diff --git a/internal/agentupdate/update.go b/internal/agentupdate/update.go
index d0a040d5c..7faeff302 100644
--- a/internal/agentupdate/update.go
+++ b/internal/agentupdate/update.go
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ var (
 	restartProcessFn             = restartProcess
 	execCommandContextFn         = exec.CommandContext
 	osExecutableFn               = os.Executable
+	osArgsFn                     = func() []string { return os.Args }
 	evalSymlinksFn               = filepath.EvalSymlinks
 	createTempFn                 = os.CreateTemp
 	chmodFn                      = os.Chmod
@@ -628,13 +629,39 @@ func (u *Updater) validatePulseURL() error {
 
 // performUpdate downloads and installs the new agent binary.
 func (u *Updater) performUpdate(ctx context.Context) error {
-	execPath, err := osExecutableFn()
+	execPath, err := resolveExecutablePath()
 	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get executable path: %w", err)
+		return err
 	}
 	return u.performUpdateWithExecPath(ctx, execPath)
 }
 
+// resolveExecutablePath returns the running binary's path, falling back to an
+// absolute os.Args[0] when os.Executable() fails or returns empty. This happens
+// on FreeBSD/OPNsense, where without the fallback the agent cannot self-update
+// (#1457).
+func resolveExecutablePath() (string, error) {
+	execPath, err := osExecutableFn()
+	if err == nil && strings.TrimSpace(execPath) != "" {
+		return execPath, nil
+	}
+
+	args := osArgsFn()
+	if len(args) > 0 {
+		candidate := strings.TrimSpace(args[0])
+		if filepath.IsAbs(candidate) {
+			if info, statErr := os.Stat(candidate); statErr == nil && !info.IsDir() {
+				return candidate, nil
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if err == nil {
+		err = errors.New("empty executable path")
+	}
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to get executable path: %w", err)
+}
+
 func (u *Updater) performUpdateWithExecPath(ctx context.Context, execPath string) error {
 	agentName, err := normalizeAgentName(u.cfg.AgentName)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/agentupdate/update_test.go b/internal/agentupdate/update_test.go
index 279fc7a34..0d7dafe8d 100644
--- a/internal/agentupdate/update_test.go
+++ b/internal/agentupdate/update_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package agentupdate
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
@@ -519,3 +520,49 @@ func TestConstants(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("downloadTimeout = %v, want 5m", downloadTimeout)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestResolveExecutablePath(t *testing.T) {
+	origExec := osExecutableFn
+	origArgs := osArgsFn
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		osExecutableFn = origExec
+		osArgsFn = origArgs
+	})
+
+	t.Run("returns os.Executable when available", func(t *testing.T) {
+		osExecutableFn = func() (string, error) { return "/usr/local/bin/pulse-agent", nil }
+		osArgsFn = func() []string { return []string{"argv0"} }
+		got, err := resolveExecutablePath()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+		}
+		if got != "/usr/local/bin/pulse-agent" {
+			t.Fatalf("got %q", got)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("falls back to absolute argv0 when os.Executable is empty", func(t *testing.T) {
+		dir := t.TempDir()
+		bin := filepath.Join(dir, "pulse-agent")
+		if err := os.WriteFile(bin, []byte("x"), 0o755); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		osExecutableFn = func() (string, error) { return "", nil }
+		osArgsFn = func() []string { return []string{bin} }
+		got, err := resolveExecutablePath()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+		}
+		if got != bin {
+			t.Fatalf("got %q, want %q", got, bin)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("errors when neither source is usable", func(t *testing.T) {
+		osExecutableFn = func() (string, error) { return "", errors.New("boom") }
+		osArgsFn = func() []string { return []string{"relative-arg"} }
+		if _, err := resolveExecutablePath(); err == nil {
+			t.Fatal("expected error")
+		}
+	})
+}