diff --git a/tests/_console_avc_crash.pm b/tests/_console_avc_crash.pm
index 1bbea36a..be915cc1 100644
--- a/tests/_console_avc_crash.pm
+++ b/tests/_console_avc_crash.pm
@@ -13,6 +13,12 @@ sub run {
     # anything at a console. the more advanced upstream 'console'
     # handling may help us here if we switch to it
     console_loadkeys_us;
+    # work around #1600823 if it crops up
+    if (script_run "systemctl is-active NetworkManager.service") {
+        record_soft_failure "Network is not up (probably 1600823)";
+        # Try and start service
+        script_run "systemctl start NetworkManager.service";
+    }
     # check there are no AVCs. We expect an error here: if we don't
     # get an error, it means there *are* AVCs.
     my $hook_run = 0;