diff --git a/etc/defaults/rc.conf b/etc/defaults/rc.conf
index 93a4d4fcf243..59a910079074 100644
--- a/etc/defaults/rc.conf
+++ b/etc/defaults/rc.conf
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ removable_interfaces=""	# Removable network interfaces for /etc/pccard_ether.
 local_startup="/usr/local/etc/rc.d /usr/X11R6/etc/rc.d"	# startup script dirs.
 rc_conf_files="/etc/rc.conf /etc/rc.conf.local"
 fsck_y_enable="NO" 	# Set to YES to do fsck -y if the initial preen fails.
+background_fsck="YES"	# Attempt to run fsck in the background where possible.
 
 ##############################################################
 ###  Network configuration sub-section  ######################
diff --git a/etc/rc b/etc/rc
index 7283c58276fb..b867d757eaea 100644
--- a/etc/rc
+++ b/etc/rc
@@ -184,9 +184,14 @@ swapon -a
 case ${bootmode} in
 autoboot)
 	echo 'Automatic boot in progress...'
-#	To restore old fsck behavior use:
-#	fsck -p
-	fsck -F -p
+	case ${background_fsck} in
+	[Yy][Ee][Ss])
+		fsck -F -p
+		;;
+	*)
+		fsck -p
+		;;
+	esac
 	case $? in
 	0)
 		;;
@@ -810,9 +815,13 @@ case ${kern_securelevel_enable} in
 	;;
 esac
 
-# Start background fsck checks
-echo 'Starting background filesystem checks'
-nice -4 fsck -B -p 2>&1 | logger -p daemon.notice &
+# Start background fsck checks if necessary
+case ${background_fsck} in
+[Yy][Ee][Ss])
+	echo 'Starting background filesystem checks'
+	nice -4 fsck -B -p 2>&1 | logger -p daemon.notice &
+	;;
+esac
 
 echo ''
 
diff --git a/share/man/man5/rc.conf.5 b/share/man/man5/rc.conf.5
index d69b3e71036f..b2f5be690051 100644
--- a/share/man/man5/rc.conf.5
+++ b/share/man/man5/rc.conf.5
@@ -625,6 +625,13 @@ if set to
 .Xr fsck 8
 will be run with the -y flag if the initial preen
 of the filesystems fails.
+.It Va background_fsck
+.Pq Vt bool
+if set to
+.Ar YES ,
+the system will attempt to run
+.Xr fsck 8
+in the background where possible.
 .It Va syslogd_enable
 .Pq Vt bool
 If set to