diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__directory/explorer/group b/cdist/conf/type/__directory/explorer/group
index b14794e3..4da5b45d 100644
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__directory/explorer/group
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__directory/explorer/group
@@ -22,7 +22,19 @@
 #
 
 destination="/$__object_id"
+# Since $__global isn't available, use uname directly, uname and tr are both part of POSIX
+os="$(uname -s | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')"
+
+case "$os" in
+   "freebsd")
+      cmd="stat -f %Sg"
+      ;;
+   *)
+      cmd="stat -c %G"
+      ;;
+esac
 
 if [ -e "$destination" ]; then
-  stat -c "%G" "$destination"
+  $cmd "$destination"
 fi
+
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__directory/explorer/mode b/cdist/conf/type/__directory/explorer/mode
index 3ffa497e..1d40c795 100644
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__directory/explorer/mode
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__directory/explorer/mode
@@ -22,7 +22,19 @@
 #
 
 destination="/$__object_id"
+# Since $__global isn't available, use uname directly, uname and tr are both part of POSIX
+os="$(uname -s | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')"
+
+case "$os" in
+   "freebsd")
+      cmd="stat -f %Op"
+      ;;
+   *)
+      cmd="stat -c %a"
+      ;;
+esac
 
 if [ -e "$destination" ]; then
-  stat -c "%a" "$destination"
+  $cmd "$destination"
 fi
+
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__directory/explorer/owner b/cdist/conf/type/__directory/explorer/owner
index a691ac1b..452dc672 100644
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__directory/explorer/owner
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__directory/explorer/owner
@@ -22,7 +22,19 @@
 #
 
 destination="/$__object_id"
+# Since $__global isn't available, use uname directly, uname and tr are both part of POSIX
+os="$(uname -s | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')"
+
+case "$os" in
+   "freebsd")
+      cmd="stat -f %Su"
+      ;;  
+   *)  
+      cmd="stat -c %U"
+      ;;  
+esac
 
 if [ -e "$destination" ]; then
-  stat -c "%U" "$destination"
+  $cmd "$destination"
 fi
+