diff --git a/etc/defaults/rc.conf b/etc/defaults/rc.conf
index 02526b3f6e4..1bd2af7aba4 100644
--- a/etc/defaults/rc.conf
+++ b/etc/defaults/rc.conf
@@ -261,6 +261,8 @@ timed_flags=""			# Flags to timed (if enabled).
 ntpdate_enable="NO"		# Run ntpdate to sync time on boot (or NO).
 ntpdate_program="/usr/sbin/ntpdate"	# path to ntpdate, if you want a different one.
 ntpdate_flags="-b"		# Flags to ntpdate (if enabled).
+ntpdate_config="/etc/ntp.conf"	# ntpdate(8) configuration file
+ntpdate_hosts=""		# Whitespace-separated list of ntpdate(8) servers.
 ntpd_enable="NO"		# Run ntpd Network Time Protocol (or NO).
 ntpd_program="/usr/sbin/ntpd"	# path to ntpd, if you want a different one.
 ntpd_config="/etc/ntp.conf"	# ntpd(8) configuration file
diff --git a/etc/rc.d/ntpdate b/etc/rc.d/ntpdate
index 84c473419d1..c76f7a0e7f5 100755
--- a/etc/rc.d/ntpdate
+++ b/etc/rc.d/ntpdate
@@ -16,11 +16,11 @@ start_cmd="ntpdate_start"
 
 ntpdate_start()
 {
-	if [ -z "$ntpdate_hosts" -a -f /etc/ntp.conf ]; then
+	if [ -z "$ntpdate_hosts" -a -f ${ntpdate_config} ]; then
 		ntpdate_hosts=`awk '
 			/^server[ \t]*127.127/      {next}
 			/^(server|peer)/            {print $2}
-		' </etc/ntp.conf`
+		' < ${ntpdate_config}`
 	fi
 	if [ -n "$ntpdate_hosts" -o -n "$rc_flags" ]; then
 		echo "Setting date via ntp."
diff --git a/share/man/man5/rc.conf.5 b/share/man/man5/rc.conf.5
index 5ea091b3bb6..59b56373f40 100644
--- a/share/man/man5/rc.conf.5
+++ b/share/man/man5/rc.conf.5
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 .\"
 .\" $FreeBSD$
 .\"
-.Dd May 29, 2006
+.Dd Jul 20, 2006
 .Dt RC.CONF 5
 .Os
 .Sh NAME
@@ -1770,11 +1770,17 @@ An option to set this up initially
 (from a list of known servers) is also provided by the
 .Xr sysinstall 8
 program when the system is first installed.
+.It Va ntpdate_config
+Configuration file for
+.Xr ntpdate 8 .
+.Pq Vt str
+(default
+.Pa /etc/ntp.conf ).
 .It Va ntpdate_hosts
 .Pq Vt str
 A whitespace-separated list of NTP servers to synchronize with at startup.
 The default is to use the servers listed in
-.Pa /etc/ntp.conf ,
+.Va ntpdate_config ,
 if that file exists.
 .It Va ntpdate_program
 .Pq Vt str