diff --git a/libexec/rc/network.subr b/libexec/rc/network.subr
--- a/libexec/rc/network.subr
+++ b/libexec/rc/network.subr
@@ -423,7 +423,27 @@
 		esac
 	done
 
-	checkyesno synchronous_dhclient
+	checkyesno synchronous_dhclient && return
+
+	# Auto-switching to SYNCDHCP must only happen if DHCP is defined, so
+	# check for dhcpif (again for ifconfig_up() usage, but to be safe for
+	#						other/future consumers)
+	dhcpif $1 || return
+
+	# Assume user wants SYNCDHCP if devd(8) was (intentionally) disabled,
+	# but overseen that ifconfig="DHCP" won't work in that case.
+	checkyesno devd_enable || return 0
+
+	# If $skip doesn't list any keyword starting with "nojail" return with
+	# non zero since the result from 'checkyesno synchronous_dhclient' was
+	# non zero.
+	[ "${skip}" != "${skip#* nojail}" ] || return
+
+	# If $skip doesn't list keyword "nojailvnet" (but "nojail" was found,
+	# otherwise we would return above), auto-switching to SYNCDHCP happens.
+	# The test reflects non zero checkyesno synchronous_dhclient' result
+	# otherwise.
+	[ "${skip}" = "${skip#* nojailvnet}" ]
 }
 
 # wpaif if