diff --git a/usr.sbin/daemon/daemon.c b/usr.sbin/daemon/daemon.c
index dd3315dadee4..26e34d1d2e2b 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/daemon/daemon.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/daemon/daemon.c
@@ -248,6 +248,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			if (e != NULL) {
 				errx(6, "invalid restart delay: %s", e);
 			}
+			state.mode = MODE_SUPERVISE;
 			break;
 		case 's':
 			state.syslog_priority = get_log_mapping(optarg,