diff --git a/cmd/utils/fdlimit_freebsd.go b/cmd/utils/fdlimit_freebsd.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4cb5013c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/utils/fdlimit_freebsd.go
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+// Copyright 2016 The go-ethereum Authors
+// This file is part of go-ethereum.
+//
+// go-ethereum is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// go-ethereum is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with go-ethereum. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+// +build freebsd
+
+package utils
+
+import "syscall"
+
+// This file is largely identical to fdlimit_unix.go,
+// but Rlimit fields have type int64 on FreeBSD so it needs
+// an extra conversion.
+
+// raiseFdLimit tries to maximize the file descriptor allowance of this process
+// to the maximum hard-limit allowed by the OS.
+func raiseFdLimit(max uint64) error {
+	// Get the current limit
+	var limit syscall.Rlimit
+	if err := syscall.Getrlimit(syscall.RLIMIT_NOFILE, &limit); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	// Try to update the limit to the max allowance
+	limit.Cur = limit.Max
+	if limit.Cur > int64(max) {
+		limit.Cur = int64(max)
+	}
+	if err := syscall.Setrlimit(syscall.RLIMIT_NOFILE, &limit); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// getFdLimit retrieves the number of file descriptors allowed to be opened by this
+// process.
+func getFdLimit() (int, error) {
+	var limit syscall.Rlimit
+	if err := syscall.Getrlimit(syscall.RLIMIT_NOFILE, &limit); err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+	return int(limit.Cur), nil
+}
diff --git a/cmd/utils/fdlimit_unix.go b/cmd/utils/fdlimit_unix.go
index 2a6dffc8f..08e153bbd 100644
--- a/cmd/utils/fdlimit_unix.go
+++ b/cmd/utils/fdlimit_unix.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 // You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 // along with go-ethereum. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-// +build linux darwin
+// +build linux darwin netbsd openbsd solaris
 
 package utils