diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/bsd/freebsd/default-branch.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/bsd/freebsd/default-branch.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..df13357aca41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/bsd/freebsd/default-branch.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+{
+  lib,
+  config,
+  freebsdBranches,
+  freebsdBranchesCross,
+}:
+
+let
+  branch =
+    let
+      fallbackBranch = "release/13.1.0";
+      envBranch = builtins.getEnv "NIXPKGS_FREEBSD_BRANCH";
+      selectedBranch =
+        if config.freebsdBranch != null then
+          config.freebsdBranch
+        else if envBranch != "" then
+          envBranch
+        else
+          null;
+      chosenBranch = if selectedBranch != null then selectedBranch else fallbackBranch;
+    in
+    if freebsdBranches ? ${chosenBranch} then
+      chosenBranch
+    else
+      throw ''
+        Unknown FreeBSD branch ${chosenBranch}!
+        FreeBSD branches normally look like one of:
+        * `release/<major>.<minor>.0` for tagged releases without security updates
+        * `releng/<major>.<minor>` for release update branches with security updates
+        * `stable/<major>` for stable versions working towards the next minor release
+        * `main` for the latest development version
+
+        Set one with the NIXPKGS_FREEBSD_BRANCH environment variable or by setting `nixpkgs.config.freebsdBranch`.
+      '';
+in
+{
+  freebsd = freebsdBranches.${branch};
+  freebsdCross = freebsdBranchesCross.${branch};
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/bsd/freebsd/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/bsd/freebsd/default.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index b7cf5484c9e9..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/bsd/freebsd/default.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,72 +0,0 @@
-{ stdenv, lib, stdenvNoCC
-, makeScopeWithSplicing', generateSplicesForMkScope
-, buildPackages
-, fetchgit, fetchzip
-}:
-
-let
-  inherit (buildPackages.buildPackages) rsync;
-
-  versions = builtins.fromJSON (builtins.readFile ./versions.json);
-
-  version = "13.1.0";
-  branch = "release/${version}";
-
-in makeScopeWithSplicing' {
-  otherSplices = generateSplicesForMkScope "freebsd";
-  f = (self: lib.packagesFromDirectoryRecursive {
-    callPackage = self.callPackage;
-    directory = ./pkgs;
-  } // {
-    sourceData = versions.${branch};
-
-    ports = fetchzip {
-      url = "https://cgit.freebsd.org/ports/snapshot/ports-dde3b2b456c3a4bdd217d0bf3684231cc3724a0a.tar.gz";
-      sha256 = "BpHqJfnGOeTE7tkFJBx0Wk8ryalmf4KNTit/Coh026E=";
-    };
-
-    compatIfNeeded = lib.optional (!stdenvNoCC.hostPlatform.isFreeBSD) self.compat;
-    freebsd-lib = import ./lib { inherit version; };
-
-    # The manual callPackages below should in principle be unnecessary, but are
-    # necessary. See note in ../netbsd/default.nix
-
-    compat = self.callPackage ./pkgs/compat/package.nix {
-      inherit stdenv;
-      inherit (buildPackages.freebsd) makeMinimal boot-install;
-    };
-
-    csu = self.callPackage ./pkgs/csu.nix {
-      inherit (buildPackages.freebsd) makeMinimal install gencat;
-      inherit (self) include;
-    };
-
-    include = self.callPackage ./pkgs/include/package.nix {
-      inherit (buildPackages.freebsd) makeMinimal install rpcgen;
-    };
-
-    install = self.callPackage ./pkgs/install.nix {
-      inherit (buildPackages.freebsd) makeMinimal;
-      inherit (self) mtree libnetbsd;
-    };
-
-    libc = self.callPackage ./pkgs/libc/package.nix {
-      inherit (buildPackages.freebsd) makeMinimal install gencat rpcgen;
-      inherit (self) csu include;
-    };
-
-    libnetbsd = self.callPackage ./pkgs/libnetbsd/package.nix {
-      inherit (buildPackages.freebsd) makeMinimal;
-    };
-
-    mkDerivation = self.callPackage ./pkgs/mkDerivation.nix {
-      inherit stdenv;
-      inherit (buildPackages.freebsd) makeMinimal install tsort;
-    };
-
-    makeMinimal = self.callPackage ./pkgs/makeMinimal.nix {
-      inherit (self) make;
-    };
-
-  });
-}
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/bsd/freebsd/package-set.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/bsd/freebsd/package-set.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..363e6693b93e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/bsd/freebsd/package-set.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+{ stdenv, lib, stdenvNoCC
+, fetchzip
+, sourceData, versionData, buildFreebsd
+}:
+
+self:
+
+lib.packagesFromDirectoryRecursive {
+  callPackage = self.callPackage;
+  directory = ./pkgs;
+} // {
+  inherit sourceData versionData;
+
+  # Keep the crawled portion of Nixpkgs finite.
+  buildFreebsd = lib.dontRecurseIntoAttrs buildFreebsd;
+
+  ports = fetchzip {
+    url = "https://cgit.freebsd.org/ports/snapshot/ports-dde3b2b456c3a4bdd217d0bf3684231cc3724a0a.tar.gz";
+    sha256 = "BpHqJfnGOeTE7tkFJBx0Wk8ryalmf4KNTit/Coh026E=";
+  };
+
+  compatIfNeeded = lib.optional (!stdenvNoCC.hostPlatform.isFreeBSD) self.compat;
+  freebsd-lib = import ./lib {
+    version = lib.concatStringsSep "." (map toString (lib.filter (x: x != null) [
+      self.versionData.major
+      self.versionData.minor
+      self.versionData.patch or null
+    ]));
+  };
+
+  # The manual callPackages below should in principle be unnecessary, but are
+  # necessary. See note in ../netbsd/default.nix
+
+  compat = self.callPackage ./pkgs/compat/package.nix {
+    inherit stdenv;
+    inherit (buildFreebsd) makeMinimal boot-install;
+  };
+
+  csu = self.callPackage ./pkgs/csu.nix {
+    inherit (buildFreebsd) makeMinimal install gencat;
+    inherit (self) include;
+  };
+
+  include = self.callPackage ./pkgs/include/package.nix {
+    inherit (buildFreebsd) makeMinimal install rpcgen;
+  };
+
+  install = self.callPackage ./pkgs/install.nix {
+    inherit (buildFreebsd) makeMinimal;
+    inherit (self) mtree libnetbsd;
+  };
+
+  libc = self.callPackage ./pkgs/libc/package.nix {
+    inherit (buildFreebsd) makeMinimal install gencat rpcgen;
+    inherit (self) csu include;
+  };
+
+  libnetbsd = self.callPackage ./pkgs/libnetbsd/package.nix {
+    inherit (buildFreebsd) makeMinimal;
+  };
+
+  mkDerivation = self.callPackage ./pkgs/mkDerivation.nix {
+    inherit stdenv;
+    inherit (buildFreebsd) makeMinimal install tsort;
+  };
+
+  makeMinimal = self.callPackage ./pkgs/makeMinimal.nix {
+    inherit (self) make;
+  };
+
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/bsd/freebsd/versions.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/bsd/freebsd/versions.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4acfd5b6198b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/bsd/freebsd/versions.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+{
+  lib,
+  config,
+  makeScopeWithSplicing',
+  generateSplicesForMkScope,
+  callPackage,
+  crossLibcStdenv,
+}:
+
+let
+  versions = builtins.fromJSON (builtins.readFile ./versions.json);
+
+  # `./package-set.nix` should never know the name of the package set we
+  # are constructing; just this function is allowed to know that. This
+  # is why we:
+  #
+  #  - do the splicing for cross compilation here
+  #
+  #  - construct the *anonymized* `buildFreebsd` attribute to be passed
+  #    to `./package-set.nix`.
+  callFreeBSDWithAttrs =
+    extraArgs: branch: sourceData:
+    let
+      otherSplices = generateSplicesForMkScope [
+        "freebsdBranches"
+        branch
+      ];
+    in
+    makeScopeWithSplicing' {
+      inherit otherSplices;
+      f = callPackage ./package-set.nix (
+        {
+          buildFreebsd = otherSplices.selfBuildHost;
+          inherit sourceData;
+          versionData = sourceData.version;
+        }
+        // extraArgs
+      );
+    };
+in
+{
+  freebsdBranches = lib.mapAttrs (callFreeBSDWithAttrs { }) versions;
+
+  freebsdBranchesCross = lib.mapAttrs (callFreeBSDWithAttrs { stdenv = crossLibcStdenv; }) versions;
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 5c97ea86188b..8ded19f002d9 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -40910,10 +40910,16 @@ with pkgs;
     name = "bsd-setup-hook";
   } ../os-specific/bsd/setup-hook.sh;
 
