diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/driver/AbstractDriverLoader.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/driver/AbstractDriverLoader.java
index e35c1b4..e68eb99 100644
--- a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/driver/AbstractDriverLoader.java
+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/driver/AbstractDriverLoader.java
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
     @Activate
     protected void activate() {
         try {
-            provider = new XmlDriverLoader(getClass().getClassLoader())
+            provider = new XmlDriverLoader(getClass().getClassLoader(), driverAdminService)
                     .loadDrivers(getClass().getResourceAsStream(path), driverAdminService);
             driverAdminService.registerProvider(provider);
         } catch (Exception e) {
diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/driver/BehaviourClassResolver.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/driver/BehaviourClassResolver.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a5474f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/driver/BehaviourClassResolver.java
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.onosproject.net.driver;
+
+/**
+ * Entity capable of resolving a class using its name.
+ */
+public interface BehaviourClassResolver {
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the class corresponding to the specified class name.
+     * @param className class className
+     * @return
+     */
+    Class<? extends Behaviour> getBehaviourClass(String className);
+
+}
diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/driver/DriverAdminService.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/driver/DriverAdminService.java
index ba5bd69..f9f2532 100644
--- a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/driver/DriverAdminService.java
+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/driver/DriverAdminService.java
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 /**
  * Service for managing drivers and driver behaviour implementations.
  */
-public interface DriverAdminService extends DriverService {
+public interface DriverAdminService extends DriverService, BehaviourClassResolver {
 
     /**
      * Returns the set of driver providers currently registered.
diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/driver/XmlDriverLoader.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/driver/XmlDriverLoader.java
index e63e710..30d1875 100644
--- a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/driver/XmlDriverLoader.java
+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/driver/XmlDriverLoader.java
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@
     private static final String IMPL = "[@impl]";
 
     private final ClassLoader classLoader;
+    private final BehaviourClassResolver resolver;
 
     private Map<String, Driver> drivers = Maps.newHashMap();
 
@@ -72,9 +73,23 @@
      * class loader.
      *
      * @param classLoader class loader to use
+     * @deprecated since 1.7.0 (Hummingbird)
      */
+    @Deprecated
     public XmlDriverLoader(ClassLoader classLoader) {
+        this(classLoader, null);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new driver loader capable of loading drivers from the supplied
+     * class loader.
+     *
+     * @param classLoader class loader to use
+     * @param resolver    behaviour class resolver
+     */
+    public XmlDriverLoader(ClassLoader classLoader, BehaviourClassResolver resolver) {
         this.classLoader = classLoader;
+        this.resolver = resolver;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -182,7 +197,13 @@
         try {
             return (Class<? extends Behaviour>) classLoader.loadClass(className);
         } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unable to load class " + className, e);
+            if (resolver != null) {
+                Class<? extends Behaviour> cls = resolver.getBehaviourClass(className);
+                if (cls != null) {
+                    return cls;
+                }
+            }
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unable to resolve class " + className, e);
         }
     }