diff --git a/net/core/dev.c b/net/core/dev.c
index d2698b4bbad4f..0830f29672214 100644
--- a/net/core/dev.c
+++ b/net/core/dev.c
@@ -1077,9 +1077,6 @@ static int __dev_alloc_name(struct net *net, const char *name, char *res)
 	struct net_device *d;
 	char buf[IFNAMSIZ];
 
-	if (!dev_valid_name(name))
-		return -EINVAL;
-
 	/* Verify the string as this thing may have come from the user.
 	 * There must be one "%d" and no other "%" characters.
 	 */