diff --git a/share/mk/src.opts.mk b/share/mk/src.opts.mk
--- a/share/mk/src.opts.mk
+++ b/share/mk/src.opts.mk
@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@
     LOADER_KBOOT \
     LOADER_LUA \
     LOADER_OFW \
+    LOADER_PXELDR \
     LOADER_UBOOT \
     LOCALES \
     LOCATE \
diff --git a/stand/i386/Makefile b/stand/i386/Makefile
--- a/stand/i386/Makefile
+++ b/stand/i386/Makefile
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 SUBDIR.yes+=	loader_simp
 
 # special boot programs, 'self-extracting boot2+loader'
-SUBDIR.yes+=	pxeldr
+SUBDIR.${MK_LOADER_PXELDR}+=	pxeldr
 
 SUBDIR.${MK_LOADER_ZFS}+=	zfsboot gptzfsboot
 
diff --git a/tools/build/options/WITHOUT_LOADER_PXELDR b/tools/build/options/WITHOUT_LOADER_PXELDR
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/build/options/WITHOUT_LOADER_PXELDR
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+Do not build pxeldr on i386/amd64.
+When the pxeldr is too large, or unneeded, it may be disabled with this option.
+See
+.Va WITH_LOADER_PXELDR
+for how to adjust the defaults when you need both a larger
+.Pa /boot/loader
+and
+.Pa pxeldr .
+.Pp
+This option only has an effect on x86.
diff --git a/tools/build/options/WITH_LOADER_PXELDR b/tools/build/options/WITH_LOADER_PXELDR
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/build/options/WITH_LOADER_PXELDR
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+Build pxeldr on i386/amd64.
+The PXE Boot loader package needs more space than we may have in the boot loader.
+If you need to increase
+.Va LOADERSIZE
+beyond 500000, then building pxeldr will fail.
+To allow a larger
+.Va LOADERSIZE
+for some environemnts, it may be necessary to disable pxeldr builds or adjust
+its defaults.
+You can set the default loader for pxeldr to use independently of the system
+default by setting
+.Va PXELDR_DEFAULT_INTERP
+to one of
+.Dq lua ,
+.Dq 4th ,
+or
+.Dq simp .
+The limit on the size of the loader used for
+.Pa pxeldr
+can be set independently with
+.Va PXELDR .
+.Pp
+This option only has an effect on x86.