diff --git a/libexec/rc/rc.d/kldxref b/libexec/rc/rc.d/kldxref
--- a/libexec/rc/rc.d/kldxref
+++ b/libexec/rc/rc.d/kldxref
@@ -19,17 +19,18 @@
 	if [ -n "$kldxref_module_path" ]; then
 		MODULE_PATHS="$kldxref_module_path"
 	else
-		MODULE_PATHS=`sysctl -n kern.module_path`
+		MODULE_PATHS=$(sysctl -n kern.module_path)
+	fi
+	if checkyesno kldxref_clobber; then
+		IFS=';'
+		for MODULE_DIR in $MODULE_PATHS; do
+			if [ ! -f "${MODULE_DIR}/linker.hints" ] &&
+			    [ -n "$(find "${MODULE_DIR}" -name "*.ko" 2> /dev/null)" ]; then
+				echo "Building $MODULE_DIR/linker.hints"
+				kldxref "$MODULE_DIR"
+			fi
+		done
 	fi
-	IFS=';'
-	for MODULE_DIR in $MODULE_PATHS; do
-		if checkyesno kldxref_clobber ||
-		    [ ! -f "$MODULE_DIR/linker.hints" ] &&
-		    [ `echo ${MODULE_DIR}/*.ko` != "${MODULE_DIR}/*.ko" ]; then
-			echo "Building $MODULE_DIR/linker.hints"
-			kldxref "$MODULE_DIR"
-		fi
-	done
 }
 
 load_rc_config $name