diff --git a/docs/ENVIRONMENT.md b/docs/ENVIRONMENT.md
index e9e82cfca4..eaac288ec5 100644
--- a/docs/ENVIRONMENT.md
+++ b/docs/ENVIRONMENT.md
@@ -92,13 +92,14 @@ systemd-logind:
   for it.
 
 * `$NET_NAMING_SCHEME=` – if set, takes a network naming scheme (i.e. one of
-  v238, v239, v240 …) as parameter. If specified udev's net_id builtin will
-  follow the specified naming scheme when determining stable network interface
-  names. This may be used to revert to naming schemes of older udev versions,
-  in order to provide more stable naming across updates. This environment
-  variable takes precedence over the kernel command line option
-  `net.naming-scheme=`, except if the value is prefixed with `:` in which case
-  the kernel command line option takes precedence, if it is specified as well.
+  "v238", "v239", "v240"…, or the special value "latest") as parameter. If
+  specified udev's net_id builtin will follow the specified naming scheme when
+  determining stable network interface names. This may be used to revert to
+  naming schemes of older udev versions, in order to provide more stable naming
+  across updates. This environment variable takes precedence over the kernel
+  command line option `net.naming-scheme=`, except if the value is prefixed
+  with `:` in which case the kernel command line option takes precedence, if it
+  is specified as well.
 
 installed systemd tests:
 
diff --git a/man/systemd-udevd.service.xml b/man/systemd-udevd.service.xml
index b1409698ab..330700d7dd 100644
--- a/man/systemd-udevd.service.xml
+++ b/man/systemd-udevd.service.xml
@@ -174,16 +174,20 @@
         <term><varname>net.naming-scheme=</varname></term>
         <listitem>
           <para>Network interfaces are renamed to give them predictable names when possible (unless
-          <varname>net.ifnames=0</varname> is specified, see above). The names are derived from various device metadata
-          fields. Newer versions of <filename>systemd-udevd.service</filename> take more of these fields into account,
-          improving (and thus possibly changing) the names used for the same devices. With this kernel command line
-          option it is possible to pick a specific version of this algorithm. It expects a naming scheme identifier as
-          argument. Currently the following identifiers are known: <literal>v238</literal>, <literal>v239</literal>,
-          <literal>v240</literal> which each implement the naming scheme that was the default in the indicated systemd
-          version. Note that selecting a specific scheme is not sufficient to fully stabilize interface naming: the
-          naming is generally derived from driver attributes exposed by the kernel. As the kernel is updated,
-          previously missing attributes <filename>systemd-udevd.service</filename> is checking might appear, which
-          affects older name derivation algorithms, too.</para>
+          <varname>net.ifnames=0</varname> is specified, see above). The names are derived from various
+          device metadata fields. Newer versions of <filename>systemd-udevd.service</filename> take more of
+          these fields into account, improving (and thus possibly changing) the names used for the same
+          devices. With this kernel command line option it is possible to pick a specific version of this
+          algorithm. It expects a naming scheme identifier as argument. Currently the following identifiers
+          are known: <literal>v238</literal>, <literal>v239</literal>, <literal>v240</literal> which each
+          implement the naming scheme that was the default in the indicated systemd version. In addition,
+          <literal>latest</literal> may be used to designate the latest scheme known (to this particular
+          version of <filename>systemd-udevd.service</filename>).</para>
+
+          <para>Note that selecting a specific scheme is not sufficient to fully stabilize interface naming:
+          the naming is generally derived from driver attributes exposed by the kernel. As the kernel is
+          updated, previously missing attributes <filename>systemd-udevd.service</filename> is checking might
+          appear, which affects older name derivation algorithms, too.</para>
         </listitem>
       </varlistentry>
     </variablelist>
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 1f44c0fe70..d8e35e618d 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -694,6 +694,9 @@ else
         conf.set('DEFAULT_HIERARCHY', 'CGROUP_UNIFIED_ALL')
 endif
 
+default_net_naming_scheme = get_option('default-net-naming-scheme')
+conf.set_quoted('DEFAULT_NET_NAMING_SCHEME', default_net_naming_scheme)
+
 time_epoch = get_option('time-epoch')
 if time_epoch == -1
         NEWS = files('NEWS')
@@ -3093,6 +3096,7 @@ status = [
         'default DNSSEC mode:               @0@'.format(default_dnssec),
         'default DNS-over-TLS mode:         @0@'.format(default_dns_over_tls),
         'default cgroup hierarchy:          @0@'.format(default_hierarchy),
+        'default net.naming-scheme setting: @0@'.format(default_net_naming_scheme),
         'default KillUserProcesses setting: @0@'.format(kill_user_processes)]
 
 alt_dns_servers = '\n                                            '.join(dns_servers.split(' '))
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 62167ae92d..1423b8998e 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -156,6 +156,9 @@ option('compat-gateway-hostname', type : 'boolean', value : 'false',
 option('default-hierarchy', type : 'combo',
        choices : ['legacy', 'hybrid', 'unified'], value : 'hybrid',
        description : 'default cgroup hierarchy')
+option('default-net-naming-scheme', type : 'combo',
+       choices : ['latest', 'v238', 'v239', 'v240'],
+       description : 'default net.naming-scheme= value')
 option('time-epoch', type : 'integer', value : '-1',
        description : 'time epoch for time clients')
 option('system-uid-max', type : 'integer', value : '-1',
diff --git a/src/udev/udev-builtin-net_id.c b/src/udev/udev-builtin-net_id.c
index 18d8d3b8e8..0292c4973c 100644
--- a/src/udev/udev-builtin-net_id.c
+++ b/src/udev/udev-builtin-net_id.c
@@ -193,6 +193,19 @@ struct virtfn_info {
         char suffix[IFNAMSIZ];
 };
 
+static const NamingScheme* naming_scheme_from_name(const char *name) {
+        size_t i;
+
+        if (streq(name, "latest"))
+                return naming_schemes + ELEMENTSOF(naming_schemes) - 1;
+
+        for (i = 0; i < ELEMENTSOF(naming_schemes); i++)
+                if (streq(naming_schemes[i].name, name))
+                        return naming_schemes + i;
+
+        return NULL;
+}
+
 static const NamingScheme* naming_scheme(void) {
         static const NamingScheme *cache = NULL;
         _cleanup_free_ char *buffer = NULL;
@@ -216,24 +229,18 @@ static const NamingScheme* naming_scheme(void) {
                 k = buffer;
 
         if (k) {
-                size_t i;
+                cache = naming_scheme_from_name(k);
+                if (cache) {
+                        log_info("Using interface naming scheme '%s'.", cache->name);
+                        return cache;
+                }
 
-                for (i = 0; i < ELEMENTSOF(naming_schemes); i++)
-                        if (streq(naming_schemes[i].name, k)) {
-                                cache = naming_schemes + i;
-                                break;
-                        }
-
-                if (!cache)
-                        log_warning("Unknown interface naming scheme '%s' requested, ignoring.", k);
+                log_warning("Unknown interface naming scheme '%s' requested, ignoring.", k);
         }
 
-        if (cache)
-                log_info("Using interface naming scheme '%s'.", cache->name);
-        else {
-                cache = naming_schemes + ELEMENTSOF(naming_schemes) - 1;
-                log_info("Using default interface naming scheme '%s'.", cache->name);
-        }
+        cache = naming_scheme_from_name(DEFAULT_NET_NAMING_SCHEME);
+        assert(cache);
+        log_info("Using default interface naming scheme '%s'.", cache->name);
 
         return cache;
 }