diff --git a/src/udev/net/link-config.c b/src/udev/net/link-config.c
index c2881d6b41d..64ff00dc0df 100644
--- a/src/udev/net/link-config.c
+++ b/src/udev/net/link-config.c
@@ -424,8 +424,6 @@ int link_config_apply(link_config_ctx *ctx, link_config *config,
         } else
                 new_name = NULL;
 
-        *name = new_name;
-
         switch (config->mac_policy) {
                 case MACPOLICY_PERSISTENT:
                         if (mac_is_random(device)) {
@@ -459,6 +457,8 @@ int link_config_apply(link_config_ctx *ctx, link_config *config,
                 return r;
         }
 
+        *name = new_name;
+
         return 0;
 }