diff --git a/man/NetworkManager.conf.xml b/man/NetworkManager.conf.xml
index 0dc1b700d9..d8fa1b3b95 100644
--- a/man/NetworkManager.conf.xml
+++ b/man/NetworkManager.conf.xml
@@ -233,7 +233,10 @@ no-auto-default=*
             if specified (See <xref linkend="ignore-carrier"/>).
             Otherwise, it is a list of matches to specify for which device
             carrier should be ignored. See <xref linkend="device-spec"/> for the
-            syntax how to specify a device.
+            syntax how to specify a device. Note that master types like
+            bond, bridge, and team ignore carrier by default. You can however
+            revert that default using the "except:" specifier (or better,
+            use the per-device setting instead of the deprecated setting).
           </para>
         </listitem>
       </varlistentry>
@@ -839,6 +842,10 @@ unmanaged=1
               interfaces will still reflect the actual device state; it's just
               that NetworkManager will not make use of that information.
             </para>
+            <para>
+              Master types like bond, bridge and team ignore carrier by default,
+              while other device types react on carrier changes by default.
+            </para>
             <para>
               This setting overwrites the deprecated <literal>main.ignore-carrier</literal>
               setting above.
diff --git a/src/devices/nm-device.c b/src/devices/nm-device.c
index 866879c2fe..3abf46cb10 100644
--- a/src/devices/nm-device.c
+++ b/src/devices/nm-device.c
@@ -2246,25 +2246,20 @@ carrier_changed (NMDevice *self, gboolean carrier)
 		return;
 
 	if (nm_device_is_master (self)) {
-		/* Bridge/bond/team carrier does not affect its own activation,
-		 * but when carrier comes on, if there are slaves waiting,
-		 * it will restart them.
-		 */
-		if (!carrier)
+		if (carrier) {
+			/* Force master to retry getting ip addresses when carrier
+			* is restored. */
+			if (priv->state == NM_DEVICE_STATE_ACTIVATED)
+				nm_device_update_dynamic_ip_setup (self);
+			else {
+				if (nm_device_activate_ip4_state_in_wait (self))
+					nm_device_activate_stage3_ip4_start (self);
+				if (nm_device_activate_ip6_state_in_wait (self))
+					nm_device_activate_stage3_ip6_start (self);
+			}
 			return;
-
-		/* Force master to retry getting ip addresses when carrier
-		 * is restored. */
-		if (priv->state == NM_DEVICE_STATE_ACTIVATED)
-			nm_device_update_dynamic_ip_setup (self);
-		else {
-			if (nm_device_activate_ip4_state_in_wait (self))
-				nm_device_activate_stage3_ip4_start (self);
-			if (nm_device_activate_ip6_state_in_wait (self))
-				nm_device_activate_stage3_ip6_start (self);
 		}
-
-		return;
+		/* fall-through and change state of device */
 	} else if (priv->is_enslaved && !carrier) {
 		/* Slaves don't deactivate when they lose carrier; for
 		 * bonds/teams in particular that would be actively
@@ -3843,9 +3838,8 @@ nm_device_is_available (NMDevice *self, NMDeviceCheckDevAvailableFlags flags)
 gboolean
 nm_device_ignore_carrier_by_default (NMDevice *self)
 {
-	g_return_val_if_fail (NM_IS_DEVICE (self), FALSE);
-
-	return FALSE;
+	/* master types ignore-carrier by default. */
+	return nm_device_is_master (self);
 }
 
 gboolean