diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index c5a7220e9..9614d7028 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -7,6 +7,23 @@ set_property(GLOBAL PROPERTY USE_FOLDERS ON)
 set(CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES "Debug;Release")
 enable_testing()
 
+# Check if we're on FreeBSD so we can exclude the local miniupnpc (it should be installed from ports instead)
+# CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME checks are commonly known, but specifically taken from libsdl's CMakeLists
+if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "kFreeBSD.*")
+  set(FREEBSD TRUE)
+elseif(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "DragonFly.*|FreeBSD")
+  set(FREEBSD TRUE)
+endif()
+
+# TODO: check bsdi, NetBSD, OpenBSD, to see if they need the same FreeBSD changes
+# 
+# elseif(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "kNetBSD.*|NetBSD.*")
+#   set(NETBSD TRUE)
+# elseif(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "kOpenBSD.*|OpenBSD.*")
+#   set(OPENBSD TRUE)
+# elseif(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES ".*BSDI.*")
+#   set(BSDI TRUE)
+
 function(set_static_flags)
   if (NOT APPLE)
     set(CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS "${CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS} -static-libgcc -static-libstdc++")
diff --git a/external/CMakeLists.txt b/external/CMakeLists.txt
index 0a7a5d1ae..547fb7e96 100755
--- a/external/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/external/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
-set(UPNPC_BUILD_STATIC ON CACHE BOOL "Build static library")
-set(UPNPC_BUILD_SHARED OFF CACHE BOOL "Build shared library")
-set(UPNPC_BUILD_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "Build test executables")
-add_subdirectory(miniupnpc)
+if(NOT FREEBSD)
+  set(UPNPC_BUILD_STATIC ON CACHE BOOL "Build static library")
+  set(UPNPC_BUILD_SHARED OFF CACHE BOOL "Build shared library")
+  set(UPNPC_BUILD_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "Build test executables")
+  add_subdirectory(miniupnpc)
 
-set_property(TARGET upnpc-static PROPERTY FOLDER "external")
-if(MSVC)
-  set_property(TARGET upnpc-static APPEND_STRING PROPERTY COMPILE_FLAGS " -wd4244 -wd4267")
-elseif(NOT MSVC)
-  set_property(TARGET upnpc-static APPEND_STRING PROPERTY COMPILE_FLAGS " -Wno-undef -Wno-unused-result -Wno-unused-value")
-endif()
+  set_property(TARGET upnpc-static PROPERTY FOLDER "external")
+  if(MSVC)
+    set_property(TARGET upnpc-static APPEND_STRING PROPERTY COMPILE_FLAGS " -wd4244 -wd4267")
+  elseif(NOT MSVC)
+    set_property(TARGET upnpc-static APPEND_STRING PROPERTY COMPILE_FLAGS " -Wno-undef -Wno-unused-result -Wno-unused-value")
+  endif()
+endif()
\ No newline at end of file