diff --git a/src/platform/nm-netlink.c b/src/platform/nm-netlink.c
index 71506a2c37..a03dda53bb 100644
--- a/src/platform/nm-netlink.c
+++ b/src/platform/nm-netlink.c
@@ -510,7 +510,7 @@ nla_nest_start (struct nl_msg *msg, int attrtype)
 {
 	struct nlattr *start = (struct nlattr *) nlmsg_tail (msg->nm_nlh);
 
-	if (nla_put (msg, attrtype, 0, NULL) < 0)
+	if (nla_put (msg, NLA_F_NESTED | attrtype, 0, NULL) < 0)
 		return NULL;
 
 	return start;