diff --git a/sbin/bectl/bectl.8 b/sbin/bectl/bectl.8
index 79bdec751a86..974c6ece9d12 100644
--- a/sbin/bectl/bectl.8
+++ b/sbin/bectl/bectl.8
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 .\"
 .\" $FreeBSD$
 .\"
-.Dd March 31, 2022
+.Dd April 26, 2023
 .Dt BECTL 8
 .Os
 .Sh NAME
@@ -25,54 +25,67 @@
 .Nd Utility to manage boot environments on ZFS
 .Sh SYNOPSIS
 .Nm
+.Op Fl r Ar beroot
 .Cm activate
 .Op Fl t | Fl T
 .Ar beName
 .Nm
+.Op Fl r Ar beroot
 .Cm check
 .Nm
+.Op Fl r Ar beroot
 .Cm create
 .Op Fl r
 .Op Fl e Brq Ar nonActiveBe | Ar beName Ns Cm @ Ns Ar snapshot
 .Ar newBeName
 .Nm
+.Op Fl r Ar beroot
 .Cm create
 .Op Fl r
 .Ar beName@snapshot
 .Nm
+.Op Fl r Ar beroot
 .Cm destroy
 .Op Fl \&Fo
 .Ar beName Ns Op Cm @ Ns Ar snapshot
 .Nm
+.Op Fl r Ar beroot
 .Cm export
 .Ar sourceBe
 .Nm
+.Op Fl r Ar beroot
 .Cm import
 .Ar targetBe
 .Nm
+.Op Fl r Ar beroot
 .Cm jail
 .Op Fl bU
 .Oo Bro Fl o Ar key Ns Cm = Ns Ar value | Fl u Ar key Brc Oc Ns ...
 .Ar beName
 .Op Ar utility Op Ar argument ...
 .Nm
+.Op Fl r Ar beroot
 .Cm list
 .Op Fl aDHs
 .Op Fl c Ar property
 .Op Fl C Ar property
 .Oo Bro Fl c Ar property | Fl C Ar property Brc Oc
 .Nm
+.Op Fl r Ar beroot
 .Cm mount
 .Ar beName
 .Op Ar mountpoint
 .Nm
+.Op Fl r Ar beroot
 .Cm rename
 .Ar origBeName
 .Ar newBeName
 .Nm
+.Op Fl r Ar beroot
 .Brq Cm ujail | unjail
 .Brq Ar jailId | jailName | beName
 .Nm
+.Op Fl r Ar beroot
 .Brq Cm umount | unmount
 .Op Fl f
 .Ar beName
@@ -89,6 +102,23 @@ Boot environments
 allow the system to be upgraded, while preserving the old system environment in
 a separate ZFS dataset.
 .Pp
+.Nm
+itself accepts an
+.Fl r
+flag specified before the command to indicate the
+.Ar beroot
+that should be used as the boot environment root, or the dataset whose children
+are all boot environments.
+Normally this information is derived from the bootfs property of the pool that
+is mounted at
+.Pa / ,
+but it is useful when the system has not been booted into a ZFS root or a
+different pool should be operated on.
+For instance, booting into the recovery media and manually importing a pool from
+one of the system's resident disks will require the
+.Fl r
+flag to work.
+.Pp
 The following commands are supported by
 .Nm :
 .Bl -tag -width activate
@@ -141,11 +171,13 @@ flag is specified, the new environment will be cloned from the given
 .Ar nonActiveBe
 or
 .Ar beName Ns Cm @ Ns Ar snapshot .
-Otherwise, the new environment will be created from the currently booted environment.
+Otherwise, the new environment will be created from the currently booted
+environment.
 .Pp
 If
 .Nm
-is creating from another boot environment, a snapshot of that boot environment will be created to clone from.
+is creating from another boot environment, a snapshot of that boot environment
+will be created to clone from.
 .It Xo
 .Cm create
 .Op Fl r
@@ -276,7 +308,6 @@ is used on next boot once
 .Pq Em \&T ;
 or combination of
 .Pq Em \&NRT .
-.Pp
 .Bl -tag -width indent
 .It Fl a
 Display all datasets.
diff --git a/sbin/bectl/bectl.c b/sbin/bectl/bectl.c
index bc414d6baf41..9e3833ba834e 100644
--- a/sbin/bectl/bectl.c
+++ b/sbin/bectl/bectl.c
@@ -69,23 +69,23 @@ usage(bool explicit)
 	fprintf(fp, "%s",
 	    "Usage:\tbectl {-h | -? | subcommand [args...]}\n"
 #if SOON
-	    "\tbectl add (path)*\n"
+	    "\tbectl [-r beroot] add (path)*\n"
 #endif
-	    "\tbectl activate [-t] beName\n"
-	    "\tbectl activate [-T]\n"
-	    "\tbectl check\n"
-	    "\tbectl create [-r] [-e {nonActiveBe | beName@snapshot}] beName\n"
-	    "\tbectl create [-r] beName@snapshot\n"
-	    "\tbectl destroy [-Fo] {beName | beName@snapshot}\n"
-	    "\tbectl export sourceBe\n"
-	    "\tbectl import targetBe\n"
-	    "\tbectl jail [-bU] [{-o key=value | -u key}]... beName\n"
+	    "\tbectl [-r beroot] activate [-t] beName\n"
+	    "\tbectl [-r beroot] activate [-T]\n"
+	    "\tbectl [-r beroot] check\n"
+	    "\tbectl [-r beroot] create [-r] [-e {nonActiveBe | beName@snapshot}] beName\n"
+	    "\tbectl [-r beroot] create [-r] beName@snapshot\n"
+	    "\tbectl [-r beroot] destroy [-Fo] {beName | beName@snapshot}\n"
+	    "\tbectl [-r beroot] export sourceBe\n"
+	    "\tbectl [-r beroot] import targetBe\n"
+	    "\tbectl [-r beroot] jail [-bU] [{-o key=value | -u key}]... beName\n"
 	    "\t      [utility [argument ...]]\n"
-	    "\tbectl list [-aDHs] [{-c property | -C property}]\n"
-	    "\tbectl mount beName [mountpoint]\n"
-	    "\tbectl rename origBeName newBeName\n"
-	    "\tbectl {ujail | unjail} {jailID | jailName | beName}\n"
-	    "\tbectl {umount | unmount} [-f] beName\n");
+	    "\tbectl [-r beroot] list [-aDHs] [{-c property | -C property}]\n"
+	    "\tbectl [-r beroot] mount beName [mountpoint]\n"
+	    "\tbectl [-r beroot] rename origBeName newBeName\n"
+	    "\tbectl [-r beroot] {ujail | unjail} {jailID | jailName | beName}\n"
+	    "\tbectl [-r beroot] {umount | unmount} [-f] beName\n");
 
 	return (explicit ? 0 : EX_USAGE);
 }