diff --git a/interfaces/forms.py b/interfaces/forms.py
index 83923c8c..ab680f43 100644
--- a/interfaces/forms.py
+++ b/interfaces/forms.py
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ class AddInterface(forms.Form):
         required=True,
         choices=(("none", "none"), ("onboot", "onboot"), ("hotplug", "hotplug")),
     )
-    netdev = forms.CharField(max_length=15, required=True)
+    # a bridge's member; an ethernet interface configures the device in name
+    netdev = forms.CharField(max_length=15, required=False)
     ipv4_type = forms.ChoiceField(
         required=True,
         choices=(("dhcp", "dhcp"), ("static", "static"), ("none", "none")),
@@ -93,6 +94,8 @@ class AddInterface(forms.Form):
 
     def clean_netdev(self):
         netdev = self.cleaned_data["netdev"]
+        if not netdev:
+            return netdev
         if not re.fullmatch(r"[A-Za-z0-9_.-]{1,15}", netdev) or netdev in (".", ".."):
             raise forms.ValidationError(
                 _("The device name may have up to 15 letters, digits and . _ -")
@@ -111,7 +114,9 @@ class AddInterface(forms.Form):
                 self.add_error("stp", _("A bridge needs STP on or off"))
             if cleaned.get("delay") is None and "delay" not in self.errors:
                 self.add_error("delay", _("A bridge needs a forward delay"))
-            if netdev and netdev not in self.netdevs:
+            if not netdev and "netdev" not in self.errors:
+                self.add_error("netdev", _("A bridge needs a device"))
+            elif netdev and netdev not in self.netdevs:
                 self.add_error("netdev", _("The device is not on this host"))
             elif netdev and netdev == name:
                 self.add_error("netdev", _("A bridge cannot contain itself"))
diff --git a/interfaces/test_forms.py b/interfaces/test_forms.py
index b5a36456..cbf77e98 100644
--- a/interfaces/test_forms.py
+++ b/interfaces/test_forms.py
@@ -225,3 +225,30 @@ class CreateViewTestCase(TestCase):
                     {**BASE, "netdev": netdev, "ipv6_type": "none", "create": ""},
                 )
                 self.assertEqual(conn.create_iface.called, created)
+
+    def test_unreadable_host_devices_are_reported_not_blamed_on_the_input(self):
+        admin = get_user_model().objects.create_superuser("iface_admin2", "b@example.com", "x")
+        compute = Compute.objects.create(name="iface-c2", hostname="127.0.0.1:1", login="root", password="", type=1)
+        self.client.force_login(admin)
+        with patch("interfaces.views.wvmInterfaces") as conn_cls:
+            conn = conn_cls.return_value
+            conn.get_ifaces.return_value = []
+            conn.get_net_devices.side_effect = RuntimeError("nodedev driver not running")
+            response = self.client.post(
+                reverse("interfaces", args=[compute.id]),
+                {**BASE, "netdev": "eth0", "ipv6_type": "none", "create": ""},
+            )
+        self.assertFalse(conn.create_iface.called)
+        messages = [str(m) for m in response.context["messages"]]
+        self.assertTrue(any("nodedev driver not running" in m for m in messages), messages)
+        self.assertFalse(any("not on this host" in m for m in messages), messages)
+
+
+class EthernetDeviceTestCase(SimpleTestCase):
+    def test_an_ethernet_interface_needs_no_bridge_member(self):
+        self.assertTrue(form(itype="ethernet", name="eth0", netdev="", ipv6_type="none").is_valid())
+
+    def test_a_bridge_needs_a_member(self):
+        f = form(netdev="", ipv6_type="none")
+        self.assertFalse(f.is_valid())
+        self.assertIn("netdev", f.errors)
diff --git a/interfaces/views.py b/interfaces/views.py
index 6453e08f..f89a91b7 100644
--- a/interfaces/views.py
+++ b/interfaces/views.py
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-import contextlib
 from django.contrib import messages
 from django.shortcuts import render, get_object_or_404
 from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect
 from django.urls import reverse
+from django.utils.translation import gettext_lazy as _
 from libvirt import libvirtError
 from computes.models import Compute
 from interfaces.forms import AddInterface
@@ -30,9 +30,12 @@ def interfaces(request, compute_id):
         )
         ifaces = conn.get_ifaces()
 
-        netdevs = []
-        with contextlib.suppress(Exception):
+        netdevs, netdev_error = [], None
+        try:
             netdevs = conn.get_net_devices()
+        except Exception as err:
+            netdev_error = err
+            messages.error(request, _("The network devices of this host could not be read: %(error)s") % {"error": err})
 
         for iface in ifaces:
             interf = wvmInterface(
@@ -45,7 +48,8 @@ def interfaces(request, compute_id):
             ifaces_all.append(interf.get_details())
 
         if request.method == "POST":
-            if "create" in request.POST:
+            # without the host's devices nothing can be checked, so nothing is created
+            if "create" in request.POST and netdev_error is None:
                 form = AddInterface(request.POST, netdevs=netdevs)
                 if form.is_valid():
                     data = form.cleaned_data