diff --git a/files/qemu-ifdown b/files/qemu-ifdown
index 6be47b0..beca916 100755
--- a/files/qemu-ifdown
+++ b/files/qemu-ifdown
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ if [ ! -z $BRIDGE ]; then
     BRIDGE=${BRIDGE##*/}
     echo "removing $IFACE from $BRIDGE"
     brctl delif $BRIDGE $IFACE
-    if ! ls /sys/devices/virtual/net/$BRIDGE/brif/ | grep -qv "vxlan\|vlan"; then        #if so is the *local* bridge now empty? if so, nuke the whole bridge including tunnel endpoint
+    if ! ls /sys/devices/virtual/net/$BRIDGE/brif/ | grep -qv "vxlan\|vlan" 2>/dev/null; then        #if so is the *local* bridge now empty? if so, nuke the whole bridge including tunnel endpoint
         echo "removing unused bridge: $BRIDGE"
-        for uplinkif in ls /sys/devices/virtual/net/$BRIDGE/brif/; do
+        for uplinkif in $(ls /sys/devices/virtual/net/$BRIDGE/brif/ 2>/dev/null); do
           ip link del dev $uplinkif
         done
         ip link set down $BRIDGE