diff --git a/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c b/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c
index 0a1dfac52..e42b14e82 100644
--- a/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c
+++ b/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c
@@ -1780,10 +1780,7 @@ link_get_physical_port_id (NMPlatform *platform, int ifindex)
 		return NULL;
 
 	path = g_strdup_printf ("/sys/class/net/%s/phys_port_id", ifname);
-	if (g_file_test (path, G_FILE_TEST_EXISTS))
-		id = sysctl_get (platform, path, FALSE);
-	else
-		id = NULL;
+	id = sysctl_get (platform, path, TRUE);
 	g_free (path);
 
 	return id;