diff --git a/docs/formatnetwork.html.in b/docs/formatnetwork.html.in
index 8638df96e7..777c3419b3 100644
--- a/docs/formatnetwork.html.in
+++ b/docs/formatnetwork.html.in
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@
     <pre>
 ...
 &lt;bridge name="virbr0" stp="on" delay="5" macTableManager="libvirt"/&gt;
+&lt;mtu size="9000"/&gt;
 &lt;domain name="example.com" localOnly="no"/&gt;
 &lt;forward mode="nat" dev="eth0"/&gt;
 ...</pre>
@@ -151,9 +152,25 @@
           <span class="since">Since 1.2.11, requires kernel 3.17 or
           newer</span>
         </p>
-
-
       </dd>
+
+      <dt><code>mtu</code></dt>
+      <dd>
+        The <code>size</code> attribute of the <code>mtu></code>
+        element specifies the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) for the
+        network. <span class="since">Since 3.1.0</span>. In the case
+        of a libvirt-managed network (one with forward mode
+        of <code>nat</code>, <code>route</code>, <code>open</code>, or
+        no <code>forward</code> element (i.e. an isolated network),
+        this will be the MTU assigned to the bridge device when
+        libvirt creates it, and thereafter also assigned to all tap
+        devices created to connect guest interfaces. Network types not
+        specifically mentioned here don't support having an MTU set in
+        the libvirt network config. If mtu size is unspecified, the
+        default setting for the type of device being used is assumed
+        (usually 1500).
+      </dd>
+
       <dt><code>domain</code></dt>
       <dd>
         The <code>name</code> attribute on the <code>domain</code>
diff --git a/docs/news.xml b/docs/news.xml
index ef1ed785f9..69ed6a75e6 100644
--- a/docs/news.xml
+++ b/docs/news.xml
@@ -36,10 +36,11 @@
       </change>
       <change>
         <summary>
-          Introduce MTU to domain &lt;interface/&gt;
+          Introduce MTU to domain &lt;interface/&gt; and &lt;network&gt;
         </summary>
         <description>
-          Allow setting MTU size for some types of domain interface.
+          Allow setting MTU size for some types of domain interface
+          and network.
         </description>
       </change>
     </section>
diff --git a/docs/schemas/network.rng b/docs/schemas/network.rng
index 8f0a61b5bc..1048dabf3e 100644
--- a/docs/schemas/network.rng
+++ b/docs/schemas/network.rng
@@ -79,6 +79,11 @@
           </element>
         </optional>
 
+        <!-- <mtu> element -->
+        <optional>
+          <ref name="mtu"/>
+        </optional>
+
         <!-- <mac> element -->
         <optional>
           <element name="mac">
diff --git a/src/conf/network_conf.c b/src/conf/network_conf.c
index 86ce311ee1..0e20dac074 100644
--- a/src/conf/network_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/network_conf.c
@@ -2242,6 +2242,17 @@ virNetworkDefParseXML(xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt)
         def->mac_specified = true;
     }
 
+    tmp = virXPathString("string(./mtu/@size)", ctxt);
+    if (tmp) {
+        if (virStrToLong_ui(tmp, NULL, 10, &def->mtu) < 0) {
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
+                           _("Invalid mtu size '%s' in network '%s'"),
+                           tmp, def->name);
+            goto error;
+        }
+    }
+    VIR_FREE(tmp);
+
     dnsNode = virXPathNode("./dns", ctxt);
     if (dnsNode != NULL &&
         virNetworkDNSDefParseXML(def->name, dnsNode, ctxt, &def->dns) < 0) {
@@ -2435,7 +2446,9 @@ virNetworkDefParseXML(xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt)
     case VIR_NETWORK_FORWARD_BRIDGE:
         if (def->delay || stp) {
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
-                           _("bridge delay/stp options only allowed in route, nat, and isolated mode, not in %s (network '%s')"),
+                           _("bridge delay/stp options only allowed in "
+                             "route, nat, and isolated mode, not in %s "
+                             "(network '%s')"),
                            virNetworkForwardTypeToString(def->forward.type),
                            def->name);
             goto error;
@@ -2454,6 +2467,19 @@ virNetworkDefParseXML(xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt)
 
