diff --git a/Manual.md b/Manual.md
index ce55c4a4498..130bc5185f3 100644
--- a/Manual.md
+++ b/Manual.md
@@ -513,6 +513,14 @@ arguments can be passed in via `configure_args`.
 target can be overriden via `make_build_target` and the install target
 via `make_install_target`.
 
+- `go` For programs written in Go that follow the standard package
+  structure. The variable `import_path` must be set to the package's
+  import path, e.g. `github.com/github/hub` for the `hub` program. If
+  the variable `go_get` is set to `yes`, the package will be
+  downloaded with `go get`. Otherwise (the default) it's expected that
+  the distfile contains the package. In both cases, dependencies will
+  be downloaded with `go get`.
+
 - `meta` For `meta-packages`, i.e packages that only install local files or simply
 depend on additional packages. This build style does not install
 dependencies to the root directory, and only checks if a binary package is
@@ -923,6 +931,22 @@ path may be specified, i.e `pycompile_dirs="usr/share/foo"`.
 > NOTE: it's expected that additional subpkgs must be generated to allow packaging for multiple
 python versions.
 
+### Go packages
+
+Go packages should be built with the `go` build style, if possible.
+The `go` build style takes care of downloading Go dependencies and
+setting up cross compilation.
+
+The following variables influence how Go packages are built:
+
+- `import_path`: The import path of the package, as it would be used
+  with `go get`. For example, GitHub's `hub` program has the import
+  path `github.com/github/hub`. This variable is required.
+- `go_get`: If set to yes, the package specified via `import_path`
+  will be downloaded with `go get`. Otherwise, a distfile has to be
+  provided. This option should only be used with `-git` (or similar)
+  packages; using a versioned distfile is prefered.
+
 ### Notes
 
 - Make sure that all software is configured to use the `/usr` prefix.
diff --git a/common/build-style/go.sh b/common/build-style/go.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ab45d59dc1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/build-style/go.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#
+# This helper is for templates for Go packages.
+#
+
+do_build() {
+	case "$XBPS_TARGET_MACHINE" in
+		armv6*) export GOARCH=arm; export GOARM=6;;
+		armv7*) export GOARCH=arm; export GOARM=7;;
+		i686*) export GOARCH=386;;
+		x86_64*) export GOARCH=amd64;;
+	esac
+
+	export GOPATH="/tmp/gopath"
+
+	if [[ "${go_get}" != "yes" ]]; then
+		local path="${GOPATH}/src/${import_path}"
+		mkdir -p "$(dirname ${path})"
+		ln -fs $PWD "${path}"
+	fi
+
+	go get -d -v "${import_path}"
+	go build -x "${import_path}"
+}
+
+do_install() {
+	vbin ${pkgname}
+}
+
+do_clean() {
+	rm -rf /tmp/gopath
+}
diff --git a/common/environment/build-style/go.sh b/common/environment/build-style/go.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8c474839b63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/environment/build-style/go.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+hostmakedepends+=" go"
+if [ "$CROSS_BUILD" ]; then
+	hostmakedepends+=" go-cross-linux"
+fi
+nostrip=yes
diff --git a/srcpkgs/gendesk/template b/srcpkgs/gendesk/template
index dd60e19d585..3a48a2b9c61 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/gendesk/template
+++ b/srcpkgs/gendesk/template
@@ -2,10 +2,9 @@
 pkgname=gendesk
 version=0.6.2
 revision=2
-hostmakedepends="go git mercurial"
-if [ "$CROSS_BUILD" ]; then
-	hostmakedepends+=" go-cross-linux"
-fi
+build_style=go
+hostmakedepends="git mercurial"
+import_path="github.com/xyproto/gendesk"
 short_desc="Utility to generate .desktop files and download icons"
 maintainer="Juan RP <xtraeme@gmail.com>"
 license="MIT"
@@ -16,21 +15,6 @@ skip_extraction="default.png"
 checksum="a01ecee04e2397f263b25b1ec94d642fe7f5b8b67eabc6123a923072dd130602
  4d96eded48e536d02e35727c36dc20844c2e44654e81baf78e10aee4eb48e837"
 
-do_build() {
-        case "$XBPS_TARGET_MACHINE" in
-                armv6*) export GOARCH=arm; export GOARM=6;;
-                armv7*) export GOARCH=arm; export GOARM=7;;
-                i686*) export GOARCH=386;;
-                x86_64*) export GOARCH=amd64;;
-        esac
-
-	export GOPATH="$PWD/gopath"
-	mkdir -p $GOPATH/src/github.com/xyproto
-	ln -s $PWD $GOPATH/src/github.com/xyproto/${pkgname}
-	go get -v github.com/xyproto/${pkgname}
-	go build -v github.com/xyproto/${pkgname}
-}
-
 do_install() {
 	vbin ${pkgname}
 	vinstall ${XBPS_SRCDISTDIR}/${pkgname}-${version}/default.png 644 usr/share/pixmaps
diff --git a/srcpkgs/hub/template b/srcpkgs/hub/template
index 97fafa55d91..31d5fd21e42 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/hub/template
+++ b/srcpkgs/hub/template
@@ -2,31 +2,15 @@
 pkgname=hub
 version=2.2.0
 revision=2
+build_style=go
+import_path="github.com/github/hub"
+hostmakedepends="git"
 homepage="http://hub.github.com/"
 distfiles="https://github.com/github/hub/archive/v${version}.tar.gz"
-hostmakedepends="go"
-if [ "$CROSS_BUILD" ]; then
-	hostmakedepends+=" go-cross-linux"
-fi
 short_desc="command line tool for Github"
 maintainer="Enno Boland <eb@s01.de>"
 license="MIT"
 checksum=2da1351197eb5696c207f22c69a5422af052d74277b73d0b8661efb9ec1d0eb1
-nostrip=yes
-
-do_build() {
-	case "$XBPS_TARGET_MACHINE" in
-		armv6*) export GOARCH=arm; export GOARM=6;;
-		armv7*) export GOARCH=arm; export GOARM=7;;
-		i686*) export GOARCH=386;;
-		x86_64*) export GOARCH=amd64;;
-	esac
-
-	export GOPATH="$PWD/gopath"
-	mkdir -p $GOPATH/src/github.com/github
-	ln -sf $PWD $GOPATH/src/github.com/github/${pkgname}
-	go build -v github.com/github/${pkgname}
-}
 
 do_install() {
 	vbin ${pkgname}