diff --git a/src/util/virnetdevbridge.c b/src/util/virnetdevbridge.c
index 2bad40a82a7c960a13779016fcb5d62e82f25d85..6be8aa37e95e8d4b568e823a5f87d200b20699e1 100644
--- a/src/util/virnetdevbridge.c
+++ b/src/util/virnetdevbridge.c
@@ -395,7 +395,83 @@ virNetDevBridgePortSetUnicastFlood(const char *brname ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
  *
  * Returns 0 in case of success or -1 on failure
  */
-#if defined(HAVE_STRUCT_IFREQ) && defined(SIOCBRADDBR)
+#if defined(__linux__) && defined(HAVE_LIBNL)
+int virNetDevBridgeCreate(const char *brname)
+{
+    /* use a netlink RTM_NEWLINK message to create the bridge */
+    const char *type = "bridge";
+    int rc = -1;
+    struct nlmsghdr *resp = NULL;
+    struct nlmsgerr *err;
+    struct ifinfomsg ifinfo = { .ifi_family = AF_UNSPEC };
+    unsigned int recvbuflen;
+    struct nl_msg *nl_msg;
+    struct nlattr *linkinfo;
+
+    nl_msg = nlmsg_alloc_simple(RTM_NEWLINK,
+                                NLM_F_REQUEST | NLM_F_CREATE | NLM_F_EXCL);
+    if (!nl_msg) {
+        virReportOOMError();
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    if (nlmsg_append(nl_msg,  &ifinfo, sizeof(ifinfo), NLMSG_ALIGNTO) < 0)
+        goto buffer_too_small;
+    if (nla_put(nl_msg, IFLA_IFNAME, strlen(brname)+1, brname) < 0)
+        goto buffer_too_small;
+    if (!(linkinfo = nla_nest_start(nl_msg, IFLA_LINKINFO)))
+        goto buffer_too_small;
+    if (nla_put(nl_msg, IFLA_INFO_KIND, strlen(type), type) < 0)
+        goto buffer_too_small;
+    nla_nest_end(nl_msg, linkinfo);
+
+    if (virNetlinkCommand(nl_msg, &resp, &recvbuflen, 0, 0,
+                          NETLINK_ROUTE, 0) < 0) {
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
+    if (recvbuflen < NLMSG_LENGTH(0) || resp == NULL)
+        goto malformed_resp;
+
+    switch (resp->nlmsg_type) {
+    case NLMSG_ERROR:
+        err = (struct nlmsgerr *)NLMSG_DATA(resp);
+        if (resp->nlmsg_len < NLMSG_LENGTH(sizeof(*err)))
+            goto malformed_resp;
+
+        switch (err->error) {
+        case 0:
+            break;
+        default:
+            virReportSystemError(-err->error,
+                                 _("error creating bridge interface %s"),
+                                 brname);
+            goto cleanup;
+        }
+        break;
+
+    case NLMSG_DONE:
+        break;
+    default:
+        goto malformed_resp;
+    }
+
+    rc = 0;
+ cleanup:
+    nlmsg_free(nl_msg);
+    VIR_FREE(resp);
+    return rc;
+
+ malformed_resp:
+    virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                   _("malformed netlink response message"));
+    goto cleanup;
+ buffer_too_small:
+    virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                   _("allocated netlink buffer is too small"));
+    goto cleanup;
+}
+#elif defined(HAVE_STRUCT_IFREQ) && defined(SIOCBRADDBR)
 int virNetDevBridgeCreate(const char *brname)
 {
     int fd = -1;