diff --git a/man/systemd.link.xml b/man/systemd.link.xml
index f74edd0186..22713e0316 100644
--- a/man/systemd.link.xml
+++ b/man/systemd.link.xml
@@ -250,17 +250,12 @@
       <varlistentry>
         <term><varname>NamePolicy=</varname></term>
         <listitem>
-          <para>An ordered, space-separated list of policies by which
-          the interface name should be set.
-          <literal>NamePolicy</literal> may be disabled by specifying
-          <literal>net.ifnames=0</literal> on the kernel command line.
-          Each of the policies may fail, and the first successful one
-          is used. The name is not set directly, but is exported to
-          udev as the property <literal>ID_NET_NAME</literal>, which
-          is, by default, used by a udev rule to set
-          <literal>NAME</literal>. If the name has already been set by
-          userspace, no renaming is performed. The available policies
-          are:</para>
+          <para>An ordered, space-separated list of policies by which the interface name should be set.
+          <literal>NamePolicy</literal> may be disabled by specifying <literal>net.ifnames=0</literal> on the
+          kernel command line.  Each of the policies may fail, and the first successful one is used. The name
+          is not set directly, but is exported to udev as the property <literal>ID_NET_NAME</literal>, which
+          is, by default, used by a udev rule to set <literal>NAME</literal>. The available policies are:
+          </para>
 
           <variablelist>
             <varlistentry>
@@ -314,6 +309,13 @@
                 <literal>ID_NET_NAME_MAC</literal>.</para>
               </listitem>
             </varlistentry>
+            <varlistentry>
+              <term><literal>keep</literal></term>
+              <listitem>
+                <para>If the device already had a name given by userspace (as part of creation of the device
+                or a rename), keep it.</para>
+              </listitem>
+            </varlistentry>
           </variablelist>
         </listitem>
       </varlistentry>
diff --git a/network/99-default.link b/network/99-default.link
index 561bf329e4..92fcbe83ea 100644
--- a/network/99-default.link
+++ b/network/99-default.link
@@ -8,5 +8,5 @@
 #  (at your option) any later version.
 
 [Link]
-NamePolicy=kernel database onboard slot path
+NamePolicy=keep kernel database onboard slot path
 MACAddressPolicy=persistent
diff --git a/src/udev/net/link-config.c b/src/udev/net/link-config.c
index dc0f02bde9..dfb00485d1 100644
--- a/src/udev/net/link-config.c
+++ b/src/udev/net/link-config.c
@@ -399,11 +399,6 @@ int link_config_apply(link_config_ctx *ctx, link_config *config,
 
         (void) link_name_type(device, &name_type);
 
-        if (IN_SET(name_type, NET_NAME_USER, NET_NAME_RENAMED)) {
-                log_device_info(device, "Device already has a name given by userspace, not renaming.");
-                goto no_rename;
-        }
-
         if (ctx->enable_name_policy && config->name_policy)
                 for (NamePolicy *p = config->name_policy; !new_name && *p != _NAMEPOLICY_INVALID; p++) {
                         policy = *p;
@@ -417,6 +412,13 @@ int link_config_apply(link_config_ctx *ctx, link_config *config,
                                 log_device_debug(device, "Policy *%s*: keeping predictable kernel name",
                                                  name_policy_to_string(policy));
                                 goto no_rename;
+                        case NAMEPOLICY_KEEP:
+                                if (!IN_SET(name_type, NET_NAME_USER, NET_NAME_RENAMED))
+                                        continue;
+
+                                log_device_debug(device, "Policy *%s*: keeping existing userspace name",
+                                                 name_policy_to_string(policy));
+                                goto no_rename;
                         case NAMEPOLICY_DATABASE:
                                 (void) sd_device_get_property_value(device, "ID_NET_NAME_FROM_DATABASE", &new_name);
                                 break;
@@ -503,7 +505,7 @@ int link_get_driver(link_config_ctx *ctx, sd_device *device, char **ret) {
 static const char* const mac_policy_table[_MACPOLICY_MAX] = {
         [MACPOLICY_PERSISTENT] = "persistent",
         [MACPOLICY_RANDOM] = "random",
-        [MACPOLICY_NONE] = "none"
+        [MACPOLICY_NONE] = "none",
 };
 
 DEFINE_STRING_TABLE_LOOKUP(mac_policy, MACPolicy);
@@ -512,11 +514,12 @@ DEFINE_CONFIG_PARSE_ENUM(config_parse_mac_policy, mac_policy, MACPolicy,
 
 static const char* const name_policy_table[_NAMEPOLICY_MAX] = {
         [NAMEPOLICY_KERNEL] = "kernel",
+        [NAMEPOLICY_KEEP] = "keep",
         [NAMEPOLICY_DATABASE] = "database",
         [NAMEPOLICY_ONBOARD] = "onboard",
         [NAMEPOLICY_SLOT] = "slot",
         [NAMEPOLICY_PATH] = "path",
-        [NAMEPOLICY_MAC] = "mac"
+        [NAMEPOLICY_MAC] = "mac",
 };
 
 DEFINE_STRING_TABLE_LOOKUP(name_policy, NamePolicy);
diff --git a/src/udev/net/link-config.h b/src/udev/net/link-config.h
index 8204959034..1113b1052e 100644
--- a/src/udev/net/link-config.h
+++ b/src/udev/net/link-config.h
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ typedef enum MACPolicy {
 
 typedef enum NamePolicy {
         NAMEPOLICY_KERNEL,
+        NAMEPOLICY_KEEP,
         NAMEPOLICY_DATABASE,
         NAMEPOLICY_ONBOARD,
         NAMEPOLICY_SLOT,