diff --git a/src/libnm-platform/nm-linux-platform.c b/src/libnm-platform/nm-linux-platform.c
index 954b8a61e6..3cbb6a685d 100644
--- a/src/libnm-platform/nm-linux-platform.c
+++ b/src/libnm-platform/nm-linux-platform.c
@@ -1590,7 +1590,7 @@ _parse_lnk_bond(const char *kind, struct nlattr *info_data)
     if (tb[IFLA_BOND_MODE])
         props->mode = nla_get_u8(tb[IFLA_BOND_MODE]);
     if (tb[IFLA_BOND_PRIMARY])
-        props->primary = nla_get_u32(tb[IFLA_BOND_PRIMARY]);
+        props->primary = NM_CLAMP((int) nla_get_u32(tb[IFLA_BOND_PRIMARY]), 0, G_MAXINT);
     if (tb[IFLA_BOND_MIIMON]) {
         props->miimon     = nla_get_u32(tb[IFLA_BOND_MIIMON]);
         props->miimon_has = TRUE;
@@ -4536,7 +4536,7 @@ _nl_msg_new_link_set_linkinfo(struct nl_msg *msg, NMLinkType link_type, gconstpo
             NLA_PUT_U32(msg, IFLA_BOND_PACKETS_PER_SLAVE, props->packets_per_port);
         if (props->peer_notif_delay_has)
             NLA_PUT_U32(msg, IFLA_BOND_PEER_NOTIF_DELAY, props->peer_notif_delay);
-        if (props->primary)
+        if (props->primary > 0)
             NLA_PUT_U32(msg, IFLA_BOND_PRIMARY, props->primary);
         if (props->resend_igmp_has)
             NLA_PUT_U32(msg, IFLA_BOND_RESEND_IGMP, props->resend_igmp);
diff --git a/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.c b/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.c
index c023506439..aff31fe598 100644
--- a/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.c
+++ b/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.c
@@ -6094,7 +6094,7 @@ nm_platform_lnk_bond_to_string(const NMPlatformLnkBond *lnk, char *buf, gsize le
         &len,
         "bond"
         " mode %u"
-        " primary %u"
+        " primary %d"
         "%s" /* miimon */
         "%s" /* updelay */
         "%s" /* downdelay */
diff --git a/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.h b/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.h
index e1715ad9eb..3251c9f3ba 100644
--- a/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.h
+++ b/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.h
@@ -905,7 +905,7 @@ typedef struct {
     guint32     min_links;
     guint32     packets_per_port;
     guint32     peer_notif_delay;
-    guint32     primary;
+    int         primary;
     guint32     resend_igmp;
     guint32     updelay;
     guint16     ad_actor_sys_prio;