diff --git a/libexec/rc/rc.conf b/libexec/rc/rc.conf
index f77694b9a3a5..16ef851d885a 100644
--- a/libexec/rc/rc.conf
+++ b/libexec/rc/rc.conf
@@ -703,6 +703,7 @@ iovctl_files=""		# Config files for iovctl(8)
 ### Jail Configuration (see rc.conf(5) manual page) ##########
 ##############################################################
 jail_enable="NO"	# Set to NO to disable starting of any jails
+jail_conf="/etc/jail.conf"	# Configuration file for jail(8)
 jail_confwarn="YES"	# Prevent warning about obsolete per-jail configuration
 jail_parallel_start="NO"	# Start jails in the background
 jail_list=""		# Space separated list of names of jails
diff --git a/libexec/rc/rc.d/jail b/libexec/rc/rc.d/jail
index 9e6c7e847dba..4a5213e309d4 100755
--- a/libexec/rc/rc.d/jail
+++ b/libexec/rc/rc.d/jail
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ config_cmd="jail_config"
 console_cmd="jail_console"
 status_cmd="jail_status"
 extra_commands="config console status"
-: ${jail_conf:=/etc/jail.conf}
 : ${jail_program:=/usr/sbin/jail}
 : ${jail_consolecmd:=/usr/bin/login -f root}
 : ${jail_jexec:=/usr/sbin/jexec}