diff --git a/Lib/test/support/__init__.py b/Lib/test/support/__init__.py
index 2cac70f4ab2afb..2200d7e05104d0 100644
--- a/Lib/test/support/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/test/support/__init__.py
@@ -3164,7 +3164,7 @@ def in_systemd_nspawn_sync_suppressed() -> bool:
         with open("/run/systemd/container", "rb") as fp:
             if fp.read().rstrip() != b"systemd-nspawn":
                 return False
-    except FileNotFoundError:
+    except (FileNotFoundError, PermissionError):
         return False
 
     # If systemd-nspawn is used, O_SYNC flag will immediately
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Tests/2026-04-24-01-38-56.gh-issue-148853._uM4_Q.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Tests/2026-04-24-01-38-56.gh-issue-148853._uM4_Q.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..9f76e2ac137938
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Tests/2026-04-24-01-38-56.gh-issue-148853._uM4_Q.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Fix tests failing on FreeBSD in
+:func:`test.support.in_systemd_nspawn_sync_suppressed` due to unreadable
+/run directory.