-  freebsd = callPackage ../os-specific/bsd/freebsd { };
-  freebsdCross = callPackage ../os-specific/bsd/freebsd {
-    stdenv = crossLibcStdenv;
-  };
+  inherit (callPackage ../os-specific/bsd/freebsd/versions.nix {}) freebsdBranches freebsdBranchesCross;
+
+  freebsd13 = freebsdBranches."release/13.2.0";
+  freebsd14 = freebsdBranches."release/14.0.0";
+  freebsdGit = freebsdBranches.main;
+  freebsd13Cross = freebsdBranchesCross."release/13.0.0";
+  freebsd14Cross = freebsdBranchesCross."release/14.0.0";
+  freebsdGitCross = freebsdBranchesCross.main;
+
+  inherit (callPackage ../os-specific/bsd/freebsd/default-branch.nix {}) freebsd freebsdCross;
 
   netbsd = callPackage ../os-specific/bsd/netbsd { };
   netbsdCross = callPackage ../os-specific/bsd/netbsd {
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/config.nix b/pkgs/top-level/config.nix
index 67a9a60dbaea..4a5b12ed70db 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/config.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/config.nix
@@ -74,6 +74,14 @@ let
       feature = "set `__contentAddressed` to true by default";
     };
 
+    freebsdBranch = mkMassRebuild {
+      type = types.nullOr types.str;
+      default = null;
+      description = ''
+        Default FreeBSD release to use for FreeBSD packages
+      '';
+    };
+
     allowAliases = mkOption {
       type = types.bool;
       default = true;
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/release-attrpaths-superset.nix b/pkgs/top-level/release-attrpaths-superset.nix
index cd48453fa0ee..a80b40d36060 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/release-attrpaths-superset.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/release-attrpaths-superset.nix
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ let
 
     buildHaskellPackages = true;
     buildPackages = true;
+    buildFreebsd = true;
     generateOptparseApplicativeCompletions = true;
 
     callPackage = true;