diff --git a/module/os/freebsd/spl/spl_sysevent.c b/module/os/freebsd/spl/spl_sysevent.c
index d5d50080fafd..16188c71b53d 100644
--- a/module/os/freebsd/spl/spl_sysevent.c
+++ b/module/os/freebsd/spl/spl_sysevent.c
@@ -250,7 +250,17 @@ sysevent_worker(void *arg __unused)
 			nvlist_free(event);
 		}
 	}
-	zfs_zevent_destroy(ze);
+
+	/*
+	 * We avoid zfs_zevent_destroy() here because we're otherwise racing
+	 * against fm_fini() destroying the zevent_lock.  zfs_zevent_destroy()
+	 * will currently only clear `ze->ze_zevent` from an event list then
+	 * free `ze`, so just inline the free() here -- events have already
+	 * been drained.
+	 */
+	VERIFY3P(ze->ze_zevent, ==, NULL);
+	kmem_free(ze, sizeof (zfs_zevent_t));
+
 	kthread_exit();
 }