diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.ml b/.github/workflows/ci.ml
index c10a95b7864..8bf9b0673ad 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.ml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.ml
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ let main_test_job ~analyse_job ~build_linux_job ~build_windows_job:_ ~build_macO
   let host = host_of_platform platform in
   let ocamlv = "${{ matrix.ocamlv }}" in
   job ~oc ~workflow ?section ~runs_on:(Runner [runner]) ~env:[("OPAM_TEST", "1")] ~matrix ~needs ("Test-" ^ name_of_platform platform)
-    ++ only_on MacOS (install_sys_packages ["coreutils"] ~descr:"Install gnu coreutils" [MacOS])
+    ++ only_on MacOS (install_sys_packages ["coreutils"; "gpatch"] ~descr:"Install gnu coreutils" [MacOS])
     ++ checkout ()
     ++ only_on Linux (run "Install bubblewrap" ["sudo apt install bubblewrap"])
     ++ cache Archives
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index 413f121d7c7..c996928f85a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ jobs:
       OPAM_TEST: 1
     steps:
     - name: Install gnu coreutils
-      run: brew install coreutils
+      run: brew install coreutils gpatch
     - name: Checkout tree
       uses: actions/checkout@v4
     - name: src_ext/archives and opam-repository Cache
diff --git a/master_changes.md b/master_changes.md
index bd0842b5638..32fd3c7346f 100644
--- a/master_changes.md
+++ b/master_changes.md
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ users)
   * Simplify computation of OCaml init default `sys-ocaml-*` eval variables on Unix [#5829 @dra27]
   * Add a init OCaml `sys-ocaml-system` eval variable [#5829 @dra27]
   * Mark the internal cygwin installation as recommended [#5903 @kit-ty-kate]
+  * Check for gpatch instead of patch on NetBSD and DragonFlyBSD [#5893 @kit-ty-kate]
 
 ## Config report
 
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@ users)
  * Add warning 69: Warn for new syntax when package name in variable in string interpolation contains several '+' [#5840 @rjbou]
 
 ## Repository
+  * Warn if `GNU patch` is not detected during a repository update [#5893 @kit-ty-kate]
 
 ## Lock
 
@@ -126,6 +128,9 @@ users)
   * Quote all the paths to OPAMROOT when creating the init scripts on Unix in case OPAMROOT contains spaces, backslashes or special characters [#5841 @kit-ty-kate - fix #5804]
 
 ## Internal
+  * Warn if `GNU patch` is not detected when a patch is applied [#5893 @kit-ty-kate]
+  * Use `gpatch` by default instead of `patch` on NetBSD and DragonFlyBSD [#5893 @kit-ty-kate]
+  * Use `gpatch` if it exists and is detected as GNU patch when `patch` is not `GNU patch` [#5893 @kit-ty-kate]
 
 ## Internal: Windows
   * Ensure that the system critical error dialog is disabled when opam starts [#5828 @dra27]
@@ -191,3 +196,4 @@ users)
 ## opam-core
   * `OpamStd.Sys`: add `is_cygwin_variant_cygcheck` that returns true if in path `cygcheck` is from a Cygwin or MSYS2 installation [#5843 @rjbou]
   * `OpamStd.Env.cyg_env`: takes the environment to cygify, usually `OpamStd.Env.raw_env` [#5829 @dra27]
+  * `OpamSystem.patch` now displays a warning when GNU patch is not detected and looks for both patch and gpatch as a backup option depending on the OS [#5893 @kit-ty-kate]
diff --git a/src/client/opamInitDefaults.ml b/src/client/opamInitDefaults.ml
index 0c960246526..608ac078fb7 100644
--- a/src/client/opamInitDefaults.ml
+++ b/src/client/opamInitDefaults.ml
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ let linux_filter = os_filter "linux"
 let macos_filter = os_filter "macos"
 let openbsd_filter = os_filter "openbsd"
 let freebsd_filter = os_filter "freebsd"
+let netbsd_filter = os_filter "netbsd"
+let dragonflybsd_filter = os_filter "dragonfly"
 let not_open_free_bsd_filter =
   FNot (FOr (openbsd_filter,  freebsd_filter))
 let win32_filter = os_filter "win32"
@@ -53,7 +55,9 @@ let not_win32_filter =
   FOp (FIdent ([], OpamVariable.of_string "os", None), `Neq, FString "win32")
 let sandbox_filter = FOr (linux_filter, macos_filter)
 
-let gpatch_filter = FOr (openbsd_filter, freebsd_filter)
+let gpatch_filter =
+  FOr (FOr (openbsd_filter, netbsd_filter),
+       FOr (freebsd_filter, dragonflybsd_filter))
 let patch_filter = FNot gpatch_filter
 
 let gtar_filter = openbsd_filter
diff --git a/src/core/opamSystem.ml b/src/core/opamSystem.ml
index cd4169ccd9d..d75bf3961d9 100644
--- a/src/core/opamSystem.ml
+++ b/src/core/opamSystem.ml
@@ -1633,6 +1633,40 @@ let translate_patch ~dir orig corrected =
   end;
   close_in ch
 
