diff --git a/src/util.c b/src/util.c
index ab6096f..21dbb66 100644
--- a/src/util.c
+++ b/src/util.c
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@
 #include <sys/utsname.h>
 #endif
 
+#ifdef HAVE_BSD_NETWORK
+#include <libgen.h>
+#endif
+
 /* SURF random number generator */
 
 static u32 seed[32];
@@ -831,9 +835,34 @@ void close_fds(long max_fd, int spare1, int spare2, int spare3)
 #endif
 
 #ifdef FDESCFS
-  DIR *d;
+  DIR *d = NULL;
   
-  if ((d = opendir(FDESCFS)))
+#  ifdef HAVE_BSD_NETWORK
+  dev_t dirdev = 0;
+  char fdescfs[] = FDESCFS; /* string must be writable */
+  struct stat statbuf;
+
+  /* On BSD, fdescfs is normally mounted at /dev/fd. However
+     if it is NOT mounted, devfs creates a directory at /dev/fd
+     which contains (only) the file descriptors 0,1 and 2.
+
+     Under these conditions, opendir() will succeed, and
+     if we proceed we will fail to close extant
+     file descriptors which should be closed.
+     
+     Check that there is a filesystem mounted at /dev/fd
+     by checking that the device changes between /dev/fd
+     and /dev. If if doesn't, fall back to the dumb path. */
+  
+  if (stat(fdescfs, &statbuf) != -1)
+    dirdev = statbuf.st_dev;
+
+  if (stat(dirname(fdescfs), &statbuf) != -1 &&
+      dirdev != statbuf.st_dev)
+#  endif
+    d = opendir(FDESCFS);
+      
+  if (d)
     {
       struct dirent *de;