Index: share/man/man5/motd.5
===================================================================
--- share/man/man5/motd.5
+++ share/man/man5/motd.5
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 .Nd file containing message(s) of the day
 .Sh DESCRIPTION
 The file
-.Pa /var/run/motd
+.Pa /etc/motd
 is normally displayed by
 .Xr login 1
 after a user has logged in but before the shell is run.
@@ -21,7 +21,19 @@
 .Pa /etc/motd.template
 and the contents are written to
 .Pa /var/run/motd .
+.Pa /etc/motd
+becomes a symbolic link to
+.Pa /var/run/motd .
 .Pp
+To use an immutable
+.Pa /etc/motd ,
+create it as a regular file and set
+.Va update_motd
+to
+.Dq Li NO
+in
+.Xr rc.conf 5 .
+.Pp
 Individual users may suppress the display of this file by
 creating a file named
 .Dq Pa .hushlogin
@@ -29,13 +41,20 @@
 .Xr login.conf 5 .
 .Sh FILES
 .Bl -tag -width $HOME/.hushlogin -compact
+.It Pa /etc/motd
+Symbolic link to actual
+.Pa motd
+file or the message of the day if
+.Va update_motd
+is set to
+.Dq Li NO .
 .It Pa /etc/motd.template
 The template file that system administrators can edit.
 .It Pa /var/run/motd
-The message of the day.
+The generated message of the day.
 .It Pa $HOME/.hushlogin
 Suppresses output of
-.Pa /var/run/motd .
+.Pa /etc/motd .
 .El
 .Sh EXAMPLES
 .Bd -literal
@@ -50,5 +69,4 @@
 Prior to
 .Fx 13.0 ,
 .Nm
-lived in
-.Pa /etc .
+was a regular file.
Index: usr.bin/login/login.1
===================================================================
--- usr.bin/login/login.1
+++ usr.bin/login/login.1
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@
 changes device protections
 .It Pa /etc/login.conf
 login class capabilities database
-.It Pa /var/run/motd
+.It Pa /etc/motd
 message-of-the-day
 .It Pa /var/mail/user
 system mailboxes
Index: usr.bin/login/login.conf
===================================================================
--- usr.bin/login/login.conf
+++ usr.bin/login/login.conf
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 default:\
 	:passwd_format=sha512:\
 	:copyright=/etc/COPYRIGHT:\
-	:welcome=/var/run/motd:\
+	:welcome=/etc/motd:\
 	:setenv=BLOCKSIZE=K:\
 	:mail=/var/mail/$:\
 	:path=/sbin /bin /usr/sbin /usr/bin /usr/local/sbin /usr/local/bin ~/bin:\
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@
 ##
 #standard:\
 #	:copyright=/etc/COPYRIGHT:\
-#	:welcome=/var/run/motd:\
+#	:welcome=/etc/motd:\
 #	:setenv=BLOCKSIZE=K:\
 #	:mail=/var/mail/$:\
 #	:path=~/bin /bin /usr/bin /usr/local/bin:\
Index: usr.bin/login/pathnames.h
===================================================================
--- usr.bin/login/pathnames.h
+++ usr.bin/login/pathnames.h
@@ -35,6 +35,6 @@
 #include <paths.h>
 
 #define	_PATH_HUSHLOGIN		".hushlogin"
-#define	_PATH_MOTDFILE		"/var/run/motd"
+#define	_PATH_MOTDFILE		"/etc/motd"
 #define _PATH_FBTAB		"/etc/fbtab"
 #define _PATH_LOGINDEVPERM	"/etc/logindevperm"