diff --git a/libexec/rc/rc.d/ipfw b/libexec/rc/rc.d/ipfw
index fd1c97671d70..22b65d2908cb 100755
--- a/libexec/rc/rc.d/ipfw
+++ b/libexec/rc/rc.d/ipfw
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ ipfw_prestart()
 
 ipfw_start()
 {
-	local   _firewall_type
+	local   _firewall_type _module _sysctl_reload
 
 	if [ -n "${1}" ]; then
 		_firewall_type=$1
@@ -55,6 +55,19 @@ ipfw_start()
 		_firewall_type=${firewall_type}
 	fi
 
+	_sysctl_reload=no
+	for _module in ${required_modules}
+	do
+		if kldstat -qn ${_module}; then
+			_sysctl_reload=yes
+			break
+		fi
+	done
+
+	if [ ${_sysctl_reload} = yes ]; then
+		/etc/rc.d/sysctl reload
+	fi
+
 	# set the firewall rules script if none was specified
 	[ -z "${firewall_script}" ] && firewall_script=/etc/rc.firewall