diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/freebsd_sysctl.yml b/changelogs/fragments/freebsd_sysctl.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1745b7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/freebsd_sysctl.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+---
+bugfixes:
+    - sysctl - reload sysctl only if the sysctl file is ``/etc/sysctl.conf`` or ``/etc/sysctl.conf.local`` (https://github.com/ansible-collections/ansible.posix/issues/663).
diff --git a/plugins/modules/sysctl.py b/plugins/modules/sysctl.py
index ede962b..18499cb 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/sysctl.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/sysctl.py
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ options:
             - If V(true), performs a C(/sbin/sysctl -p) if the O(sysctl_file) is
               updated. If V(false), does not reload C(sysctl) even if the
               O(sysctl_file) is updated.
+            - For FreeBSD, can not be used with O(sysctl_file) other than C(/etc/sysctl.conf) or C(/etc/sysctl.conf.local).
         type: bool
         default: true
     sysctl_file:
@@ -166,6 +167,11 @@ class SysctlModule(object):
 
         self.platform = platform.system().lower()
 
+        # system specific tests
+        freebsd_sysctl_files = ['/etc/sysctl.conf', '/etc/sysctl.conf.local']
+        if self.platform == 'freebsd' and self.sysctl_file not in freebsd_sysctl_files and self.args['reload']:
+            self.module.fail_json(msg="%s can not be reloaded. Set reload=False." % self.sysctl_file)
+
         # Whitespace is bad
         self.args['name'] = self.args['name'].strip()
         self.args['value'] = self._parse_value(self.args['value'])