diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6263e7f2..504092f8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 include Makefile.inc
 
-SUBDIR=		conf.d doc etc init.d local.d man net scripts sh src
+SUBDIR=		conf.d doc etc init.d local.d sysctl.d man net scripts sh src
 
 # Build pkgconfig or not
 MKPKGCONFIG?=	yes
diff --git a/mk/sys.mk b/mk/sys.mk
index 4ab9fb13..efa478c1 100644
--- a/mk/sys.mk
+++ b/mk/sys.mk
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ SYSCONFDIR?=		${PREFIX}/etc
 INITDIR?=		${SYSCONFDIR}/init.d
 CONFDIR?=		${SYSCONFDIR}/conf.d
 LOCALDIR?=		${SYSCONFDIR}/local.d
+SYSCTLDIR?=		${SYSCONFDIR}/sysctl.d
 
 BINDIR?=		${PREFIX}/sbin
 BINMODE?=		0755
diff --git a/sysctl.d/Makefile b/sysctl.d/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..feaf9183
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sysctl.d/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+DIR=	${SYSCTLDIR}
+CONF=	README
+
+MK=		../mk
+include ${MK}/os.mk
+include ${MK}/scripts.mk
diff --git a/sysctl.d/README b/sysctl.d/README
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d208ee5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sysctl.d/README
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+Kernel system variables configuration files
+
+Files found under the /etc/sysctl.d directory that end with .conf are
+parsed within sysctl(8) at boot time.  If you want to set kernel variables
+you can either edit /etc/sysctl.conf or make a new file.
+
+The filename isn't important, but don't make it a package name as it may clash
+with something the package builder needs later. It must end with .conf or else
+it will not be read.
+
+The recommended locationfor local system settings is /etc/sysctl.d/local.conf
+but as long as you follow the rules for the names of the file, anything will
+work. See sysctl.conf(5) man page for details of the format.