diff --git a/create_ap b/create_ap
index 947f2b7..8143347 100755
--- a/create_ap
+++ b/create_ap
@@ -196,6 +196,17 @@ get_avail_bridge() {
     done
 }
 
+get_virt_iface_name() {
+    i=0
+    while :; do
+        if [[ ! -d /sys/class/net/ap${i} ]]; then
+            echo ap${i}
+            break
+        fi
+        i=$((i+1))
+    done
+}
+
 get_new_macaddr() {
     OLDMAC=$(get_macaddr "$1")
     for i in {20..255}; do
@@ -654,7 +665,7 @@ CONFDIR=$(mktemp -d /tmp/create_ap.${WIFI_IFACE}.conf.XXXXXXXX)
 echo "Config dir: $CONFDIR"
 
 if [[ $NO_VIRT -eq 0 ]]; then
-    VWIFI_IFACE=${WIFI_IFACE}ap
+    VWIFI_IFACE=$(get_virt_iface_name)
 
     # in NetworkManager 0.9.10 and above we can set the interface as unmanaged without
     # the need of MAC address, so we set it before we create the virtual interface.