diff --git a/src/dns-manager/nm-dns-dnsmasq.c b/src/dns-manager/nm-dns-dnsmasq.c
index 77ac548d8c..4cee160890 100644
--- a/src/dns-manager/nm-dns-dnsmasq.c
+++ b/src/dns-manager/nm-dns-dnsmasq.c
@@ -393,6 +393,7 @@ start_dnsmasq (NMDnsDnsmasq *self)
 	argv[idx++] = "--pid-file=" PIDFILE;
 	argv[idx++] = "--listen-address=127.0.0.1"; /* Should work for both 4 and 6 */
 	argv[idx++] = "--cache-size=400";
+	argv[idx++] = "--conf-file=/dev/null"; /* avoid loading /etc/dnsmasq.conf */
 	argv[idx++] = "--proxy-dnssec"; /* Allow DNSSEC to pass through */
 	argv[idx++] = "--enable-dbus=" DNSMASQ_DBUS_SERVICE;