diff --git a/sbin/sysctl/sysctl.8 b/sbin/sysctl/sysctl.8
index 9ab3205f984d..5adc2fcc0f19 100644
--- a/sbin/sysctl/sysctl.8
+++ b/sbin/sysctl/sysctl.8
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ in the system, one would use the following request:
 To set the maximum number of processes allowed
 per uid to 1000, one would use the following request:
 .Pp
-.Dl "sysctl -w kern.maxprocperuid=1000"
+.Dl "sysctl kern.maxprocperuid=1000"
 .Pp
 Information about the system clock rate may be obtained with:
 .Pp
diff --git a/share/man/man5/sysctl.conf.5 b/share/man/man5/sysctl.conf.5
index 137d04dbf5a7..2e772ce63b2a 100644
--- a/share/man/man5/sysctl.conf.5
+++ b/share/man/man5/sysctl.conf.5
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ file is read in when the system goes into multi-user mode to set default
 settings for the kernel.  The
 .Pa /etc/sysctl.conf
 is in the format of the
-.Dq "sysctl -w"
+.Xr sysctl 8
 command, i.e.
 .Bd -literal -offset indent
 sysctl_mib=value