diff --git a/sensors/GNUmakefile.in b/sensors/GNUmakefile.in
index 7fffc22a67f6734b29d3a1644b9699bcbac4c728..3e2180592d229d5e9bba3e5bec837981b8403034 100644
--- a/sensors/GNUmakefile.in
+++ b/sensors/GNUmakefile.in
@@ -13,8 +13,13 @@ SUBDIRS	= slothd
 SYSTEM            := $(shell uname -s)
 
 ifeq ($(SYSTEM),FreeBSD)
+FBSDVERSION   := $(shell uname -v | sed -e 's/FreeBSD \([0-9]\).*/FreeBSD\1/')
+
+# XXX not on FreeBSD 5 til I get a chance to fix it
+ifneq ($(FBSDVERSION),FreeBSD5)
 SUBDIRS	+= canaryd
 endif
+endif
 
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