diff --git a/drivers/net/tun.c b/drivers/net/tun.c
index 4763087162..65d60e9fe0 100644
--- a/drivers/net/tun.c
+++ b/drivers/net/tun.c
@@ -1159,7 +1159,7 @@ static int tun_ioctl(FAR struct file *filep, int cmd, unsigned long arg)
       int intf;
       FAR struct ifreq *ifr = (FAR struct ifreq *)arg;
 
-      if (!ifr || (ifr->ifr_flags & IFF_MASK) != IFF_TUN)
+      if (!ifr || ((ifr->ifr_flags & IFF_MASK) != IFF_TUN && (ifr->ifr_flags & IFF_MASK) != IFF_TAP))
         {
           return -EINVAL;
         }
@@ -1191,6 +1191,21 @@ static int tun_ioctl(FAR struct file *filep, int cmd, unsigned long arg)
       priv = filep->f_priv;
       strncpy(ifr->ifr_name, priv->dev.d_ifname, IFNAMSIZ);
 
+      if ((ifr->ifr_flags & IFF_MASK) == IFF_TAP)
+        {
+          /* TAP device -> handling raw Ethernet packets
+           * -> set appropriate Ethernet header length
+           */
+          priv->dev.d_llhdrlen = ETH_HDRLEN;
+        }
+      else if ((ifr->ifr_flags & IFF_MASK) == IFF_TUN)
+        {
+          /* TUN device -> handling an application data stream
+           * -> no header
+           */
+          priv->dev.d_llhdrlen = 0;
+        }
+
       tundev_unlock(tun);
 
       return OK;
diff --git a/net/netdev/netdev_register.c b/net/netdev/netdev_register.c
index 737d51195b..a3de997c85 100644
--- a/net/netdev/netdev_register.c
+++ b/net/netdev/netdev_register.c
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ int netdev_register(FAR struct net_driver_s *dev, enum net_lltype_e lltype)
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_NET_TUN
           case NET_LL_TUN:        /* Virtual Network Device (TUN) */
-            dev->d_llhdrlen = 0;
+            dev->d_llhdrlen = 0; /* this will be overwritten by tun_ioctl if used as a TAP (layer 2) device */
             dev->d_mtu      = CONFIG_NET_TUN_MTU;
 #ifdef CONFIG_NET_TCP
             dev->d_recvwndo = CONFIG_NET_TUN_TCP_RECVWNDO;