diff --git a/hw/net/virtio-net.c b/hw/net/virtio-net.c
index 2040eac9a1..f5ead976bf 100644
--- a/hw/net/virtio-net.c
+++ b/hw/net/virtio-net.c
@@ -1714,6 +1714,9 @@ static void virtio_net_instance_init(Object *obj)
      * Can be overriden with virtio_net_set_config_size.
      */
     n->config_size = sizeof(struct virtio_net_config);
+    device_add_bootindex_property(obj, &n->nic_conf.bootindex,
+                                  "bootindex", "/ethernet-phy@0",
+                                  DEVICE(n), NULL);
 }
 
 static Property virtio_net_properties[] = {