diff --git a/sys/fs/nullfs/null_vfsops.c b/sys/fs/nullfs/null_vfsops.c
--- a/sys/fs/nullfs/null_vfsops.c
+++ b/sys/fs/nullfs/null_vfsops.c
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
 #include <sys/mount.h>
 #include <sys/namei.h>
 #include <sys/proc.h>
+#include <sys/sysctl.h>
 #include <sys/vnode.h>
 #include <sys/jail.h>
 
@@ -63,6 +64,13 @@
 static vfs_vget_t	nullfs_vget;
 static vfs_extattrctl_t	nullfs_extattrctl;
 
+SYSCTL_NODE(_vfs, OID_AUTO, nullfs, CTLFLAG_RW, 0, "nullfs");
+
+static bool null_cache_vnodes = true;
+SYSCTL_BOOL(_vfs_nullfs, OID_AUTO, cache_vnodes, CTLFLAG_RWTUN,
+    &null_cache_vnodes, 0,
+    "cache free nullfs vnodes");
+
 /*
  * Mount null layer
  */
@@ -198,7 +206,8 @@
 	}
 
 	xmp->nullm_flags |= NULLM_CACHE;
-	if (vfs_getopt(mp->mnt_optnew, "nocache", NULL, NULL) == 0 ||
+	if (!null_cache_vnodes ||
+	    vfs_getopt(mp->mnt_optnew, "nocache", NULL, NULL) == 0 ||
 	    (xmp->nullm_vfs->mnt_kern_flag & MNTK_NULL_NOCACHE) != 0)
 		xmp->nullm_flags &= ~NULLM_CACHE;