diff --git a/osdep/LinuxEthernetTap.cpp b/osdep/LinuxEthernetTap.cpp
index f97f67c2d..a2a942dcc 100644
--- a/osdep/LinuxEthernetTap.cpp
+++ b/osdep/LinuxEthernetTap.cpp
@@ -207,6 +207,12 @@ LinuxEthernetTap::LinuxEthernetTap(
 					printf("WARNING: ioctl() failed setting up Linux tap device (bring interface up)\n");
 					return;
 				}
+				ifr.ifr_flags |= IFF_UP;
+				if (ioctl(sock,SIOCSIFFLAGS,(void *)&ifr) < 0) {
+					::close(sock);
+					printf("WARNING: ioctl() failed setting up Linux tap device (bring interface up)\n");
+					return;
+				}
 
 				// Some kernel versions seem to require you to yield while the device comes up
 				// before they will accept MTU and MAC. For others it doesn't matter, but is
@@ -229,13 +235,6 @@ LinuxEthernetTap::LinuxEthernetTap(
 					return;
 				}
 
-				ifr.ifr_flags |= IFF_UP;
-				if (ioctl(sock,SIOCSIFFLAGS,(void *)&ifr) < 0) {
-					::close(sock);
-					printf("WARNING: ioctl() failed setting up Linux tap device (bring interface up)\n");
-					return;
-				}
-
 				fcntl(_fd,F_SETFL,O_NONBLOCK);
 
 				::close(sock);