diff --git a/weave b/weave
index a4f787cc..cae010b1 100755
--- a/weave
+++ b/weave
@@ -571,7 +571,7 @@ detect_bridge_type() {
     MTU=${WEAVE_MTU:-$(cat /sys/class/net/$BRIDGE/mtu)}
 }
 
-create_bridge() {
+try_create_bridge() {
     if ! detect_bridge_type ; then
         BRIDGE_TYPE=bridge
         if [ -z "$WEAVE_NO_FASTDP" ] ; then
@@ -656,6 +656,16 @@ EOF
     configure_arp_cache $BRIDGE
 }
 
+create_bridge() {
+    if ! try_create_bridge "$@" ; then
+        echo "Creating bridge '$BRIDGE' failed" >&2
+        # reset to original value so we destroy both kinds
+        DATAPATH=datapath
+        destroy_bridge
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
 expose_ip() {
     ipam_cidrs allocate_no_check_alive weave:expose $CIDR_ARGS
     for CIDR in $ALL_CIDRS ; do