diff --git a/src/platform/nm-netlink.c b/src/platform/nm-netlink.c
index 3e2ad9112a..4a8111839e 100644
--- a/src/platform/nm-netlink.c
+++ b/src/platform/nm-netlink.c
@@ -509,7 +509,7 @@ nla_nest_start (struct nl_msg *msg, int attrtype)
 {
 	struct nlattr *start = (struct nlattr *) nlmsg_tail (msg->nm_nlh);
 
-	if (nla_put (msg, attrtype, 0, NULL) < 0)
+	if (nla_put (msg, NLA_F_NESTED | attrtype, 0, NULL) < 0)
 		return NULL;
 
 	return start;