diff --git a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/nixos-containers.nix b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/nixos-containers.nix
index ce86487bbbc3..771ebddcb92b 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/nixos-containers.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/nixos-containers.nix
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
+  utils,
   ...
 }@host:
 
@@ -1052,8 +1053,8 @@ in
                 }
                 // (optionalAttrs containerConfig.autoStart {
                   wantedBy = [ "machines.target" ];
-                  wants = [ "network.target" ] ++ (map (i: "sys-subsystem-net-devices-${i}.device") cfg.interfaces);
-                  after = [ "network.target" ] ++ (map (i: "sys-subsystem-net-devices-${i}.device") cfg.interfaces);
+                  wants = [ "network.target" ] ++ (map (i: "sys-subsystem-net-devices-${utils.escapeSystemdPath i}.device") cfg.interfaces);
+                  after = [ "network.target" ] ++ (map (i: "sys-subsystem-net-devices-${utils.escapeSystemdPath i}.device") cfg.interfaces);
                   restartTriggers = [
                     containerConfig.path
                     config.environment.etc."${configurationDirectoryName}/${name}.conf".source