diff --git a/zebra/if_netlink.c b/zebra/if_netlink.c
index 2743f34cb4..8943b434d7 100644
--- a/zebra/if_netlink.c
+++ b/zebra/if_netlink.c
@@ -1230,6 +1230,12 @@ int netlink_link_change(struct nlmsghdr *h, ns_id_t ns_id, int startup)
 			/* Update interface information. */
 			set_ifindex(ifp, ifi->ifi_index, zns);
 			ifp->flags = ifi->ifi_flags & 0x0000fffff;
+			if (!tb[IFLA_MTU]) {
+				zlog_warn(
+					"RTM_NEWLINK for interface %s(%u) without MTU set",
+					name, ifi->ifi_index);
+				return 0;
+			}
 			ifp->mtu6 = ifp->mtu = *(int *)RTA_DATA(tb[IFLA_MTU]);
 			ifp->metric = 0;
 			ifp->ptm_status = ZEBRA_PTM_STATUS_UNKNOWN;
@@ -1279,6 +1285,12 @@ int netlink_link_change(struct nlmsghdr *h, ns_id_t ns_id, int startup)
 					bridge_ifindex, ifi->ifi_flags);
 
 			set_ifindex(ifp, ifi->ifi_index, zns);
+			if (!tb[IFLA_MTU]) {
+				zlog_warn(
+					"RTM_NEWLINK for interface %s(%u) without MTU set",
+					name, ifi->ifi_index);
+				return 0;
+			}
 			ifp->mtu6 = ifp->mtu = *(int *)RTA_DATA(tb[IFLA_MTU]);
 			ifp->metric = 0;