diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2bf1ac8..c21fe43 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+*.o
+
 # Vim swap files
 *swp
 *~
diff --git a/bin/get-kbd-layout b/bin/get-kbd-layout
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..7ce6ccf
Binary files /dev/null and b/bin/get-kbd-layout differ
diff --git a/bumblebee_status/modules/core/layout.py b/bumblebee_status/modules/core/layout.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ebeeb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bumblebee_status/modules/core/layout.py
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# pylint: disable=C0111,R0903
+
+"""Displays the current keyboard layout
+
+Parameters:
+    * layout.device: The device ID of the keyboard (as reported by `xinput -list`), defaults to the core device
+"""
+
+import re
+
+import core.widget
+import core.module
+
+import util.cli
+
+from bumblebee_status.discover import utility
+
+class Module(core.module.Module):
+    def __init__(self, config, theme):
+        super().__init__(config=config, theme=theme, widgets=core.widget.Widget(self.get_layout))
+
+        self._cmd = utility("get-kbd-layout")
+        keyboard = self.parameter("device", None)
+        if keyboard:
+            self._cmd += " {}".format(keyboard)
+
+    def get_layout(self, widget):
+        result = util.cli.execute(self._cmd, ignore_errors=True)
+
+        m = re.search("([a-zA-Z]+_)?([a-zA-Z]+)(\(([\w-]+)\))?", result)
+
+        if m:
+            layout = m.group(2)
+            variant = m.group(3)
+            return layout if not variant else "{} {}".format(layout, variant)
+
+        return "n/a"
+
+# vim: tabstop=8 expandtab shiftwidth=4 softtabstop=4
diff --git a/util/Makefile b/util/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e187c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+CC=gcc
+CFLAGS=
+
+%.o: %.c
+	$(CC) -c -o $@ $< $(CFLAGS)
+
+../bin/get-kbd-layout: layout.o
+	$(CC) -o $@ layout.o -lX11
+
+.PHONY: clean
+
+clean:
+	rm -f *.o
diff --git a/util/layout.c b/util/layout.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21aac1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/layout.c
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+#include <X11/XKBlib.h>
+
+void err_if(int condition, const char* msg)
+{
+	if (condition) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "fatal: %s\n", msg);
+		exit(1);
+	}
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char** argv)
+{
+	Display* display = XOpenDisplay(NULL);
+	err_if(!display, "unable to open display");
+
+	int kbd = argc == 1 ? XkbUseCoreKbd : atoi(argv[1]);
+
+	XkbStateRec state;
+	XkbGetState(display, kbd, &state);
+
+	XkbDescPtr desc = XkbGetKeyboard(display, XkbAllComponentsMask, kbd);
+	char* symbols = XGetAtomName(display, desc->names->symbols);
+	printf("%s\n", symbols);
+
+#if 0
+	char *group = XGetAtomName(display, desc->names->groups[state.group]);
+	XFree(group);
+#endif
+	XFree(symbols);
+	XFree(desc);
+
+	XCloseDisplay(display);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+