diff --git a/commands/Kconfig b/commands/Kconfig
index 6a759ce..a62ed98 100644
--- a/commands/Kconfig
+++ b/commands/Kconfig
@@ -728,6 +728,15 @@
 	  Say yes here to get clk_set_rate, clk_set_parent and clk_dump
 	  commands to manipulate clocks on your system.
 
+config CMD_DETECT
+	tristate
+	prompt "detect"
+	help
+	  say yes here to get the 'detect' command. Some devices take longer
+	  time to probe, like slow disks or SD/MMC cards. These can defer the
+	  actual probe of the client devices until they are needed. Use the
+	  'detect' command on the physical device to trigger probing.
+
 menuconfig CMD_WD
 	bool
 	depends on WATCHDOG
diff --git a/commands/Makefile b/commands/Makefile
index 953ecc2..419d93b 100644
--- a/commands/Makefile
+++ b/commands/Makefile
@@ -90,3 +90,4 @@
 obj-$(CONFIG_CMD_FILETYPE)	+= filetype.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_CMD_BAREBOX_UPDATE)+= barebox-update.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_CMD_MIITOOL)	+= miitool.o
+obj-$(CONFIG_CMD_DETECT)	+= detect.o
diff --git a/commands/detect.c b/commands/detect.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0010a17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/commands/detect.c
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+/*
+ * detect.c - detect devices command
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2013 Sascha Hauer <s.hauer@pengutronix.de>, Pengutronix
+ *
+ * See file CREDITS for list of people who contributed to this
+ * project.
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ */
+#include <common.h>
+#include <command.h>
+#include <complete.h>
+#include <driver.h>
+#include <getopt.h>
+
+static int do_detect(int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+	struct device_d *dev;
+	int opt, i, ret;
+	int option_list = 0;
+	int option_error = 0;
+
+	while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, "el")) > 0) {
+		switch (opt) {
+		case 'l':
+			option_list = 1;
+			break;
+		case 'e':
+			option_error = 1;
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+
+	if (option_list) {
+		for_each_device(dev) {
+			if (dev->detect)
+				printf("%s\n", dev_name(dev));
+		}
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	if (argc == optind)
+		return COMMAND_ERROR_USAGE;
+
+	for (i = optind; i < argc; i++) {
+		dev = get_device_by_name(argv[i]);
+		if (!dev)
+			return -ENODEV;
+		ret = device_detect(dev);
+		if (ret && option_error)
+			return ret;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+BAREBOX_CMD_HELP_START(detect)
+BAREBOX_CMD_HELP_USAGE("detect [OPTIONS] [devices]\n")
+BAREBOX_CMD_HELP_OPT  ("-l",  "list detectable devices\n")
+BAREBOX_CMD_HELP_OPT  ("-e",  "bail out if one device fails to detect\n")
+BAREBOX_CMD_HELP_END
+
+BAREBOX_CMD_START(detect)
+	.cmd		= do_detect,
+	.usage		= "detect devices",
+	BAREBOX_CMD_COMPLETE(device_complete)
+	BAREBOX_CMD_HELP(cmd_detect_help)
+BAREBOX_CMD_END
diff --git a/drivers/base/driver.c b/drivers/base/driver.c
index c885630..810d001 100644
--- a/drivers/base/driver.c
+++ b/drivers/base/driver.c
@@ -93,6 +93,13 @@
 	return 0;
 }
 
+int device_detect(struct device_d *dev)
+{
+	if (!dev->detect)
+		return -ENOSYS;
+	return dev->detect(dev);
+}
+
 static int match(struct driver_d *drv, struct device_d *dev)
 {
 	int ret;
diff --git a/include/driver.h b/include/driver.h
index de195c5..da4f446 100644
--- a/include/driver.h
+++ b/include/driver.h
@@ -109,6 +109,11 @@
 	struct of_device_id *of_id_entry;
 
 	void    (*info) (struct device_d *);
+	/*
+	 * For devices which take longer to probe this is called
+	 * when the driver should actually detect client devices
+	 */
+	int     (*detect) (struct device_d *);
 };
 
 /** @brief Describes a driver present in the system */
@@ -152,6 +157,9 @@
  */
 int device_probe(struct device_d *dev);
 
+/* detect devices attached to this device (cards, disks,...) */
+int device_detect(struct device_d *dev);
+
 /* Unregister a device. This function can fail, e.g. when the device
  * has children.
  */