diff --git a/pkg/netlink/netlink_linux.go b/pkg/netlink/netlink_linux.go
index b9e04a339a..aca47b84dc 100644
--- a/pkg/netlink/netlink_linux.go
+++ b/pkg/netlink/netlink_linux.go
@@ -732,6 +732,8 @@ func NetworkChangeName(iface *net.Interface, newName string) error {
 	defer syscall.Close(fd)
 
 	data := [IFNAMSIZ * 2]byte{}
+	// the "-1"s here are very important for ensuring we get proper null
+	// termination of our new C strings
 	copy(data[:IFNAMSIZ-1], iface.Name)
 	copy(data[IFNAMSIZ:IFNAMSIZ*2-1], newName)