diff --git a/net/core/rtnetlink.c b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
index 0bad5db23129..6fbc9cb09dc0 100644
--- a/net/core/rtnetlink.c
+++ b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
@@ -2414,6 +2414,7 @@ static int do_setlink(const struct sk_buff *skb,
 		return err;
 
 	if (tb[IFLA_NET_NS_PID] || tb[IFLA_NET_NS_FD] || tb[IFLA_TARGET_NETNSID]) {
+		const char *pat = ifname && ifname[0] ? ifname : NULL;
 		struct net *net = rtnl_link_get_net_capable(skb, dev_net(dev),
 							    tb, CAP_NET_ADMIN);
 		if (IS_ERR(net)) {
@@ -2421,7 +2422,7 @@ static int do_setlink(const struct sk_buff *skb,
 			goto errout;
 		}
 
-		err = dev_change_net_namespace(dev, net, ifname);
+		err = dev_change_net_namespace(dev, net, pat);
 		put_net(net);
 		if (err)
 			goto errout;