diff --git a/libnm-core/nm-utils.c b/libnm-core/nm-utils.c
index 833cc30e5b..cff2131ca4 100644
--- a/libnm-core/nm-utils.c
+++ b/libnm-core/nm-utils.c
@@ -2332,6 +2332,9 @@ static const NMVariantAttributeSpec *const tc_qdisc_fq_codel_spec[] = {
 	NM_VARIANT_ATTRIBUTE_SPEC_DEFINE ("target",       G_VARIANT_TYPE_UINT32,                    ),
 	NM_VARIANT_ATTRIBUTE_SPEC_DEFINE ("interval",     G_VARIANT_TYPE_UINT32,                    ),
 	NM_VARIANT_ATTRIBUTE_SPEC_DEFINE ("quantum",      G_VARIANT_TYPE_UINT32,                    ),
+
+	/* 0x83126E97u is not a valid value (it means "disabled"). We should reject that
+	 * value. Or alternatively, reject all values >= MAX_INT(32). */
 	NM_VARIANT_ATTRIBUTE_SPEC_DEFINE ("ce_threshold", G_VARIANT_TYPE_UINT32,                    ),
 
 	/* kernel clamps the value at 2^31. Possibly such values should be rejected from configuration
diff --git a/src/devices/nm-device.c b/src/devices/nm-device.c
index 7e1a6e711a..cca26ad7be 100644
--- a/src/devices/nm-device.c
+++ b/src/devices/nm-device.c
@@ -6542,7 +6542,7 @@ tc_commit (NMDevice *self)
 				GET_ATTR("target", qdisc->fq_codel.target, UINT32, uint32, 0);
 				GET_ATTR("interval", qdisc->fq_codel.interval, UINT32, uint32, 0);
 				GET_ATTR("quantum", qdisc->fq_codel.quantum, UINT32, uint32, 0);
-				GET_ATTR("ce_threshold", qdisc->fq_codel.ce_threshold, UINT32, uint32, -1);
+				GET_ATTR("ce_threshold", qdisc->fq_codel.ce_threshold, UINT32, uint32, NM_PLATFORM_FQ_CODEL_CE_THRESHOLD_DISABLED);
 				GET_ATTR("memory", qdisc->fq_codel.memory, UINT32, uint32, NM_PLATFORM_FQ_CODEL_MEMORY_LIMIT_UNSET);
 				GET_ATTR("ecn", qdisc->fq_codel.ecn, BOOLEAN, boolean, FALSE);
 			}
diff --git a/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c b/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c
index 2c7ba4015a..f89052c015 100644
--- a/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c
+++ b/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c
@@ -3515,8 +3515,10 @@ _new_from_nl_qdisc (struct nlmsghdr *nlh, gboolean id_only)
 	obj->qdisc.parent = tcm->tcm_parent;
 	obj->qdisc.info = tcm->tcm_info;
 
-	if (nm_streq0 (obj->qdisc.kind, "fq_codel"))
+	if (nm_streq0 (obj->qdisc.kind, "fq_codel")) {
 		obj->qdisc.fq_codel.memory = NM_PLATFORM_FQ_CODEL_MEMORY_LIMIT_UNSET;
+		obj->qdisc.fq_codel.ce_threshold = NM_PLATFORM_FQ_CODEL_CE_THRESHOLD_DISABLED;
+	}
 
 	if (tb[TCA_OPTIONS]) {
 		struct nlattr *options_attr;
@@ -4242,7 +4244,7 @@ _nl_msg_new_qdisc (int nlmsg_type,
 			NLA_PUT_U32 (msg, TCA_FQ_CODEL_INTERVAL, qdisc->fq_codel.interval);
 		if (qdisc->fq_codel.quantum)
 			NLA_PUT_U32 (msg, TCA_FQ_CODEL_QUANTUM, qdisc->fq_codel.quantum);
-		if (qdisc->fq_codel.ce_threshold != -1)
+		if (qdisc->fq_codel.ce_threshold != NM_PLATFORM_FQ_CODEL_CE_THRESHOLD_DISABLED)
 			NLA_PUT_U32 (msg, TCA_FQ_CODEL_CE_THRESHOLD, qdisc->fq_codel.ce_threshold);
 		if (qdisc->fq_codel.memory != NM_PLATFORM_FQ_CODEL_MEMORY_LIMIT_UNSET)
 			NLA_PUT_U32 (msg, TCA_FQ_CODEL_MEMORY_LIMIT, qdisc->fq_codel.memory);
diff --git a/src/platform/nm-platform.c b/src/platform/nm-platform.c
index fc49db19a1..cbf9eed5c1 100644
--- a/src/platform/nm-platform.c
+++ b/src/platform/nm-platform.c
@@ -6453,7 +6453,7 @@ nm_platform_qdisc_to_string (const NMPlatformQdisc *qdisc, char *buf, gsize len)
 			nm_utils_strbuf_append (&buf, &len, " interval %u", qdisc->fq_codel.interval);
 		if (qdisc->fq_codel.quantum)
 			nm_utils_strbuf_append (&buf, &len, " quantum %u", qdisc->fq_codel.quantum);
-		if (qdisc->fq_codel.ce_threshold != -1)
+		if (qdisc->fq_codel.ce_threshold != NM_PLATFORM_FQ_CODEL_CE_THRESHOLD_DISABLED)
 			nm_utils_strbuf_append (&buf, &len, " ce_threshold %u", qdisc->fq_codel.ce_threshold);
 		if (qdisc->fq_codel.memory != NM_PLATFORM_FQ_CODEL_MEMORY_LIMIT_UNSET)
 			nm_utils_strbuf_append (&buf, &len, " memory %u", qdisc->fq_codel.memory);
diff --git a/src/platform/nm-platform.h b/src/platform/nm-platform.h
index 9f9fcf5c31..d7c388b1b8 100644
--- a/src/platform/nm-platform.h
+++ b/src/platform/nm-platform.h
@@ -598,13 +598,23 @@ typedef struct {
 
 #define NM_PLATFORM_FQ_CODEL_MEMORY_LIMIT_UNSET   (~((guint32) 0))
 
+#define NM_PLATFORM_FQ_CODEL_CE_THRESHOLD_DISABLED ((guint32) 0x83126E97u)
+
+G_STATIC_ASSERT (((((guint64) NM_PLATFORM_FQ_CODEL_CE_THRESHOLD_DISABLED) * 1000u) >> 10) == (guint64) INT_MAX);
+
 typedef struct {
 	guint32 limit;
 	guint32 flows;
 	guint32 target;
 	guint32 interval;
 	guint32 quantum;
-	guint32 ce_threshold;
+	guint32 ce_threshold; /* TCA_FQ_CODEL_CE_THRESHOLD: kernel internally stores this value as
+	                       *   ((val64 * NSEC_PER_USEC) >> CODEL_SHIFT). The default value (in
+	                       *   the domain with this coersion) is CODEL_DISABLED_THRESHOLD (INT_MAX).
+	                       *   That means, "disabled" is expressed on RTM_NEWQDISC netlink API by absence of the
+	                       *   netlink attribute but also as the special value 0x83126E97u
+	                       *   (NM_PLATFORM_FQ_CODEL_CE_THRESHOLD_DISABLED).
+	                       *   Beware: zero is not the default you must always explicitly set this value. */
 	guint32 memory;       /* TCA_FQ_CODEL_MEMORY_LIMIT: note that only values <= 2^31 are accepted by kernel
 	                       *   and kernel defaults to 32MB.
 	                       *   Note that we use the special value NM_PLATFORM_FQ_CODEL_MEMORY_LIMIT_UNSET