diff --git a/lib/rtnl.c b/lib/rtnl.c
index dfd8e04b..a9634dac 100644
--- a/lib/rtnl.c
+++ b/lib/rtnl.c
@@ -1273,8 +1273,8 @@ static const uc_nl_nested_spec_t rule_msg = {
 		{ FRA_DST, "dst", DT_ANYADDR, DF_STORE_MASK|DF_FAMILY_HINT, MEMBER(fib_rule_hdr, dst_len) },
 		{ FRA_FWMARK, "fwmark", DT_U32, 0, NULL },
 		{ FRA_FWMASK, "fwmask", DT_U32, 0, NULL },
-		{ FRA_IFNAME, "iif", DT_NETDEV, 0, NULL },
-		{ FRA_OIFNAME, "oif", DT_NETDEV, 0, NULL },
+		{ FRA_IFNAME, "iif", DT_STRING, 0, NULL },
+		{ FRA_OIFNAME, "oif", DT_STRING, 0, NULL },
 		{ FRA_L3MDEV, "l3mdev", DT_U8, 0, NULL },
 		{ FRA_UID_RANGE, "uid_range", DT_NUMRANGE, 0, NULL },
 		{ FRA_IP_PROTO, "ip_proto", DT_U8, 0, NULL },