diff --git a/beets/util/__init__.py b/beets/util/__init__.py
index 30a1fcba9..f17571f0d 100644
--- a/beets/util/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/util/__init__.py
@@ -660,8 +660,8 @@ def cpu_count():
             num = 0
     elif sys.platform == b'darwin':
         try:
-            num = int(command_output([b'sysctl', b'-n', b'hw.ncpu']))
-        except ValueError:
+            num = int(command_output([b'/usr/sbin/sysctl', b'-n', b'hw.ncpu']))
+        except (ValueError, OSError, subprocess.CalledProcessError):
             num = 0
     else:
         try:
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index a0e7d70c3..196795698 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ Fixes:
 * Fix an edge case when producing sanitized filenames where the maximum path
   length conflicted with the :ref:`replace` rules. Thanks to Ben Ockmore.
   :bug:`496` :bug:`1361`
+* Fix an incompatibility with OS X 10.11 (where ``/usr/sbin`` seems not to be
+  on the user's path by default).
 
 
 1.3.13 (April 24, 2015)