     VIR_FREE(stp);
 
+    if (def->mtu &&
+        (def->forward.type != VIR_NETWORK_FORWARD_NONE &&
+         def->forward.type != VIR_NETWORK_FORWARD_NAT &&
+         def->forward.type != VIR_NETWORK_FORWARD_ROUTE &&
+         def->forward.type != VIR_NETWORK_FORWARD_OPEN)) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
+                       _("mtu size only allowed in open, route, nat, "
+                         "and isolated mode, not in %s (network '%s')"),
+                       virNetworkForwardTypeToString(def->forward.type),
+                       def->name);
+        goto error;
+    }
+
     /* Extract custom metadata */
     if ((metadataNode = virXPathNode("./metadata[1]", ctxt)) != NULL) {
         def->metadata = xmlCopyNode(metadataNode, 1);
@@ -2964,6 +2990,9 @@ virNetworkDefFormatBuf(virBufferPtr buf,
         virBufferAddLit(buf, "/>\n");
     }
 
+    if (def->mtu)
+        virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<mtu size='%u'/>\n", def->mtu);
+
     if (def->mac_specified) {
         char macaddr[VIR_MAC_STRING_BUFLEN];
         virMacAddrFormat(&def->mac, macaddr);
diff --git a/src/conf/network_conf.h b/src/conf/network_conf.h
index b5c9ea24ec..9e4ae71618 100644
--- a/src/conf/network_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/network_conf.h
@@ -240,6 +240,7 @@ struct _virNetworkDef {
     int domainLocalOnly; /* enum virTristateBool: yes disables dns forwarding */
     unsigned long delay;   /* Bridge forward delay (ms) */
     bool stp; /* Spanning tree protocol */
+    unsigned int mtu; /* MTU for bridge, 0 means "default" i.e. unset in config */
     virMacAddr mac; /* mac address of bridge device */
     bool mac_specified;
 
diff --git a/tests/networkxml2xmlin/set-mtu.xml b/tests/networkxml2xmlin/set-mtu.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d1ef32a40f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/networkxml2xmlin/set-mtu.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<network ipv6='no'>
+  <name>private</name>
+  <uuid>81ff0d90-c91e-6742-64da-4a736edb9a9b</uuid>
+  <bridge name='virbr2'/>
+  <mtu size='9000'/>
+  <mac address='52:54:00:17:3F:37'/>
+  <ip address="192.168.152.1" netmask="255.255.255.0">
+    <dhcp>
+      <range start="192.168.152.2" end="192.168.152.254"/>
+    </dhcp>
+  </ip>
+</network>
diff --git a/tests/networkxml2xmlout/set-mtu.xml b/tests/networkxml2xmlout/set-mtu.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..10e8155271
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/networkxml2xmlout/set-mtu.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<network>
+  <name>private</name>
+  <uuid>81ff0d90-c91e-6742-64da-4a736edb9a9b</uuid>
+  <bridge name='virbr2' stp='on' delay='0'/>
+  <mtu size='9000'/>
+  <mac address='52:54:00:17:3f:37'/>
+  <ip address='192.168.152.1' netmask='255.255.255.0'>
+    <dhcp>
+      <range start='192.168.152.2' end='192.168.152.254'/>
+    </dhcp>
+  </ip>
+</network>
diff --git a/tests/networkxml2xmltest.c b/tests/networkxml2xmltest.c
index 01cd6f7144..cfaf7181aa 100644
--- a/tests/networkxml2xmltest.c
+++ b/tests/networkxml2xmltest.c
@@ -158,6 +158,7 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST_PARSE_ERROR("hostdev-duplicate");
     DO_TEST_PARSE_ERROR("passthrough-duplicate");
     DO_TEST("metadata");
+    DO_TEST("set-mtu");
 
     return ret == 0 ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE;
 }