diff --git a/src/network/networkd-route.c b/src/network/networkd-route.c
index f613da9922..e588f3a215 100644
--- a/src/network/networkd-route.c
+++ b/src/network/networkd-route.c
@@ -2757,6 +2757,12 @@ int config_parse_multipath_route(
                 if (r > 0)
                         m->ifindex = r;
                 else {
+                        if (!ifname_valid_full(dev, IFNAME_VALID_ALTERNATIVE)) {
+                                log_syntax(unit, LOG_WARNING, filename, line, 0,
+                                           "Invalid interface name '%s' in %s=, ignoring: %s", dev, lvalue, rvalue);
+                                return 0;
+                        }
+
                         m->ifname = strdup(dev);
                         if (!m->ifname)
                                 return log_oom();