diff --git a/src/libnm-platform/nm-linux-platform.c b/src/libnm-platform/nm-linux-platform.c
index a01761ca80..7996a5821d 100644
--- a/src/libnm-platform/nm-linux-platform.c
+++ b/src/libnm-platform/nm-linux-platform.c
@@ -2670,7 +2670,7 @@ _wireguard_read_info(NMPlatform     *platform /* used only as logging context */
           ifindex,
           wireguard_family_id);
 
-    msg = nlmsg_alloc();
+    msg = nlmsg_alloc(0);
 
     if (!genlmsg_put(msg,
                      NL_AUTO_PORT,
@@ -2879,7 +2879,7 @@ _wireguard_create_change_nlmsgs(NMPlatform                               *platfo
 
 again:
 
-    msg = nlmsg_alloc();
+    msg = nlmsg_alloc(0);
     if (!genlmsg_put(msg,
                      NL_AUTO_PORT,
                      NL_AUTO_SEQ,
@@ -5026,7 +5026,7 @@ _nl_msg_new_address(uint16_t      nlmsg_type,
     nm_assert(NM_IN_SET(family, AF_INET, AF_INET6));
     nm_assert(NM_IN_SET(nlmsg_type, RTM_NEWADDR, RTM_DELADDR));
 
-    msg = nlmsg_alloc_simple(nlmsg_type, nlmsg_flags);
+    msg = nlmsg_alloc_new(0, nlmsg_type, nlmsg_flags);
 
     addr_len = family == AF_INET ? sizeof(in_addr_t) : sizeof(struct in6_addr);
 
@@ -5133,7 +5133,7 @@ _nl_msg_new_route(uint16_t nlmsg_type, uint16_t nlmsg_flags, const NMPObject *ob
         NM_IN_SET(NMP_OBJECT_GET_TYPE(obj), NMP_OBJECT_TYPE_IP4_ROUTE, NMP_OBJECT_TYPE_IP6_ROUTE));
     nm_assert(NM_IN_SET(nlmsg_type, RTM_NEWROUTE, RTM_DELROUTE));
 
-    msg = nlmsg_alloc_simple(nlmsg_type, nlmsg_flags);
+    msg = nlmsg_alloc_new(0, nlmsg_type, nlmsg_flags);
 
     if (nlmsg_append_struct(msg, &rtmsg) < 0)
         goto nla_put_failure;
@@ -5225,7 +5225,7 @@ _nl_msg_new_routing_rule(uint16_t                     nlmsg_type,
     const guint8 addr_size           = nm_utils_addr_family_to_size(routing_rule->addr_family);
     guint32      table;
 
-    msg = nlmsg_alloc_simple(nlmsg_type, nlmsg_flags);
+    msg = nlmsg_alloc_new(0, nlmsg_type, nlmsg_flags);
 
     table = routing_rule->table;
 
@@ -5344,7 +5344,7 @@ _nl_msg_new_qdisc(uint16_t nlmsg_type, uint16_t nlmsg_flags, const NMPlatformQdi
                   .tcm_info    = qdisc->info,
     };
 
-    msg = nlmsg_alloc_simple(nlmsg_type, nlmsg_flags | NMP_NLM_FLAG_F_ECHO);
+    msg = nlmsg_alloc_new(0, nlmsg_type, nlmsg_flags | NMP_NLM_FLAG_F_ECHO);
 
     if (nlmsg_append_struct(msg, &tcm) < 0)
         goto nla_put_failure;
@@ -5432,7 +5432,7 @@ _nl_msg_new_tfilter(uint16_t nlmsg_type, uint16_t nlmsg_flags, const NMPlatformT
                   .tcm_info    = tfilter->info,
     };
 
-    msg = nlmsg_alloc_simple(nlmsg_type, nlmsg_flags | NMP_NLM_FLAG_F_ECHO);
+    msg = nlmsg_alloc_new(0, nlmsg_type, nlmsg_flags | NMP_NLM_FLAG_F_ECHO);
 
     if (nlmsg_append_struct(msg, &tcm) < 0)
         goto nla_put_failure;
@@ -7227,7 +7227,7 @@ _nl_msg_new_dump_rtnl(NMPObjectType obj_type, int preferred_addr_family)
     nm_assert(klass);
     nm_assert(klass->rtm_gettype > 0);
 
