diff --git a/drivers/net/ifb.c b/drivers/net/ifb.c
index c8e7c8f..f5c3598 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ifb.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ifb.c
@@ -221,10 +221,22 @@
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int ifb_validate(struct nlattr *tb[], struct nlattr *data[])
+{
+	if (tb[IFLA_ADDRESS]) {
+		if (nla_len(tb[IFLA_ADDRESS]) != ETH_ALEN)
+			return -EINVAL;
+		if (!is_valid_ether_addr(nla_data(tb[IFLA_ADDRESS])))
+			return -EADDRNOTAVAIL;
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static struct rtnl_link_ops ifb_link_ops __read_mostly = {
 	.kind		= "ifb",
 	.priv_size	= sizeof(struct ifb_private),
 	.setup		= ifb_setup,
+	.validate	= ifb_validate,
 };
 
 /* Number of ifb devices to be set up by this module. */