diff --git a/src/mnl.c b/src/mnl.c
index 26f943dbb4c8..ee62c0c9c2a0 100644
--- a/src/mnl.c
+++ b/src/mnl.c
@@ -261,8 +261,13 @@ static void mnl_set_sndbuffer(const struct mnl_socket *nl,
 
 	/* Rise sender buffer length to avoid hitting -EMSGSIZE */
 	if (setsockopt(mnl_socket_get_fd(nl), SOL_SOCKET, SO_SNDBUFFORCE,
-		       &newbuffsiz, sizeof(socklen_t)) < 0)
-		return;
+		       &newbuffsiz, sizeof(socklen_t)) < 0) {
+		/* Fall back to SO_SNDBUF, this never fails, kernel trims down
+		 * the size to net.core.wmem_max.
+		 */
+		setsockopt(mnl_socket_get_fd(nl), SOL_SOCKET, SO_SNDBUF,
+			   &newbuffsiz, sizeof(socklen_t));
+	}
 }
 
 static unsigned int nlsndbufsiz;