-    nlmsg = nlmsg_alloc_simple(klass->rtm_gettype, NLM_F_DUMP);
+    nlmsg = nlmsg_alloc_new(0, klass->rtm_gettype, NLM_F_DUMP);
 
     if (klass->addr_family != AF_UNSPEC) {
         /* if the class specifies a particular address family, then it is preferred. */
@@ -7272,7 +7272,7 @@ _nl_msg_new_dump_genl_families(void)
 {
     nm_auto_nlmsg struct nl_msg *nlmsg = NULL;
 
-    nlmsg = nlmsg_alloc_size(nlmsg_total_size(GENL_HDRLEN));
+    nlmsg = nlmsg_alloc(nlmsg_total_size(GENL_HDRLEN));
 
     if (!genlmsg_put(nlmsg,
                      NL_AUTO_PORT,
@@ -9528,7 +9528,7 @@ tc_delete(NMPlatform *platform,
         log_tag = "do-delete-tc";
     }
 
-    msg = nlmsg_alloc_simple(nlmsg_type, NMP_NLM_FLAG_F_ECHO);
+    msg = nlmsg_alloc_new(0, nlmsg_type, NMP_NLM_FLAG_F_ECHO);
 
     if (nlmsg_append_struct(msg, &tcm) < 0)
         goto nla_put_failure;
@@ -10252,7 +10252,7 @@ mptcp_addr_update(NMPlatform *platform, NMOptionBool add, const NMPlatformMptcpA
           cmd_str,
           nm_platform_mptcp_addr_to_string(addr, sbuf, sizeof(sbuf)));
 
-    nlmsg = nlmsg_alloc_size(nlmsg_total_size(GENL_HDRLEN) + 200);
+    nlmsg = nlmsg_alloc(nlmsg_total_size(GENL_HDRLEN) + 200);
 
     if (!genlmsg_put(nlmsg,
                      NL_AUTO_PORT,
@@ -10343,7 +10343,7 @@ mptcp_addrs_dump(NMPlatform *platform)
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    nlmsg = nlmsg_alloc_size(nlmsg_total_size(GENL_HDRLEN));
+    nlmsg = nlmsg_alloc(nlmsg_total_size(GENL_HDRLEN));
 
     if (!genlmsg_put(nlmsg,
                      NL_AUTO_PORT,
diff --git a/src/libnm-platform/nm-netlink.c b/src/libnm-platform/nm-netlink.c
index 36841d5626..e08eee5e0a 100644
--- a/src/libnm-platform/nm-netlink.c
+++ b/src/libnm-platform/nm-netlink.c
@@ -364,11 +364,22 @@ nla_reserve(struct nl_msg *msg, int attrtype, int attrlen)
 
 /*****************************************************************************/
 
+/**
+ * Allocate a new netlink message.
+ *
+ * Allocates a new netlink message without any further payload. If @len is zero,
+ * the maximum payload size is set to the size of one memory page.
+ *
+ * @return Newly allocated netlink message or NULL.
+ */
 struct nl_msg *
-nlmsg_alloc_size(size_t len)
+nlmsg_alloc(size_t len)
 {
     struct nl_msg *nm;
 
+    if (len == 0)
+        len = nm_utils_getpagesize();
+
     if (len < sizeof(struct nlmsghdr))
         len = sizeof(struct nlmsghdr);
     else if (len > UINT32_MAX)
@@ -384,38 +395,23 @@ nlmsg_alloc_size(size_t len)
     return nm;
 }
 
-/**
- * Allocate a new netlink message with the default maximum payload size.
- *
- * Allocates a new netlink message without any further payload. The
- * maximum payload size defaults to PAGESIZE or as otherwise specified
- * with nlmsg_set_default_size().
- *
- * @return Newly allocated netlink message or NULL.
- */
-struct nl_msg *
-nlmsg_alloc(void)
-{
-    return nlmsg_alloc_size(nm_utils_getpagesize());
-}
-
 struct nl_msg *
 nlmsg_alloc_convert(struct nlmsghdr *hdr)
 {
     struct nl_msg *nm;
 
-    nm = nlmsg_alloc_size(NLMSG_ALIGN(hdr->nlmsg_len));
+    nm = nlmsg_alloc(NLMSG_ALIGN(hdr->nlmsg_len));
     memcpy(nm->nm_nlh, hdr, hdr->nlmsg_len);
     return nm;
 }
 
 struct nl_msg *
-nlmsg_alloc_simple(uint16_t nlmsgtype, uint16_t flags)
+nlmsg_alloc_new(size_t size, uint16_t nlmsgtype, uint16_t flags)
 {
     struct nl_msg *nm;
     struct nlmsghdr *new;
 
