diff --git a/src/network/netdev/tunnel.c b/src/network/netdev/tunnel.c
index 5dbbb83975..261c211c7d 100644
--- a/src/network/netdev/tunnel.c
+++ b/src/network/netdev/tunnel.c
@@ -642,6 +642,9 @@ static int netdev_tunnel_verify(NetDev *netdev, const char *filename) {
         if (netdev->kind == NETDEV_KIND_VTI)
                 t->family = AF_INET;
 
+        if (t->assign_to_loopback)
+                t->independent = true;
+
         return 0;
 }