diff --git a/cmd/vdev_id/vdev_id b/cmd/vdev_id/vdev_id
index c7d962045b..a2cba086ee 100755
--- a/cmd/vdev_id/vdev_id
+++ b/cmd/vdev_id/vdev_id
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ sas_handler() {
 
 	PHY=`ls -d $port_dir/phy* 2>/dev/null | head -1 | awk -F: '{print $NF}'`
 	if [ -z "$PHY" ] ; then
-		return
+		PHY=0
 	fi
 	PORT=$(( $PHY / $PHYS_PER_PORT ))
 
@@ -262,6 +262,10 @@ sas_handler() {
 	"phy")
 		SLOT=`cat $end_device_dir/phy_identifier 2>/dev/null`
 		;;
+	"port")
+		d=$(eval echo \${$i})
+		SLOT=`echo $d | sed -e 's/^.*://'`
+		;;
 	"id")
 		i=$(($i + 1))
 		d=$(eval echo \${$i})
diff --git a/man/man5/vdev_id.conf.5 b/man/man5/vdev_id.conf.5
index 4fea83157f..eff8c27cc4 100644
--- a/man/man5/vdev_id.conf.5
+++ b/man/man5/vdev_id.conf.5
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ internally uses this value to determine which HBA or switch port a
 device is connected to.  The default is 4.
 
 .TP
-\fIslot\fR <bay|phy|id|lun>
+\fIslot\fR <bay|phy|port|id|lun>
 Specifies from which element of a SAS identifier the slot number is
 taken.  The default is bay.
 
@@ -98,6 +98,8 @@ taken.  The default is bay.
 
 \fIphy\fR - read the slot number from the phy identifier.
 
+\fIport\fR - use the SAS port as the slot number.
+
 \fIid\fR - use the scsi id as the slot number.
 
 \fIlun\fR - use the scsi lun as the slot number.