diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/net/forwarding/lib.sh b/tools/testing/selftests/net/forwarding/lib.sh
index bcf18b99dc1c..f69015bf2dea 100755
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/net/forwarding/lib.sh
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/net/forwarding/lib.sh
@@ -237,6 +237,11 @@ create_netif_veth()
 	for ((i = 1; i <= NUM_NETIFS; ++i)); do
 		local j=$((i+1))
 
+		if [ -z ${NETIFS[p$i]} ]; then
+			echo "SKIP: Cannot create interface. Name not specified"
+			exit $ksft_skip
+		fi
+
 		ip link show dev ${NETIFS[p$i]} &> /dev/null
 		if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
 			ip link add ${NETIFS[p$i]} type veth \