diff --git a/bumblebee/engine.py b/bumblebee/engine.py
index 6c74f6a..fa54899 100644
--- a/bumblebee/engine.py
+++ b/bumblebee/engine.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ def all_modules():
             "name": mod
         })
     return result
-
+  
 class Module(object):
     """Module instance base class
 
@@ -231,14 +231,25 @@ class Engine(object):
                     button=button["id"], cmd=module.parameter(button["name"]))
 
     def _read_aliases(self):
+        """Retruns a dictionary that maps every alias to its real module name"""
         result = {}
-        for module in all_modules():
+        m_path = os.path.abspath(bumblebee.modules.__file__)
+        m_path = os.path.dirname(m_path)
+        ALIASES_PATH = m_path + "/aliases/"
+        for name in os.listdir(ALIASES_PATH):
             try:
-                mod = importlib.import_module("bumblebee.modules.{}".format(module["name"]))
-                for alias in getattr(mod, "ALIASES", []):
-                    result[alias] = module["name"]
+                # listdir does not retur full paths
+                f_path = ALIASES_PATH + name
+                # skip any directory
+                if not os.path.isfile(f_path): continue
+                with open(f_path) as f:
+                    for alias in f.readlines():
+                        alias = alias.strip()
+                        # skip empty lines
+                        if len(alias) == 0: continue
+                        result[alias] = name 
             except Exception as error:
-                log.warning("failed to import {}: {}".format(module["name"], str(error)))
+                log.warning("failed to load aliases of {}: {}".format(name, str(error)))
         return result
 
     def _load_module(self, module_name, config_name=None):
diff --git a/bumblebee/modules/aliases/datetime b/bumblebee/modules/aliases/datetime
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8e43d6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bumblebee/modules/aliases/datetime
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+date
+time
diff --git a/bumblebee/modules/aliases/datetimetz b/bumblebee/modules/aliases/datetimetz
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..08f6d17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bumblebee/modules/aliases/datetimetz
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+datetz
+timetz
diff --git a/bumblebee/modules/aliases/pulseaudio b/bumblebee/modules/aliases/pulseaudio
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9bcee50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bumblebee/modules/aliases/pulseaudio
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+pasink
+pasource
diff --git a/bumblebee/modules/aliases/test b/bumblebee/modules/aliases/test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dc52a4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bumblebee/modules/aliases/test
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+test-alias
diff --git a/bumblebee/modules/datetime.py b/bumblebee/modules/datetime.py
index e9afeb2..8899c4a 100644
--- a/bumblebee/modules/datetime.py
+++ b/bumblebee/modules/datetime.py
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@ import datetime
 import locale
 import bumblebee.engine
 
-ALIASES = ["date", "time"]
-
 def default_format(module):
     default = "%x %X"
     if module == "date":
diff --git a/bumblebee/modules/datetimetz.py b/bumblebee/modules/datetimetz.py
index e298249..1d0e3cb 100644
--- a/bumblebee/modules/datetimetz.py
+++ b/bumblebee/modules/datetimetz.py
@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@ import bumblebee.input
 import bumblebee.output
 import bumblebee.engine
 
-ALIASES = ["datetz", "timetz"]
-
 def default_format(module):
     default = "%x %X %Z"
     if module == "datetz":
diff --git a/bumblebee/modules/pulseaudio.py b/bumblebee/modules/pulseaudio.py
index 8b2f276..5cdd23c 100644
--- a/bumblebee/modules/pulseaudio.py
+++ b/bumblebee/modules/pulseaudio.py
@@ -24,8 +24,6 @@ import bumblebee.input
 import bumblebee.output
 import bumblebee.engine
 
-ALIASES = ["pasink", "pasource"]
-
 class Module(bumblebee.engine.Module):
     def __init__(self, engine, config):
         super(Module, self).__init__(engine, config,
diff --git a/bumblebee/modules/test.py b/bumblebee/modules/test.py
index b654575..5e92e0e 100644
--- a/bumblebee/modules/test.py
+++ b/bumblebee/modules/test.py
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@
 
 import bumblebee.engine
 
-ALIASES = ["test-alias"]
-
 class Module(bumblebee.engine.Module):
     def __init__(self, engine, config):
         super(Module, self).__init__(engine, config,