-    nm               = nlmsg_alloc();
+    nm               = nlmsg_alloc(size);
     new              = nm->nm_nlh;
     new->nlmsg_type  = nlmsgtype;
     new->nlmsg_flags = flags;
@@ -928,7 +924,7 @@ genl_ctrl_resolve(struct nl_sock *sk, const char *name)
                              .valid_arg = &response_data,
     };
 
-    msg = nlmsg_alloc();
+    msg = nlmsg_alloc(0);
 
     if (!genlmsg_put(msg, NL_AUTO_PORT, NL_AUTO_SEQ, GENL_ID_CTRL, 0, 0, CTRL_CMD_GETFAMILY, 1))
         return -ENOMEM;
diff --git a/src/libnm-platform/nm-netlink.h b/src/libnm-platform/nm-netlink.h
index 44ed70af75..634be2b4a6 100644
--- a/src/libnm-platform/nm-netlink.h
+++ b/src/libnm-platform/nm-netlink.h
@@ -393,13 +393,11 @@ nla_parse_nested(struct nlattr           *tb[],
 
 /*****************************************************************************/
 
-struct nl_msg *nlmsg_alloc(void);
-
-struct nl_msg *nlmsg_alloc_size(size_t max);
+struct nl_msg *nlmsg_alloc(size_t len);
 
 struct nl_msg *nlmsg_alloc_convert(struct nlmsghdr *hdr);
 
-struct nl_msg *nlmsg_alloc_simple(uint16_t nlmsgtype, uint16_t flags);
+struct nl_msg *nlmsg_alloc_new(size_t size, uint16_t nlmsgtype, uint16_t flags);
 
 void *nlmsg_reserve(struct nl_msg *n, uint32_t len, uint32_t pad);
 
diff --git a/src/libnm-platform/tests/test-nm-platform.c b/src/libnm-platform/tests/test-nm-platform.c
index c351f014e1..cd54df9291 100644
--- a/src/libnm-platform/tests/test-nm-platform.c
+++ b/src/libnm-platform/tests/test-nm-platform.c
@@ -27,10 +27,9 @@ test_use_symbols(void)
         (void (*)(void)) nlmsg_hdr,
         (void (*)(void)) nlmsg_reserve,
         (void (*)(void)) nla_reserve,
-        (void (*)(void)) nlmsg_alloc_size,
-        (void (*)(void)) nlmsg_alloc,
         (void (*)(void)) nlmsg_alloc_convert,
-        (void (*)(void)) nlmsg_alloc_simple,
+        (void (*)(void)) nlmsg_alloc_new,
+        (void (*)(void)) nlmsg_alloc,
         (void (*)(void)) nlmsg_free,
         (void (*)(void)) nlmsg_append,
         (void (*)(void)) nlmsg_parse,
diff --git a/src/libnm-platform/wifi/nm-wifi-utils-nl80211.c b/src/libnm-platform/wifi/nm-wifi-utils-nl80211.c
index 37edd928e3..c7ee0473de 100644
--- a/src/libnm-platform/wifi/nm-wifi-utils-nl80211.c
+++ b/src/libnm-platform/wifi/nm-wifi-utils-nl80211.c
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ _nl80211_alloc_msg(guint16 genl_family_id, int ifindex, int phy, uint8_t cmd, ui
 {
     nm_auto_nlmsg struct nl_msg *msg = NULL;
 
-    msg = nlmsg_alloc();
+    msg = nlmsg_alloc(0);
     genlmsg_put(msg, NL_AUTO_PORT, NL_AUTO_SEQ, genl_family_id, 0, flags, cmd, 0);
     NLA_PUT_U32(msg, NL80211_ATTR_IFINDEX, ifindex);
     if (phy != -1)
diff --git a/src/libnm-platform/wpan/nm-wpan-utils.c b/src/libnm-platform/wpan/nm-wpan-utils.c
index 675efe5a59..03c9581f8e 100644
--- a/src/libnm-platform/wpan/nm-wpan-utils.c
+++ b/src/libnm-platform/wpan/nm-wpan-utils.c
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ _nl802154_alloc_msg(guint16 genl_family_id, int ifindex, uint8_t cmd, uint16_t f
 {
     nm_auto_nlmsg struct nl_msg *msg = NULL;
 
-    msg = nlmsg_alloc();
+    msg = nlmsg_alloc(0);
     if (!genlmsg_put(msg, NL_AUTO_PORT, NL_AUTO_SEQ, genl_family_id, 0, flags, cmd, 0))
         goto nla_put_failure;
     NLA_PUT_U32(msg, NL802154_ATTR_IFINDEX, ifindex);