diff --git a/net/core/rtnetlink.c b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
index 8bf770a7261e9cf1220b0b9f6ff630870a46decf..2f538ab512d04e1c4763eb896f4aa66e20ff5c8a 100644
--- a/net/core/rtnetlink.c
+++ b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
@@ -3326,6 +3326,7 @@ static int __rtnl_newlink(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nlmsghdr *nlh,
 	struct ifinfomsg *ifm;
 	char ifname[IFNAMSIZ];
 	struct nlattr **data;
+	bool link_specified;
 	int err;
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_MODULES
@@ -3346,12 +3347,16 @@ static int __rtnl_newlink(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nlmsghdr *nlh,
 		ifname[0] = '\0';
 
 	ifm = nlmsg_data(nlh);
-	if (ifm->ifi_index > 0)
+	if (ifm->ifi_index > 0) {
+		link_specified = true;
 		dev = __dev_get_by_index(net, ifm->ifi_index);
-	else if (tb[IFLA_IFNAME] || tb[IFLA_ALT_IFNAME])
+	} else if (tb[IFLA_IFNAME] || tb[IFLA_ALT_IFNAME]) {
+		link_specified = true;
 		dev = rtnl_dev_get(net, NULL, tb[IFLA_ALT_IFNAME], ifname);
-	else
+	} else {
+		link_specified = false;
 		dev = NULL;
+	}
 
 	master_dev = NULL;
 	m_ops = NULL;
@@ -3454,7 +3459,12 @@ static int __rtnl_newlink(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nlmsghdr *nlh,
 	}
 
 	if (!(nlh->nlmsg_flags & NLM_F_CREATE)) {
-		if (ifm->ifi_index == 0 && tb[IFLA_GROUP])
+		/* No dev found and NLM_F_CREATE not set. Requested dev does not exist,
+		 * or it's for a group
+		*/
+		if (link_specified)
+			return -ENODEV;
+		if (tb[IFLA_GROUP])
 			return rtnl_group_changelink(skb, net,
 						nla_get_u32(tb[IFLA_GROUP]),
 						ifm, extack, tb);