diff --git a/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c b/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c
index 5f80bc36c6..6311b3b9b9 100644
--- a/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c
+++ b/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c
@@ -790,6 +790,7 @@ init_link (NMPlatform *platform, NMPlatformLink *info, struct rtnl_link *rtnllin
 	GUdevDevice *udev_device;
 
 	g_return_val_if_fail (rtnllink, FALSE);
+	g_return_val_if_fail (rtnl_link_get_name (rtnllink), FALSE);
 
 	memset (info, 0, sizeof (*info));