diff --git a/sys/i386/i386/machdep.c b/sys/i386/i386/machdep.c
index ac41c2796237..243eab3a8043 100644
--- a/sys/i386/i386/machdep.c
+++ b/sys/i386/i386/machdep.c
@@ -1639,6 +1639,10 @@ u_long bootdev;		/* not a struct cdev *- encoding is different */
 SYSCTL_ULONG(_machdep, OID_AUTO, guessed_bootdev,
 	CTLFLAG_RD, &bootdev, 0, "Maybe the Boot device (not in struct cdev *format)");
 
+static char bootmethod[16] = "BIOS";
+SYSCTL_STRING(_machdep, OID_AUTO, bootmethod, CTLFLAG_RD, bootmethod, 0,
+    "System firmware boot method");
+
 /*
  * Initialize 386 and configure to run kernel
  */