diff --git a/packages/bsp/common/usr/lib/armbian/armbian-firstlogin b/packages/bsp/common/usr/lib/armbian/armbian-firstlogin
index 8327c9fa8..0a590a6eb 100755
--- a/packages/bsp/common/usr/lib/armbian/armbian-firstlogin
+++ b/packages/bsp/common/usr/lib/armbian/armbian-firstlogin
@@ -304,6 +304,8 @@ set_timezone_and_locales() {
 					WIFI_DEVICE=$(echo ${WIFI_DEVICES[$input-1]} | cut -d"," -f2)
 				fi
 
+				# bring up wifi device (not done by networkd, only by NetworkManager)
+				ip link set ${WIFI_DEVICE} up
 				# get list of wireless networks
 				scanning=0
 				broken=1