diff --git a/src/core/vpn/nm-vpn-connection.c b/src/core/vpn/nm-vpn-connection.c
index 0b36459cf7..54478c5362 100644
--- a/src/core/vpn/nm-vpn-connection.c
+++ b/src/core/vpn/nm-vpn-connection.c
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ typedef struct {
     };
 
     GSource           *init_fail_on_idle_source;
+    GSource           *check_device_added_idle_source;
     GSource           *connect_timeout_source;
     GCancellable      *main_cancellable;
     GVariant          *connect_hash;
@@ -229,6 +230,8 @@ static void _set_vpn_state(NMVpnConnection              *self,
 static void
 _l3cfg_notify_cb(NML3Cfg *l3cfg, const NML3ConfigNotifyData *notify_data, NMVpnConnection *self);
 
+static void _check_complete(NMVpnConnection *self, gboolean success);
+
 /*****************************************************************************/
 
 #define _NMLOG_DOMAIN      LOGD_VPN
@@ -1405,6 +1408,18 @@ fw_change_zone_cb(NMFirewalldManager       *firewalld_manager,
     _apply_config(self);
 }
 
+static gboolean
+_check_device_added_idle_cb(gpointer user_data)
+{
+    NMVpnConnection        *self = user_data;
+    NMVpnConnectionPrivate *priv = NM_VPN_CONNECTION_GET_PRIVATE(self);
+
+    _check_complete(self, TRUE);
+    nm_clear_g_source_inst(&priv->check_device_added_idle_source);
+
+    return G_SOURCE_CONTINUE;
+}
+
 static void
 _check_complete(NMVpnConnection *self, gboolean success)
 {
@@ -1442,13 +1457,24 @@ _check_complete(NMVpnConnection *self, gboolean success)
 
     connection = _get_applied_connection(self);
     ifindex    = nm_vpn_connection_get_ip_ifindex(self, FALSE);
+    device     = nm_manager_get_device_by_ifindex(NM_MANAGER_GET, ifindex);
+
+    /* We have a defined interface index, but the device is not processed yet.
+     * The processing of the new kernel link could be queued in an idle handler,
+     * so schedule an idle handler once to check if the device has been processed.
+     */
+    if (ifindex > 0 && !device && !priv->check_device_added_idle_source) {
+        priv->check_device_added_idle_source =
+            nm_g_idle_add_source(_check_device_added_idle_cb, self);
+        return;
+    }
+
     /* Use nm_device_create_l3_config_data_from_connection here if possible. This ensures that
      * connection properties like mdns, llmnr, dns-over-tls or dnssec are applied to vpn connections
      * If this vpn connection does not have its own device resort to nm_l3_config_data_new_from_connection
      * since we can't properly apply these properties anyway
      */
     if (ifindex > 0) {
-        device = nm_manager_get_device_by_ifindex(NM_MANAGER_GET, ifindex);
         nm_assert(device);
         l3cd = nm_device_create_l3_config_data_from_connection(device, connection);
     } else {
@@ -3042,6 +3068,8 @@ dispose(GObject *object)
 
     nm_clear_g_source_inst(&priv->init_fail_on_idle_source);
 
+    nm_clear_g_source_inst(&priv->check_device_added_idle_source);
+
     nm_clear_g_cancellable(&priv->main_cancellable);
 
     nm_clear_g_source_inst(&priv->start_timeout_source);