diff --git a/src/lxc/lxc_container.c b/src/lxc/lxc_container.c
index 241934549402a40cad54686ddd22d792f901b1a5..97b7903a577c3ca6ef7c01de7b2ef8367392662d 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxc_container.c
+++ b/src/lxc/lxc_container.c
@@ -225,26 +225,38 @@ static int lxcContainerWaitForContinue(int control)
 
 
 /**
- * lxcContainerEnableInterfaces:
+ * lxcContainerRenameAndEnableInterfaces:
  * @nveths: number of interfaces
  * @veths: interface names
  *
- * This function will enable the interfaces for this container.
+ * This function will rename the interfaces to ethN
+ * with id ascending order from zero and enable the
+ * renamed interfaces for this container.
  *
  * Returns 0 on success or nonzero in case of error
  */
-static int lxcContainerEnableInterfaces(unsigned int nveths,
-                                        char **veths)
+static int lxcContainerRenameAndEnableInterfaces(unsigned int nveths,
+                                                 char **veths)
 {
     int rc = 0;
     unsigned int i;
+    char *newname = NULL;
 
     for (i = 0 ; i < nveths ; i++) {
-        DEBUG("Enabling %s", veths[i]);
-        rc =  vethInterfaceUpOrDown(veths[i], 1);
-        if (0 != rc) {
+        rc = virAsprintf(&newname, "eth%d", i);
+        if (rc < 0)
             goto error_out;
-        }
+
+        DEBUG("Renaming %s to %s", veths[i], newname);
+        rc = setInterfaceName(veths[i], newname);
+        if (0 != rc)
+            goto error_out;
+
+        DEBUG("Enabling %s", newname);
+        rc =  vethInterfaceUpOrDown(newname, 1);
+        if (0 != rc)
+            goto error_out;
+        VIR_FREE(newname);
     }
 
     /* enable lo device only if there were other net devices */
@@ -252,6 +264,7 @@ static int lxcContainerEnableInterfaces(unsigned int nveths,
         rc = vethInterfaceUpOrDown("lo", 1);
 
 error_out:
+    VIR_FREE(newname);
     return rc;
 }
 
@@ -757,8 +770,9 @@ static int lxcContainerChild( void *data )
     if (lxcContainerWaitForContinue(argv->monitor) < 0)
         return -1;
 
-    /* enable interfaces */
-    if (lxcContainerEnableInterfaces(argv->nveths, argv->veths) < 0)
+    /* rename and enable interfaces */
+    if (lxcContainerRenameAndEnableInterfaces(argv->nveths,
+                                              argv->veths) < 0)
         return -1;
 
     /* drop a set of root capabilities */
diff --git a/src/lxc/veth.c b/src/lxc/veth.c
index 8617cf74a03490f331ba33e61b6f2d4afecad1ca..ede85cee177e4191e4748fad3bdc4b40c397f29c 100644
--- a/src/lxc/veth.c
+++ b/src/lxc/veth.c
@@ -247,3 +247,34 @@ int setMacAddr(const char* iface, const char* macaddr)
 error_out:
     return rc;
 }
+
+/**
+ * setInterfaceName
+ * @iface: name of device
+ * @new: new name of @iface
+ *
+ * Changes the name of the given device with the
+ * given new name using this command:
+ *     ip link set @iface name @new
+ *
+ * Returns 0 on success or -1 in case of error
+ */
+int setInterfaceName(const char* iface, const char* new)
+{
+    int rc = -1;
+    const char *argv[] = {
+        "ip", "link", "set", iface, "name", new, NULL
+    };
+    int cmdResult;
+
+    if (NULL == iface || NULL == new) {
+        goto error_out;
+    }
+
+    rc = virRun(NULL, argv, &cmdResult);
+    if (0 == rc)
+        rc = cmdResult;
+
+error_out:
+    return rc;
+}
diff --git a/src/lxc/veth.h b/src/lxc/veth.h
index 8f2f514e329ae784ab8ac0d6c29a54cb7de204bc..8075a5ee735292ec293530d07f39d12ccaf2f8ba 100644
--- a/src/lxc/veth.h
+++ b/src/lxc/veth.h
@@ -21,5 +21,6 @@ int vethDelete(const char* veth);
 int vethInterfaceUpOrDown(const char* veth, int upOrDown);
 int moveInterfaceToNetNs(const char *iface, int pidInNs);
 int setMacAddr(const char* iface, const char* macaddr);
+int setInterfaceName(const char* iface, const char* new);
 
 #endif /* VETH_H */