+let gpatch = lazy begin
+  let rec search_gpatch = function
+    | [] -> None
+    | patch_cmd::patch_cmds ->
+      match OpamProcess.run (make_command ~name:"patch" patch_cmd ["--version"]) with
+      | r ->
+        (match OpamProcess.is_success r, r.OpamProcess.r_stdout with
+         | true, full::_ when
+             OpamStd.String.is_prefix_of ~from:0 ~full "GNU patch " ->
+           Some patch_cmd
+         | _ ->
+           search_gpatch patch_cmds)
+      | exception _ -> search_gpatch patch_cmds
+  in
+  let default_cmd, other_cmds =
+    match OpamStd.Sys.os () with
+    | DragonFly
+    | FreeBSD
+    | NetBSD
+    | OpenBSD -> ("gpatch", ["patch"])
+    | Cygwin
+    | Darwin
+    | Linux
+    | Unix
+    | Win32
+    | Other _ -> ("patch", ["gpatch"])
+  in
+  match search_gpatch (default_cmd :: other_cmds) with
+  | Some gpatch -> gpatch
+  | None ->
+    OpamConsole.warning "Invalid patch utility. Please install GNU patch";
+    default_cmd
+end
+
 let patch ?(preprocess=true) ~dir p =
   if not (Sys.file_exists p) then
     (OpamConsole.error "Patch file %S not found." p;
@@ -1645,12 +1679,7 @@ let patch ?(preprocess=true) ~dir p =
     else
       p
   in
-  let patch_cmd =
-    match OpamStd.Sys.os () with
-    | OpamStd.Sys.OpenBSD
-    | OpamStd.Sys.FreeBSD -> "gpatch"
-    | _ -> "patch"
-  in
+  let patch_cmd = Lazy.force gpatch in
   make_command ~name:"patch" ~dir patch_cmd ["-p1"; "-i"; p'] @@> fun r ->
     if not (OpamConsole.debug ()) then Sys.remove p';
     if OpamProcess.is_success r then Done None
diff --git a/tests/reftests/repository.test b/tests/reftests/repository.test
index 3e087df0333..d061daf40d1 100644
--- a/tests/reftests/repository.test
+++ b/tests/reftests/repository.test
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ some content
 ### opam switch create tarring --empty
 ### opam update -vv | grep '^\+' | sed-cmd diff | sed-cmd patch | 'patch-[^"]+' -> 'patch'
 + diff "-ruaN" "default" "default.new" (CWD=${BASEDIR}/OPAM/repo)
++ patch "--version"
 + patch "-p1" "-i" "${BASEDIR}/OPAM/log/patch" (CWD=${BASEDIR}/OPAM/repo/default)
 ### ls $OPAMROOT/repo | grep -v "cache"
 default
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ build: ["test" "-f" "baz"]
 some content
 ### opam update default -vv | grep '^\+' | sed-cmd tar | sed-cmd diff | sed-cmd patch | 'patch-[^"]+' -> 'patch'
 + diff "-ruaN" "default" "default.new" (CWD=${BASEDIR}/OPAM/repo)
++ patch "--version"
 + patch "-p1" "-i" "${BASEDIR}/OPAM/log/patch" (CWD=${BASEDIR}/OPAM/repo/default)
 + tar "cfz" "${BASEDIR}/OPAM/repo/default.tar.gz.tmp" "-C" "${BASEDIR}/OPAM/repo" "default"
 ### ls $OPAMROOT/repo | grep -v "cache"
@@ -64,6 +66,7 @@ some content
 ### opam update -vv | grep '^\+' | sed-cmd tar | sed-cmd diff | sed-cmd patch | 'patch-[^"]+' -> 'patch'
 + tar "xfz" "${BASEDIR}/OPAM/repo/tarred.tar.gz" "-C" "${OPAMTMP}"
 + diff "-ruaN" "tarred" "tarred.new" (CWD=${OPAMTMP})
++ patch "--version"
 + patch "-p1" "-i" "${BASEDIR}/OPAM/log/patch" (CWD=${OPAMTMP}/tarred)
 + tar "cfz" "${BASEDIR}/OPAM/repo/tarred.tar.gz.tmp" "-C" "${OPAMTMP}" "tarred"
 ### opam install foo.4 -vv | grep '^\+' | sed-cmd test | sed-cmd tar
@@ -86,6 +89,7 @@ some content
 ### opam update -vv | grep '^\+' | sed-cmd tar | sed-cmd diff | sed-cmd patch | 'patch-[^"]+' -> 'patch'
 + tar "xfz" "${BASEDIR}/OPAM/repo/tarred.tar.gz" "-C" "${OPAMTMP}"
 + diff "-ruaN" "tarred" "tarred.new" (CWD=${OPAMTMP})
++ patch "--version"
 + patch "-p1" "-i" "${BASEDIR}/OPAM/log/patch" (CWD=${OPAMTMP}/tarred)
 ### opam install foo.5 -vv | grep '^\+' | sed-cmd test
 + test "-f" "quux" (CWD=${BASEDIR}/OPAM/tarring/.opam-switch/build/foo.5)