diff --git a/tests/functional/tests.d/900-strict-checking.sh b/tests/functional/tests.d/900-strict-checking.sh
index 6ff3ed5..d9fce2c 100644
--- a/tests/functional/tests.d/900-strict-checking.sh
+++ b/tests/functional/tests.d/900-strict-checking.sh
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ testsuite_strict_checking()
 
     # change the remote hostkeys, also send HUP to force sshd to take the change into account (Ubuntu 24+ at least),
     # don't check return value as we'll kill our own session with pkill, as a collateral damage.
-    # uname -s: under FreeBSD, this interrupts the tests otherwise.
-    run change_host_keys $r0 "\"find /etc/ssh/ -type f -name 'ssh_host_*' -delete; ssh-keygen -A; test \$(uname -s) = Linux && pkill -HUP sshd\""
+    # FreeBSD: -a includes our process tree, otherwise this shadows sshd. it'll kill our current session so don't check for a return code
+    run change_host_keys $r0 "\"find /etc/ssh/ -type f -name 'ssh_host_*' -delete; ssh-keygen -A; test -e /bin/freebsd-version && pkill -HUP -a -f sshd: || pkill -HUP sshd\""
 
     # set bastion ssh_client config to StrictHostKeyChecking yes
     sshclientconfigchg 's=StrictHostKeyChecking.*=StrictHostKeyChecking\\\\x20yes=g'