diff --git a/devices/qemu/default.nix b/devices/qemu/default.nix
index a53f25d0..8473d387 100644
--- a/devices/qemu/default.nix
+++ b/devices/qemu/default.nix
@@ -77,8 +77,14 @@
         networkInterfaces =
           let inherit (config.system.service.network) link;
           in {
-            wan = link.build { ifname = "eth0"; };
-            lan = link.build { ifname = "eth1"; };
+            wan = link.build {
+              devpath = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/virtio0";
+              ifname = "wan";
+            };
+            lan = link.build {
+              devpath = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/virtio1";
+              ifname = "lan";
+            };
 
             wlan_24 = link.build {
               ifname = "wlan0";
diff --git a/modules/network/default.nix b/modules/network/default.nix
index ef3b95f8..73650e47 100644
--- a/modules/network/default.nix
+++ b/modules/network/default.nix
@@ -68,7 +68,21 @@ in {
         ifname = mkOption {
           type = types.str;
           example = "eth0";
+          description = ''
+            Device name as used by the kernel (as seen in "ip link"
+            or "ifconfig" output). If devpath is also specified, the
+            device will be renamed to the name provided.
+          '';
         };
+        devpath = mkOption {
+          type = types.nullOr types.str;
+          default = null;
+          example = "/devices/platform/soc/soc:internal-regs/f1070000.ethernet";
+          description = ''
+            Path to the sysfs node of the device. If you provide this
+            and the ifname option, the device will be renamed to the
+            name given by ifname.
+          ''; };
         # other "ip link add" options could go here as well
         mtu = mkOption {
           type = types.nullOr types.int;
diff --git a/modules/network/link.nix b/modules/network/link.nix
index d64a0d1f..819d2ec0 100644
--- a/modules/network/link.nix
+++ b/modules/network/link.nix
@@ -4,13 +4,27 @@
 , serviceFns
 , lib
 }:
-{ifname, mtu} :
+{
+  ifname
+, devpath ? null
+, mtu} :
+# if devpath is supplied, we rename the interface at that
+# path to have the specified name.
 let
   inherit (liminix.services) longrun oneshot;
   inherit (lib) concatStringsSep;
   name = "${ifname}.link";
-  up = liminix.networking.ifup name ifname;
+  rename = if devpath != null
+           then ''
+             oldname=$(cd /sys${devpath} && cd net/ && echo *)
+             ip link set ''${oldname} name ${ifname}
+           ''
+           else "";
 in oneshot {
-  inherit name up;
+  inherit name;
+  up = ''
+    ${rename}
+    ${liminix.networking.ifup name ifname}
+  '';
   down = "ip link set down dev ${ifname}";
 }