diff --git a/network/vif-qubes-nat.sh b/network/vif-qubes-nat.sh
index 9833e45..2789d34 100755
--- a/network/vif-qubes-nat.sh
+++ b/network/vif-qubes-nat.sh
@@ -46,9 +46,12 @@ if test "$command" == online; then
     run ip link set "$netns_appvm_if" netns "$netns"
 
     # keep the same MAC as the real vif interface, so NetworkManager will still
-    # ignore it
-    run ip link add "$netns_netvm_if" type veth peer name "$netvm_if" address fe:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
-    run ip link set "$netns_netvm_if" netns "$netns"
+    # ignore it.
+    # for the peer interface, make sure that it has the same MAC address
+    # as the actual VM, so that our neighbor entry works.
+    run ip link add name "$netns_netvm_if" address "$mac" type veth \
+        peer name "$netvm_if" address fe:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
+    run ip link set dev "$netns_netvm_if" netns "$netns"
 
     netns ip6tables -t raw -I PREROUTING -j DROP
     netns ip6tables -P INPUT DROP
@@ -85,6 +88,7 @@ if test "$command" == online; then
         netns iptables -t nat -I POSTROUTING -o "$netns_appvm_if" -s "$netvm_dns2_ip" -j SNAT --to-source "$appvm_dns2_ip"
     fi
 
+    netns ip neighbour add to "$appvm_ip" dev "$netns_appvm_if" lladdr "$mac" nud permanent
     netns ip addr add "$netvm_ip" dev "$netns_netvm_if"
     netns ip addr add "$appvm_gw_ip" dev "$netns_appvm_if"
 
diff --git a/network/vif-route-qubes b/network/vif-route-qubes
index 85881b7..1cf43d2 100755
--- a/network/vif-route-qubes
+++ b/network/vif-route-qubes
@@ -78,40 +78,6 @@ if [ "${ip}" ]; then
     appvm_ip="$(qubesdb-read "/mapped-ip/$ip4/visible-ip" 2>/dev/null || :)"
 fi
 
-# Apply NAT if IP visible from the VM is different than the "real" one
-# See vif-qubes-nat.sh for details
-# XXX: supported only for the first IPv4 address, IPv6 is dropped if this
-# feature is enabled
-if [ -n "$appvm_ip" ] && [ -n "$appvm_gw_ip" ] && [ "$appvm_ip" != "$netvm_ip" ]; then
-    # shellcheck disable=SC2154
-    if test "$command" == online; then
-        # shellcheck disable=SC2154
-        echo 1 >"/proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/${vif}/proxy_arp"
-    fi
-
-    # shellcheck source=network/vif-qubes-nat.sh
-    . "$dir/vif-qubes-nat.sh"
-fi
-
-# shellcheck disable=SC2154
-case "$command" in
-    online)
-        echo 1 >"/proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/${vif}/proxy_arp"
-        ipcmd='add'
-        iptables_cmd='-I PREROUTING 1'
-        cmdprefix=''
-        ipv6_disabled=$(cat /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/"${vif}"/disable_ipv6 || echo 1)
-        ;;
-    offline)
-        do_without_error ifdown "${vif}"
-        ipcmd='del'
-        iptables_cmd='-D PREROUTING'
-        cmdprefix='do_without_error'
-        # cleanup IPv6 config even if _now_ it is disabled
-        ipv6_disabled=0
-        ;;
-esac
-
 readonly max_domid=32752
 
 # if domid is 0 something is seriously wrong, so don’t check for that case
@@ -130,6 +96,36 @@ if (( domid > max_domid )); then
 fi
 metric=$(( max_domid - domid ))
 
+# shellcheck disable=SC2154
+case "$command" in
+    online)
+        echo 1 >"/proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/${vif}/proxy_arp"
+        ipcmd='add'
+        iptables_cmd='-I PREROUTING 1'
+        cmdprefix=''
+        ipv6_disabled=$(cat /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/"${vif}"/disable_ipv6 || echo 1)
+        # without a MAC address we will fail later with a confusing error
+        mac=$(xenstore-read "backend/vif/$domid/$sub/mac") || exit 1
+        ;;
+    offline)
+        do_without_error ifdown "${vif}"
+        ipcmd='del'
+        iptables_cmd='-D PREROUTING'
+        cmdprefix='do_without_error'
+        # cleanup IPv6 config even if _now_ it is disabled
+        ipv6_disabled=0
+        ;;
+esac
+
+# Apply NAT if IP visible from the VM is different than the "real" one
+# See vif-qubes-nat.sh for details
+# XXX: supported only for the first IPv4 address, IPv6 is dropped if this
+# feature is enabled
+if [ -n "$appvm_ip" ] && [ -n "$appvm_gw_ip" ] && [ "$appvm_ip" != "$netvm_ip" ]; then
+    # shellcheck source=network/vif-qubes-nat.sh
+    . "$dir/vif-qubes-nat.sh"
+fi
+
 # add anti-spoofing rules before enabling the interface
 if [ "${ip}" ]; then
     # If we’ve been given a list of IP addresses, then add routes from us to
@@ -147,7 +143,6 @@ if [ "${ip}" ]; then
             "COMMIT" | \
             ${cmdprefix} $ipt --noflush $ipt_arg
         if [[ "$command" = 'online' ]]; then
-            mac=$(xenstore-read "backend/vif/$domid/$sub/mac") &&
             ip -- neighbour "${ipcmd}" to "${addr}" \
                 dev "${vif}" lladdr "$mac" nud permanent
         fi