diff --git a/src/network/networkctl.c b/src/network/networkctl.c
index 244fb0848c..182208b563 100644
--- a/src/network/networkctl.c
+++ b/src/network/networkctl.c
@@ -320,9 +320,8 @@ static int decode_link(sd_netlink_message *m, LinkInfo *info, char **patterns) {
                 sd_netlink_message_read_ether_addr(m, IFLA_ADDRESS, &info->mac_address) >= 0 &&
                 memcmp(&info->mac_address, &ETHER_ADDR_NULL, sizeof(struct ether_addr)) != 0;
 
-        _cleanup_close_ int fd = -1;
         info->has_permanent_mac_address =
-                ethtool_get_permanent_macaddr(&fd, info->name, &info->permanent_mac_address) >= 0 &&
+                ethtool_get_permanent_macaddr(NULL, info->name, &info->permanent_mac_address) >= 0 &&
                 memcmp(&info->permanent_mac_address, &ETHER_ADDR_NULL, sizeof(struct ether_addr)) != 0 &&
                 memcmp(&info->permanent_mac_address, &info->mac_address, sizeof(struct ether_addr)) != 0;
 
diff --git a/src/network/networkd-link.c b/src/network/networkd-link.c
index cd370bef57..97de25a3f8 100644
--- a/src/network/networkd-link.c
+++ b/src/network/networkd-link.c
@@ -618,8 +618,7 @@ static int link_new(Manager *manager, sd_netlink_message *message, Link **ret) {
         if (r < 0)
                 log_link_debug_errno(link, r, "MAC address not found for new device, continuing without");
 
-        _cleanup_close_ int fd = -1;
-        r = ethtool_get_permanent_macaddr(&fd, link->ifname, &link->permanent_mac);
+        r = ethtool_get_permanent_macaddr(NULL, link->ifname, &link->permanent_mac);
         if (r < 0)
                 log_link_debug_errno(link, r, "Permanent MAC address not found for new device, continuing without: %m");
 
diff --git a/src/shared/ethtool-util.c b/src/shared/ethtool-util.c
index e00ed8e97d..9d62728ca4 100644
--- a/src/shared/ethtool-util.c
+++ b/src/shared/ethtool-util.c
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include "conf-parser.h"
 #include "ethtool-util.h"
 #include "extract-word.h"
+#include "fd-util.h"
 #include "log.h"
 #include "memory-util.h"
 #include "socket-util.h"
@@ -219,14 +220,17 @@ int ethtool_get_link_info(int *ethtool_fd, const char *ifname,
 }
 
 int ethtool_get_permanent_macaddr(int *ethtool_fd, const char *ifname, struct ether_addr *ret) {
+        _cleanup_close_ int fd = -1;
         _cleanup_free_ struct ethtool_perm_addr *epaddr = NULL;
         struct ifreq ifr;
         int r;
 
-        assert(ethtool_fd);
         assert(ifname);
         assert(ret);
 
+        if (!ethtool_fd)
+                ethtool_fd = &fd;
+
         if (*ethtool_fd < 0) {
                 r = ethtool_connect_or_warn(ethtool_fd, false);
                 if (r < 0)