diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5566cbc..e3aa4b6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ endif
 ASSIGNED_DATA_SCRIPTS:=\
 	dahdi_handle_device	\
 	dahdi_span_config	\
+	dahdi_auto_assign_compat	\
 	span_config.d/10-dahdi-cfg	\
 	span_config.d/20-fxotune	\
 	span_config.d/50-asterisk	\
diff --git a/dahdi.init b/dahdi.init
index 064fa4f..2b77fd3 100755
--- a/dahdi.init
+++ b/dahdi.init
@@ -148,11 +148,6 @@ xpp_startup() {
 	if ! /usr/share/dahdi/waitfor_xpds; then return 0; fi
 
 	hotplug_exit_after_load
-
-	# overriding locales for the above two, as perl can be noisy
-	# when locales are missing.
-	# No register all the devices if they didn't auto-register:
-	LC_ALL=C dahdi_registration on
 }
 
 
@@ -263,6 +258,9 @@ case "$1" in
 
 	xpp_startup
 
+	# Assign all spans that weren't handled via udev + /etc/dahdi/assigned-spans.conf
+	/usr/share/dahdi/dahdi_auto_assign_compat
+
 	if [ $system = debian ]; then
 	    echo -n "Running dahdi_cfg: "
 	    $DAHDI_CFG_CMD 2> /dev/null && echo -n "done"
diff --git a/hotplug/dahdi_auto_assign_compat b/hotplug/dahdi_auto_assign_compat
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..96f90dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hotplug/dahdi_auto_assign_compat
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#! /bin/sh
+
+devdir='/sys/bus/dahdi_devices/devices'
+
+# DAHDI is loaded?
+if [ ! -d "$devdir" ]; then
+	exit 0
+fi
+
+devices_by_registration_time() {
+	grep -H '' $devdir/*/registration_time 2>/dev/null | \
+		sed 's,/registration_time:,\t,' | \
+		sort -k 2,2
+}
+
+# First assign non-Astribank devices
+devices_by_registration_time | \
+	grep -v '/astribanks:' | \
+	while read devpath time; do
+		echo >&2 "D: auto '$devpath'"
+		dahdi_span_assignments auto "$devpath"
+	done
+
+# Now handle Astribanks
+LC_ALL=C dahdi_registration -Rv on
diff --git a/hotplug/handle_device.d/20-span-assignments b/hotplug/handle_device.d/20-span-assignments
index bfb724b..5493232 100755
--- a/hotplug/handle_device.d/20-span-assignments
+++ b/hotplug/handle_device.d/20-span-assignments
@@ -7,9 +7,9 @@ add)
 	exit 0
 esac
 
+# For now, handle only spans in assigned-spans.conf
+# We leave other cases to /etc/init.d/dahdi, so
+# legacy ordering can be preserved.
 if [ -r "$DAHDICONFDIR/assigned-spans.conf" ]; then
 	dahdi_span_assignments add "/sys$DEVPATH"
-else
-	# No configuration. No order guaranteed
-	dahdi_span_assignments auto "/sys$DEVPATH"
 fi