diff --git a/devices/gl-ar750/default.nix b/devices/gl-ar750/default.nix
index 5905a49..5f80509 100644
--- a/devices/gl-ar750/default.nix
+++ b/devices/gl-ar750/default.nix
@@ -79,7 +79,10 @@
       inherit (pkgs.pseudofile) dir symlink;
       inherit (pkgs.liminix.networking) interface;
     in {
-      imports = [ ../../modules/network];
+      imports = [
+        ../../modules/network
+        ../../modules/arch/mipseb.nix
+      ];
 
       programs.busybox.options = {
         FEATURE_DD_IBS_OBS = "y"; # ath10k_cal_data needs skip_bytes,fullblock
@@ -139,7 +142,6 @@
           ${openwrt.applyPatches.ath79}
         '';
         config = {
-          MIPS_ELF_APPENDED_DTB = "y";
           OF = "y";
           USE_OF = "y";
           ATH79 = "y";
@@ -192,8 +194,6 @@
           WATCHDOG = "y";
           ATH79_WDT = "y";  # watchdog timer
 
-          CPU_BIG_ENDIAN= "y";
-
           # this is all copied from nixwrt ath79 config. Clearly not all
           # of it is device config, some of it is wifi config or
           # installation method config or ...
diff --git a/devices/gl-mt300a/default.nix b/devices/gl-mt300a/default.nix
index b7b5f5c..5cb71da 100644
--- a/devices/gl-mt300a/default.nix
+++ b/devices/gl-mt300a/default.nix
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@
         drivers = ["rt2800soc"];
         klibBuild = config.system.outputs.kernel.modulesupport;
       };
-     in {
+    in {
+      imports = [ ../../modules/arch/mipsel.nix ];
       hardware = {
         defaultOutput = "flashimage";
         loadAddress = "0x80000000";
@@ -107,7 +108,6 @@
           ${openwrt.applyPatches.ramips}
         '';
         config = {
-          MIPS_ELF_APPENDED_DTB = "y";
           OF = "y";
           USE_OF = "y";
 
@@ -143,8 +143,6 @@
           MTD_CMDLINE_PARTS = "y";
           MTD_BLOCK = "y";         # fix undefined ref to register_mtd_blktrans_devs
 
-          CPU_LITTLE_ENDIAN = "y";
-
           CMDLINE_PARTITION = "y";
           EARLY_PRINTK = "y";
 
diff --git a/devices/gl-mt300n-v2/default.nix b/devices/gl-mt300n-v2/default.nix
index 1126e5f..ce979d9 100644
--- a/devices/gl-mt300n-v2/default.nix
+++ b/devices/gl-mt300n-v2/default.nix
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
         hash = "sha256:1dkhfznmdz6s50kwc841x3wj0h6zg6icg5g2bim9pvg66as2vmh9";
       };
     in {
+      imports = [ ../../modules/arch/mipsel.nix ];
       filesystem = dir {
         lib = dir {
           firmware = dir {
@@ -103,14 +104,12 @@
           ${openwrt.applyPatches.ramips}
         '';
         config = {
-          MIPS_ELF_APPENDED_DTB = "y";
           OF = "y";
           USE_OF = "y";
 
           RALINK = "y";
           PCI = "y";
           SOC_MT7620 = "y";
-          CPU_LITTLE_ENDIAN= "y";
 
           SERIAL_8250_CONSOLE = "y";
           SERIAL_8250 = "y";
diff --git a/modules/arch/mips.nix b/modules/arch/mips.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2c2780f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/arch/mips.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{ lib, pkgs, config, ...}:
+{
+  config = {
+    kernel.config = {
+      MIPS_ELF_APPENDED_DTB = "y";
+    };
+    boot.commandLine = [
+      "console=ttyS0,115200" # true of all mips we've yet encountered
+    ];
+  };
+}
diff --git a/modules/arch/mipseb.nix b/modules/arch/mipseb.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..77a5e65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/arch/mipseb.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{ lib, pkgs, config, ...}:
+{
+  imports = [ ./mips.nix ];
+  config = {
+    kernel.config = {
+      CPU_BIG_ENDIAN = "y";
+    };
+  };
+}
diff --git a/modules/arch/mipsel.nix b/modules/arch/mipsel.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6f32ddc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/arch/mipsel.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{ lib, pkgs, config, ...}:
+{
+  imports = [ ./mips.nix ];
+  config = {
+    kernel.config = {
+      CPU_LITTLE_ENDIAN = "y";
+    };
+  };
+}
diff --git a/modules/base.nix b/modules/base.nix
index 0f7d2f5..a39c689 100644
--- a/modules/base.nix
+++ b/modules/base.nix
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ in {
       [ s6 s6-init-bin execline s6-linux-init s6-rc ];
 
     boot.commandLine = [
-      "console=ttyS0,115200 panic=10 oops=panic init=/bin/init loglevel=8"
+      "panic=10 oops=panic init=/bin/init loglevel=8"
       "root=${config.hardware.rootDevice}"
       "rootfstype=${config.rootfsType}"
       "fw_devlink=off"