb,
+};
+
+static int usage(const char *progname)
+{
+	fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s [<options>]\n"
+		"Options: \n"
+		"  -A <path>:		Set the path to ACL files\n"
+		"  -s <socket>:		Set the unix domain socket to listen on\n"
+		"\n", progname);
+	return 1;
+}
+
+static void sighup_handler(int sig)
+{
+	ubusd_acl_load();
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+	const char *ubus_socket = UBUS_UNIX_SOCKET;
+	int ret = 0;
+	int ch;
+
+	signal(SIGPIPE, SIG_IGN);
+	signal(SIGHUP, sighup_handler);
+
+	openlog("ubusd", LOG_PID, LOG_DAEMON);
+	uloop_init();
+
+	while ((ch = getopt(argc, argv, "A:s:")) != -1) {
+		switch (ch) {
+		case 's':
+			ubus_socket = optarg;
+			break;
+		case 'A':
+			ubusd_acl_dir = optarg;
+			break;
+		default:
+			return usage(argv[0]);
+		}
+	}
+
+	unlink(ubus_socket);
+	umask(0111);
+	server_fd.fd = usock(USOCK_UNIX | USOCK_SERVER | USOCK_NONBLOCK, ubus_socket, NULL);
+	if (server_fd.fd < 0) {
+		perror("usock");
+		ret = -1;
+		goto out;
+	}
+	uloop_fd_add(&server_fd, ULOOP_READ | ULOOP_EDGE_TRIGGER);
+	ubusd_acl_load();
+
+	uloop_run();
+	unlink(ubus_socket);
+
+out:
+	uloop_done();
+	return ret;
+}
