diff --git a/share/mk/src.opts.mk b/share/mk/src.opts.mk
index 788c6a9b956..3ff71df3e0d 100644
--- a/share/mk/src.opts.mk
+++ b/share/mk/src.opts.mk
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ __DEFAULT_YES_OPTIONS = \
     LOADER_KBOOT \
     LOADER_LUA \
     LOADER_OFW \
+    LOADER_PXEBOOT \
     LOADER_UBOOT \
     LOCALES \
     LOCATE \
diff --git a/stand/i386/Makefile b/stand/i386/Makefile
index 883cd4a556b..5e52b1e12c3 100644
--- a/stand/i386/Makefile
+++ b/stand/i386/Makefile
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ SUBDIR.${MK_LOADER_LUA}+= loader_lua
 SUBDIR.yes+=	loader_simp
 
 # special boot programs, 'self-extracting boot2+loader'
-SUBDIR.yes+=	pxeldr
+SUBDIR.${MK_LOADER_PXEBOOT}+=	pxeldr
 
 SUBDIR.${MK_LOADER_ZFS}+=	zfsboot gptzfsboot
 
diff --git a/tools/build/options/WITHOUT_LOADER_PXEBOOT b/tools/build/options/WITHOUT_LOADER_PXEBOOT
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e6b09381884
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/build/options/WITHOUT_LOADER_PXEBOOT
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+Do not build pxeboot on i386/amd64.
+When the pxeboot is too large, or unneeded, it may be disabled with this option.
+See
+.Va WITH_LOADER_PXEBOOT
+for how to adjust the defaults when you need both a larger
+.Pa /boot/loader
+and
+.Pa /boot/pxeboot
+.Pp
+This option only has an effect on x86.
diff --git a/tools/build/options/WITH_LOADER_PXEBOOT b/tools/build/options/WITH_LOADER_PXEBOOT
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..01d4a0b86a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/build/options/WITH_LOADER_PXEBOOT
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+Build pxeboot on i386/amd64.
+The PXE Boot loader package needs more space than we may have in the boot loader.
+If you need to increase
+.Va LOADERSIZE
+beyond 500000, then building
+.Xr pxeboot 8
+will fail.
+To allow a larger
+.Va LOADERSIZE
+for some environments, it may be necessary to disable pxeboot builds or adjust
+its defaults.
+You can set the default loader for pxeboot to use independently of the system
+default by setting
+.Va PXEBOOT_DEFAULT_INTERP
+to one of
+.Dq lua ,
+.Dq 4th ,
+or
+.Dq simp .
+The limit on the size of the loader used for
+.Xr pxeboot 8
+can be set independently with
+.Va PXEBOOTSIZE .
+.Pp
+This option only has an effect on x86.