diff --git a/net/ifconfig.sh.BSD.in b/net/ifconfig.sh.BSD.in
index 15c8fb8e..c7e98a28 100644
--- a/net/ifconfig.sh.BSD.in
+++ b/net/ifconfig.sh.BSD.in
@@ -242,3 +242,23 @@ ifconfig_post_start()
 		eend 0
 	fi
 }
+
+# Is the interface administratively/operationally up?
+# The 'UP' status in ifconfig is the administrative status
+# Operational state does not seem to be available in BSD?
+# 0: up
+# 1: down
+# 2: invalid arguments
+is_admin_up()
+{
+	local iface="$1"
+	[ -z "$iface" ] && iface="$IFACE"
+	ifconfig "${iface}" | \
+	sed -n '1,1{ /flags=.*[<,]UP[,>]/{ q 0 }}; q 1; '
+}
+
+is_oper_up()
+{
+	eerror "TODO: is_oper_up not available on BSD"
+	return 2
+}
diff --git a/net/ifconfig.sh.Linux.in b/net/ifconfig.sh.Linux.in
index dcbd6286..1ac0dd52 100644
--- a/net/ifconfig.sh.Linux.in
+++ b/net/ifconfig.sh.Linux.in
@@ -297,3 +297,26 @@ ifconfig_post_stop()
 	iptunnel del "${IFACE}"
 	eend $?
 }
+
+# Is the interface administratively/operationally up?
+# The 'UP' status in ifconfig/iproute2 is the administrative status
+# Operational state is available in iproute2 output as 'state UP', or the
+# operstate sysfs variable.
+# 0: up
+# 1: down
+# 2: invalid arguments
+is_admin_up()
+{
+	local iface="$1"
+	[ -z "$iface" ] && iface="$IFACE"
+	ifconfig "${iface}" | \
+	sed -n '1,1{ /flags=.*[<,]UP[,>]/{ q 0 }}; q 1; '
+}
+
+is_oper_up()
+{
+	local iface="$1"
+	[ -z "$iface" ] && iface="$IFACE"
+	read state </sys/class/net/"${iface}"/operstate
+	[ "x$state" = "up" ]
+}
diff --git a/net/iproute2.sh b/net/iproute2.sh
index 214841e4..e177c6d9 100644
--- a/net/iproute2.sh
+++ b/net/iproute2.sh
@@ -327,3 +327,26 @@ iproute2_post_stop()
 		fi
 	fi
 }
+
+# Is the interface administratively/operationally up?
+# The 'UP' status in ifconfig/iproute2 is the administrative status
+# Operational state is available in iproute2 output as 'state UP', or the
+# operstate sysfs variable.
+# 0: up
+# 1: down
+# 2: invalid arguments
+is_admin_up()
+{
+	local iface="$1"
+	[ -z "$iface" ] && iface="$IFACE"
+	ip link show dev $iface | \
+	sed -n '1,1{ /[<,]UP[,>]/{ q 0 }}; q 1; '
+}
+
+is_oper_up()
+{
+	local iface="$1"
+	[ -z "$iface" ] && iface="$IFACE"
+	read state </sys/class/net/"${iface}"/operstate
+	[ "x$state" = "up" ]
+}