diff --git a/src/nm-initrd-generator/nmi-cmdline-reader.c b/src/nm-initrd-generator/nmi-cmdline-reader.c
index 37f3f51c3d..2353e2ea0e 100644
--- a/src/nm-initrd-generator/nmi-cmdline-reader.c
+++ b/src/nm-initrd-generator/nmi-cmdline-reader.c
@@ -1234,11 +1234,12 @@ nmi_cmdline_reader_parse(const char *       sysfs_dir,
 
         s_wired = nm_connection_get_setting_wired(connection);
 
-        if (nm_setting_wired_get_mac_address(s_wired)
-            && !nm_utils_hwaddr_matches(nm_setting_wired_get_mac_address(s_wired),
-                                        -1,
-                                        bootif,
-                                        -1)) {
+        if (nm_connection_get_interface_name(connection)
+            || (nm_setting_wired_get_mac_address(s_wired)
+                && !nm_utils_hwaddr_matches(nm_setting_wired_get_mac_address(s_wired),
+                                            -1,
+                                            bootif,
+                                            -1))) {
             connection = reader_create_connection(reader,
                                                   "bootif_connection",
                                                   "BOOTIF Connection",
diff --git a/src/nm-initrd-generator/tests/test-cmdline-reader.c b/src/nm-initrd-generator/tests/test-cmdline-reader.c
index 9292c44114..5cb11e872a 100644
--- a/src/nm-initrd-generator/tests/test-cmdline-reader.c
+++ b/src/nm-initrd-generator/tests/test-cmdline-reader.c
@@ -1982,7 +1982,7 @@ static void
 test_bootif_hwtype(void)
 {
     const char *const *ARGV0  = NM_MAKE_STRV("ip=eth0:dhcp", "BOOTIF=01-00-53-AB-cd-02-03");
-    const char *const *ARGV1  = NM_MAKE_STRV("BOOTIF=00-00-53-Ab-cD-02-03", "ip=:::::eth0:dhcp");
+    const char *const *ARGV1  = NM_MAKE_STRV("ip=eth0:dhcp", "BOOTIF=00-00-53-Ab-cD-02-03");
     const char *const *ARGV[] = {ARGV0, ARGV1};
     guint              i;
 
@@ -1994,15 +1994,15 @@ test_bootif_hwtype(void)
         NMSettingIPConfig *            s_ip6;
 
         connections = _parse_cons(ARGV[i]);
-        g_assert_cmpint(g_hash_table_size(connections), ==, 1);
+        g_assert_cmpint(g_hash_table_size(connections), ==, 2);
 
         connection = g_hash_table_lookup(connections, "eth0");
         nmtst_assert_connection_verifies_without_normalization(connection);
         g_assert_cmpstr(nm_connection_get_id(connection), ==, "eth0");
 
         s_wired = nm_connection_get_setting_wired(connection);
+        g_assert(!nm_setting_wired_get_mac_address(s_wired));
         g_assert(s_wired);
-        g_assert_cmpstr(nm_setting_wired_get_mac_address(s_wired), ==, "00:53:AB:CD:02:03");
 
         s_ip4 = nm_connection_get_setting_ip4_config(connection);
         g_assert(s_ip4);
@@ -2018,6 +2018,30 @@ test_bootif_hwtype(void)
                         ==,
                         NM_SETTING_IP6_CONFIG_METHOD_AUTO);
         g_assert(!nm_setting_ip_config_get_ignore_auto_dns(s_ip6));
+
+        connection = g_hash_table_lookup(connections, "bootif_connection");
+        nmtst_assert_connection_verifies_without_normalization(connection);
+        g_assert_cmpstr(nm_connection_get_id(connection), ==, "BOOTIF Connection");
+
+        s_wired = nm_connection_get_setting_wired(connection);
+        g_assert_cmpstr(nm_setting_wired_get_mac_address(s_wired), ==, "00:53:AB:CD:02:03");
+        g_assert(s_wired);
+
+        s_ip4 = nm_connection_get_setting_ip4_config(connection);
+        g_assert(s_ip4);
+        g_assert_cmpstr(nm_setting_ip_config_get_method(s_ip4),
+                        ==,
+                        NM_SETTING_IP4_CONFIG_METHOD_AUTO);
+        g_assert(!nm_setting_ip_config_get_ignore_auto_dns(s_ip4));
+        g_assert(nm_setting_ip_config_get_may_fail(s_ip4));
+
+        s_ip6 = nm_connection_get_setting_ip6_config(connection);
+        g_assert(s_ip6);
+        g_assert_cmpstr(nm_setting_ip_config_get_method(s_ip6),
+                        ==,
+                        NM_SETTING_IP6_CONFIG_METHOD_AUTO);
+        g_assert(!nm_setting_ip_config_get_ignore_auto_dns(s_ip6));
+        g_assert(nm_setting_ip_config_get_may_fail(s_ip6));
     }
 }