diff --git a/src/common.cpp b/src/common.cpp
index d7b981d2b..95caaf62a 100644
--- a/src/common.cpp
+++ b/src/common.cpp
@@ -1901,10 +1901,12 @@ std::string get_executable_path(const char *argv0) {
     // https://opensource.apple.com/source/adv_cmds/adv_cmds-163/ps/print.c
     uint32_t buffSize = sizeof buff;
     if (_NSGetExecutablePath(buff, &buffSize) == 0) return std::string(buff);
-#elif defined(__BSD__) && defined(KERN_PROC_PATHNAME)
+#elif defined(__BSD__) && defined(KERN_PROC_PATHNAME) && !defined(__NetBSD__)
     // BSDs do not have /proc by default, (although it can be mounted as procfs via the Linux
     // compatibility layer). We can use sysctl instead: per sysctl(3), passing in a process ID of -1
     // returns the value for the current process.
+    //
+    // (this is broken on NetBSD, while /proc works, so we use that)
     size_t buff_size = sizeof buff;
     int name[] = {CTL_KERN, KERN_PROC, KERN_PROC_PATHNAME, -1};
     int result = sysctl(name, sizeof(name) / sizeof(int), buff, &buff_size, nullptr, 0);