diff --git a/hw/arm/npcm7xx.c b/hw/arm/npcm7xx.c
index ff3ecde904..cc68b5d8f1 100644
--- a/hw/arm/npcm7xx.c
+++ b/hw/arm/npcm7xx.c
@@ -710,6 +710,7 @@ static void npcm7xx_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
     for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(s->gmac); i++) {
         SysBusDevice *sbd = SYS_BUS_DEVICE(&s->gmac[i]);
 
+        qemu_configure_nic_device(DEVICE(sbd), false, NULL);
         /*
          * The device exists regardless of whether it's connected to a QEMU
          * netdev backend. So always instantiate it even if there is no