diff --git a/plist b/plist
index 323c58c40..d84ebc777 100644
--- a/plist
+++ b/plist
@@ -1395,6 +1395,7 @@
 /usr/local/opnsense/service/templates/OPNsense/Cron/user.cron
 /usr/local/opnsense/service/templates/OPNsense/Dnsmasq/+TARGETS
 /usr/local/opnsense/service/templates/OPNsense/Dnsmasq/dnsmasq.conf
+/usr/local/opnsense/service/templates/OPNsense/Dnsmasq/rc.conf.d
 /usr/local/opnsense/service/templates/OPNsense/Filter/+TARGETS
 /usr/local/opnsense/service/templates/OPNsense/Filter/filter_geoip.conf
 /usr/local/opnsense/service/templates/OPNsense/Filter/filter_tables.conf
diff --git a/src/etc/inc/plugins.inc.d/dnsmasq.inc b/src/etc/inc/plugins.inc.d/dnsmasq.inc
index 4bfa5567d..56def1751 100644
--- a/src/etc/inc/plugins.inc.d/dnsmasq.inc
+++ b/src/etc/inc/plugins.inc.d/dnsmasq.inc
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ function dnsmasq_services()
 {
     $services = [];
 
-    if (!dnsmasq_enabled() && !isvalidpid('/var/run/dnsmasq.pid')) {
+    if (!dnsmasq_enabled()) {
         return $services;
     }
 
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ function dnsmasq_services()
     $pconfig['description'] = gettext('Dnsmasq DNS');
     $pconfig['php']['restart'] = ['dnsmasq_configure_do'];
     $pconfig['php']['start'] = ['dnsmasq_configure_do'];
+    $pconfig['configd']['stop'] = ['dnsmasq stop'];
     $pconfig['pidfile'] = '/var/run/dnsmasq.pid';
     $services[] = $pconfig;
 
@@ -139,7 +140,7 @@ function dnsmasq_configure_do($verbose = false)
     global $config;
 
     killbypid('/var/run/dnsmasq_dhcpd.pid');
-    killbypid('/var/run/dnsmasq.pid');
+    mwexec('/usr/local/etc/rc.d/dnsmasq stop');
 
     if (!dnsmasq_enabled()) {
         return;
@@ -149,7 +150,7 @@ function dnsmasq_configure_do($verbose = false)
 
     _dnsmasq_add_host_entries();
 
-    mwexec("/usr/local/sbin/dnsmasq");
+    mwexec('/usr/local/etc/rc.d/dnsmasq start');
 
     if (!empty($config['dnsmasq']['regdhcp'])) {
         /* XXX: deprecate when moving ISC to plugins ? */
diff --git a/src/opnsense/service/conf/actions.d/actions_dnsmasq.conf b/src/opnsense/service/conf/actions.d/actions_dnsmasq.conf
index dfe075474..380ca9eba 100644
--- a/src/opnsense/service/conf/actions.d/actions_dnsmasq.conf
+++ b/src/opnsense/service/conf/actions.d/actions_dnsmasq.conf
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ type:script
 message:Starting Dnsmasq
 
 [stop]
-command:/usr/local/sbin/pluginctl -s dnsmasq stop
+command:/usr/local/etc/rc.d/dnsmasq stop
 type:script
 message:Stopping Dnsmasq
 
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ message:Restarting Dnsmasq
 description:Restart Dnsmasq DNS service
 
 [status]
-command:/usr/local/sbin/pluginctl -s dnsmasq status
+command:/usr/local/etc/rc.d/dnsmasq status; exit 0
 type:script_output
 message:Request Dnsmasq status
 
diff --git a/src/opnsense/service/templates/OPNsense/Dnsmasq/+TARGETS b/src/opnsense/service/templates/OPNsense/Dnsmasq/+TARGETS
index aec11b7ba..a679be076 100644
--- a/src/opnsense/service/templates/OPNsense/Dnsmasq/+TARGETS
+++ b/src/opnsense/service/templates/OPNsense/Dnsmasq/+TARGETS
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 dnsmasq.conf:/usr/local/etc/dnsmasq.conf
+rc.conf.d:/etc/rc.conf.d/dnsmasq
diff --git a/src/opnsense/service/templates/OPNsense/Dnsmasq/rc.conf.d b/src/opnsense/service/templates/OPNsense/Dnsmasq/rc.conf.d
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b4f7668f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/opnsense/service/templates/OPNsense/Dnsmasq/rc.conf.d
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{% if not helpers.empty('dnsmasq.enable') %}
+dnsmasq_enable="YES"
+dnsmasq_skip="YES"
+{% else %}
+dnsmasq_enable="NO"
+{% endif %}