diff --git a/package/base-files/files/lib/network/config.sh b/package/base-files/files/lib/network/config.sh
index 2c15b5e231..c08fd69bc8 100755
--- a/package/base-files/files/lib/network/config.sh
+++ b/package/base-files/files/lib/network/config.sh
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ prepare_interface() {
 				} || {
 					$DEBUG brctl addbr "br-$config"
 					$DEBUG brctl setfd "br-$config" 0
+					$DEBUG ifconfig "br-$config" up
 					$DEBUG brctl addif "br-$config" "$iface"
 					# Creating the bridge here will have triggered a hotplug event, which will
 					# result in another setup_interface() call, so we simply stop processing