diff --git a/src/core/devices/nm-device-bond.c b/src/core/devices/nm-device-bond.c
index 558f8f7598..b4e9a4e921 100644
--- a/src/core/devices/nm-device-bond.c
+++ b/src/core/devices/nm-device-bond.c
@@ -493,6 +493,10 @@ act_stage1_prepare(NMDevice *device, NMDeviceStateReason *out_failure_reason)
         if (!nm_device_hw_addr_set_cloned(device, nm_device_get_applied_connection(device), FALSE))
             ret = NM_ACT_STAGE_RETURN_FAILURE;
     }
+
+    /* This is a workaround because netlink do not support ifname as primary */
+    set_bond_attr_or_default(device, s_bond, NM_SETTING_BOND_OPTION_PRIMARY);
+
     nm_device_bring_up(device, TRUE, NULL);
 
     return ret;
diff --git a/src/libnm-platform/nm-linux-platform.c b/src/libnm-platform/nm-linux-platform.c
index 472884d3d5..3cbb6a685d 100644
--- a/src/libnm-platform/nm-linux-platform.c
+++ b/src/libnm-platform/nm-linux-platform.c
@@ -1589,11 +1589,8 @@ _parse_lnk_bond(const char *kind, struct nlattr *info_data)
 
     if (tb[IFLA_BOND_MODE])
         props->mode = nla_get_u8(tb[IFLA_BOND_MODE]);
-    if (tb[IFLA_BOND_PRIMARY]) {
-        props->primary = nla_get_u32(tb[IFLA_BOND_PRIMARY]);
-    } else if (tb[IFLA_BOND_ACTIVE_SLAVE]) {
-        props->primary = nla_get_u32(tb[IFLA_BOND_ACTIVE_SLAVE]);
-    }
+    if (tb[IFLA_BOND_PRIMARY])
+        props->primary = NM_CLAMP((int) nla_get_u32(tb[IFLA_BOND_PRIMARY]), 0, G_MAXINT);
     if (tb[IFLA_BOND_MIIMON]) {
         props->miimon     = nla_get_u32(tb[IFLA_BOND_MIIMON]);
         props->miimon_has = TRUE;
@@ -4539,7 +4536,7 @@ _nl_msg_new_link_set_linkinfo(struct nl_msg *msg, NMLinkType link_type, gconstpo
             NLA_PUT_U32(msg, IFLA_BOND_PACKETS_PER_SLAVE, props->packets_per_port);
         if (props->peer_notif_delay_has)
             NLA_PUT_U32(msg, IFLA_BOND_PEER_NOTIF_DELAY, props->peer_notif_delay);
-        if (props->primary)
+        if (props->primary > 0)
             NLA_PUT_U32(msg, IFLA_BOND_PRIMARY, props->primary);
         if (props->resend_igmp_has)
             NLA_PUT_U32(msg, IFLA_BOND_RESEND_IGMP, props->resend_igmp);
diff --git a/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.c b/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.c
index 3dfe3404d4..01be185df0 100644
--- a/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.c
+++ b/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.c
@@ -6093,7 +6093,7 @@ nm_platform_lnk_bond_to_string(const NMPlatformLnkBond *lnk, char *buf, gsize le
         &len,
         "bond"
         " mode %u"
-        " primary %u"
+        " primary %d"
         "%s" /* miimon */
         "%s" /* updelay */
         "%s" /* downdelay */
diff --git a/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.h b/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.h
index 9aaed5dd1f..cb08a3bff7 100644
--- a/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.h
+++ b/src/libnm-platform/nm-platform.h
@@ -889,6 +889,7 @@ extern const NMPlatformLnkBridge nm_platform_lnk_bridge_default;
 #define NM_BOND_MAX_ARP_TARGETS 16
 
 typedef struct {
+    int         primary;
     in_addr_t   arp_ip_target[NM_BOND_MAX_ARP_TARGETS];
     guint32     arp_all_targets;
     guint32     arp_interval;
@@ -899,7 +900,6 @@ typedef struct {
     guint32     min_links;
     guint32     packets_per_port;
     guint32     peer_notif_delay;
-    guint32     primary;
     guint32     resend_igmp;
     guint32     updelay;
     guint16     ad_actor_sys_prio;