diff --git a/src/nm-policy.c b/src/nm-policy.c
index 60f5fb024b..64918e47b0 100644
--- a/src/nm-policy.c
+++ b/src/nm-policy.c
@@ -143,6 +143,11 @@ _dns_manager_set_ip_config(NMDnsManager *    dns_manager,
                            NMDnsIPConfigType ip_config_type,
                            NMDevice *        device)
 {
+    if (nm_device_sys_iface_state_is_external(device)) {
+        nm_dns_manager_set_ip_config(dns_manager, ip_config, NM_DNS_IP_CONFIG_TYPE_REMOVED);
+        return;
+    }
+
     if (NM_IN_SET(ip_config_type, NM_DNS_IP_CONFIG_TYPE_DEFAULT, NM_DNS_IP_CONFIG_TYPE_BEST_DEVICE)
         && device
         && nm_device_get_route_metric_default(nm_device_get_device_type(device))