diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 4b155691a8..5736a2dbd3 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -2676,6 +2676,7 @@ virNetDevTapGetName;
 virNetDevTapGetRealDeviceName;
 virNetDevTapInterfaceStats;
 virNetDevTapReattachBridge;
+virNetDevTapReserveName;
 
 
 # util/virnetdevveth.h
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 2a862e6d9e..222a1376c4 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -3320,8 +3320,26 @@ qemuProcessNotifyNets(virDomainDefPtr def)
          * domain to be unceremoniously killed, which would be *very*
          * impolite.
          */
-        if (virDomainNetGetActualType(net) == VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_DIRECT)
+        switch (virDomainNetGetActualType(net)) {
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_DIRECT:
             virNetDevMacVLanReserveName(net->ifname);
+            break;
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_BRIDGE:
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_NETWORK:
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_ETHERNET:
+            virNetDevTapReserveName(net->ifname);
+            break;
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_USER:
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_VHOSTUSER:
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_SERVER:
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_CLIENT:
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_MCAST:
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_INTERNAL:
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_HOSTDEV:
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_UDP:
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_LAST:
+            break;
+        }
 
         if (net->type == VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_NETWORK) {
             if (!conn && !(conn = virGetConnectNetwork()))
diff --git a/src/util/virnetdevtap.c b/src/util/virnetdevtap.c
index c0a7c3019e..9f5e535180 100644
--- a/src/util/virnetdevtap.c
+++ b/src/util/virnetdevtap.c
@@ -49,11 +49,51 @@
 #if defined(HAVE_GETIFADDRS) && defined(AF_LINK)
 # include <ifaddrs.h>
 #endif
+#include <math.h>
 
 #define VIR_FROM_THIS VIR_FROM_NONE
 
 VIR_LOG_INIT("util.netdevtap");
 
+virMutex virNetDevTapCreateMutex = VIR_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
+static int virNetDevTapLastID = -1; /* not "unsigned" because callers use %d */
+
+
+/**
+ * virNetDevTapReserveName:
+ * @name: name of an existing tap device
+ *
+ * Set the value of virNetDevTapLastID to assure that any new tap
+ * device created with an autogenerated name will use a number higher
+ * than the number in the given tap device name.
+ *
+ * Returns nothing.
+ */
+void
+virNetDevTapReserveName(const char *name)
+{
+    unsigned int id;
+    const char *idstr = NULL;
+
+
+    if (STRPREFIX(name, VIR_NET_GENERATED_TAP_PREFIX)) {
+
+        VIR_INFO("marking device in use: '%s'", name);
+
+        idstr = name + strlen(VIR_NET_GENERATED_TAP_PREFIX);
+
+        if (virStrToLong_ui(idstr, NULL, 10, &id) >= 0) {
+            virMutexLock(&virNetDevTapCreateMutex);
+
+            if (virNetDevTapLastID < (int)id)
+                virNetDevTapLastID = id;
+
+            virMutexUnlock(&virNetDevTapCreateMutex);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+
 /**
  * virNetDevTapGetName:
  * @tapfd: a tun/tap file descriptor
@@ -204,6 +244,55 @@ virNetDevProbeVnetHdr(int tapfd)
 
 
 #ifdef TUNSETIFF
+/**
+ * virNetDevTapGenerateName:
+ * @ifname: pointer to pointer to string containing template
+ *
+ * generate a new (currently unused) name for a new tap device based
+ * on the templace string in @ifname - replace %d with
+ * ++virNetDevTapLastID, and keep trying new values until one is found
+ * that doesn't already exist, or we've tried 10000 different
+ * names. Once a usable name is found, replace the template with the
+ * actual name.
+ *
+ * Returns 0 on success, -1 on failure.
+ */
+static int
+virNetDevTapGenerateName(char **ifname)
+{
+    int id;
+    double maxIDd = pow(10, IFNAMSIZ - 1 - strlen(VIR_NET_GENERATED_TAP_PREFIX));
+    int maxID = INT_MAX;
+    int attempts = 0;
+
+    if (maxIDd <= (double)INT_MAX)
+        maxID = (int)maxIDd;
+
+    do {
+        g_autofree char *try = NULL;
+
+        id = ++virNetDevTapLastID;
+
+        /* reset before overflow */
+        if (virNetDevTapLastID >= maxID)
+            virNetDevTapLastID = -1;
+
+        try = g_strdup_printf(*ifname, id);
+
+        if (!virNetDevExists(try)) {
+            g_free(*ifname);
+            *ifname = g_steal_pointer(&try);
+            return 0;
+        }
+    } while (++attempts < 10000);
+
+    virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
+                   _("no unused %s names available"),
+                   VIR_NET_GENERATED_TAP_PREFIX);
+    return -1;
+}
+
+
 /**
  * virNetDevTapCreate:
  * @ifname: the interface name
@@ -230,10 +319,22 @@ int virNetDevTapCreate(char **ifname,
                        size_t tapfdSize,
                        unsigned int flags)
 {
-    size_t i;
+    size_t i = 0;
     struct ifreq ifr;
     int ret = -1;
-    int fd;
+    int fd = 0;
+
+    virMutexLock(&virNetDevTapCreateMutex);
+
+    /* if ifname is "vnet%d", then auto-generate a name for the new
+     * device (the kernel could do this for us, but has a bad habit of
+     * immediately re-using names that have just been released, which
+     * can lead to race conditions).
+     */
+    if (STREQ(*ifname, VIR_NET_GENERATED_TAP_PREFIX "%d") &&
+        virNetDevTapGenerateName(ifname) < 0) {
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
 
     if (!tunpath)
         tunpath = "/dev/net/tun";
@@ -299,9 +400,11 @@ int virNetDevTapCreate(char **ifname,
         tapfd[i] = fd;
     }
 
+    VIR_INFO("created device: '%s'", *ifname);
     ret = 0;
 
  cleanup:
+    virMutexUnlock(&virNetDevTapCreateMutex);
     if (ret < 0) {
         VIR_FORCE_CLOSE(fd);
         while (i--)
@@ -351,6 +454,7 @@ int virNetDevTapDelete(const char *ifname,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
+    VIR_INFO("delete device: '%s'", ifname);
     ret = 0;
 
  cleanup:
diff --git a/src/util/virnetdevtap.h b/src/util/virnetdevtap.h
index c6bd9285ba..dea8aec3af 100644
--- a/src/util/virnetdevtap.h
+++ b/src/util/virnetdevtap.h
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@
 # define VIR_NETDEV_TAP_REQUIRE_MANUAL_CLEANUP 1
 #endif
 
+void
+virNetDevTapReserveName(const char *name)
+    ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1);
+
 int virNetDevTapCreate(char **ifname,
                        const char *tunpath,
                        int *tapfd,