diff --git a/man/systemd.link.xml b/man/systemd.link.xml
index 0f9e988ba0..be8dda0bac 100644
--- a/man/systemd.link.xml
+++ b/man/systemd.link.xml
@@ -361,7 +361,8 @@
         <listitem>
           <para>The alternative interface name to use. This option can be specified multiple times.
           If the empty string is assigned to this option, the list is reset, and all prior assignments
-          have no effect.</para>
+          have no effect. If the kernel does not support the alternative names, then this setting will
+          be ignored.</para>
         </listitem>
       </varlistentry>
       <varlistentry>
diff --git a/src/udev/net/link-config.c b/src/udev/net/link-config.c
index a51703b8b7..ca11cfd9e3 100644
--- a/src/udev/net/link-config.c
+++ b/src/udev/net/link-config.c
@@ -462,7 +462,9 @@ int link_config_apply(link_config_ctx *ctx, link_config *config,
                 return log_warning_errno(r, "Could not set Alias=, MACAddress= or MTU= on %s: %m", old_name);
 
         r = rtnl_set_link_alternative_names(&ctx->rtnl, ifindex, config->alternative_names);
-        if (r < 0)
+        if (r == -EOPNOTSUPP)
+                log_debug_errno(r, "Could not set AlternativeName= on %s, ignoring: %m", old_name);
+        else if (r < 0)
                 return log_warning_errno(r, "Could not set AlternativeName= on %s: %m", old_name);
 
         *name = new_name;