diff --git a/sys/compat/linux/linux_netlink.c b/sys/compat/linux/linux_netlink.c
--- a/sys/compat/linux/linux_netlink.c
+++ b/sys/compat/linux/linux_netlink.c
@@ -224,10 +224,52 @@
 	return (false);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Translate a FreeBSD interface name to a Linux interface name.
+ */
+static bool
+nlmsg_translate_ifname_nla(struct nlattr *nla, struct nl_writer *nw)
+{
+	char ifname[LINUX_IFNAMSIZ];
+
+	if (ifname_bsd_to_linux_name((char *)(nla + 1), ifname,
+	    sizeof(ifname)) <= 0)
+		return (false);
+	return (nlattr_add_string(nw, IFLA_IFNAME, ifname));
+}
+
+#define	LINUX_NLA_UNHANDLED	-1
+/*
+ * Translate a FreeBSD attribute to a Linux attribute.
+ * Returns LINUX_NLA_UNHANDLED when the attribute is not processed
+ * and the caller must take care of it, otherwise the result is returned.
+ */
+static int
+nlmsg_translate_all_nla(struct nlmsghdr *hdr, struct nlattr *nla,
+    struct nl_writer *nw)
+{
+
+	switch (hdr->nlmsg_type) {
+	case NL_RTM_NEWLINK:
+	case NL_RTM_DELLINK:
+	case NL_RTM_GETLINK:
+		switch (nla->nla_type) {
+		case IFLA_IFNAME:
+			return (nlmsg_translate_ifname_nla(nla, nw));
+		default:
+			break;
+		}
+	default:
+		break;
+	}
+	return (LINUX_NLA_UNHANDLED);
+}
+
 static bool
 nlmsg_copy_all_nla(struct nlmsghdr *hdr, int raw_hdrlen, struct nl_writer *nw)
 {
 	struct nlattr *nla;
+	int ret;
 
 	int hdrlen = NETLINK_ALIGN(raw_hdrlen);
 	int attrs_len = hdr->nlmsg_len - sizeof(struct nlmsghdr) - hdrlen;
@@ -238,11 +280,15 @@
 		if (nla->nla_len < sizeof(struct nlattr)) {
 			return (false);
 		}
-		if (!nlmsg_copy_nla(nla, nw))
+		ret = nlmsg_translate_all_nla(hdr, nla, nw);
+		if (ret == LINUX_NLA_UNHANDLED)
+			ret = nlmsg_copy_nla(nla, nw);
+		if (!ret)
 			return (false);
 	}
 	return (true);
 }
+#undef LINUX_NLA_UNHANDLED
 
 static unsigned int
 rtnl_if_flags_to_linux(unsigned int if_flags)