diff --git a/ip/iplink.c b/ip/iplink.c
index dc98019..15dd84f 100644
--- a/ip/iplink.c
+++ b/ip/iplink.c
@@ -176,8 +176,13 @@ static int iplink_have_newlink(void)
 		req.n.nlmsg_type = RTM_NEWLINK;
 		req.i.ifi_family = AF_UNSPEC;
 
-		rtnl_send(&rth, &req.n, req.n.nlmsg_len);
-		rtnl_listen(&rth, accept_msg, NULL);
+		if (rtnl_send(&rth, &req.n, req.n.nlmsg_len) < 0) {
+			perror("Could not check for "
+				"link configuration over netlink support");
+			have_rtnl_newlink = 0;
+		} else {
+			rtnl_listen(&rth, accept_msg, NULL);
+		}
 	}
 	return have_rtnl_newlink;
 }