diff --git a/jeannie b/jeannie
index f7102e4..d1d1204 100755
--- a/jeannie
+++ b/jeannie
@@ -1184,14 +1184,20 @@ configure_pimox_worker_guest_network() {
     local script
     local encoded_script
     local network_output
+    local worker_address
 
     if ! validate_ipv4_cidr_or_host "${worker_ip}"; then
         echo "Invalid LAB_PIMOX_WORKER_STATIC_IPS entry '${worker_ip}' for VM ${vmid}." >&2
         return 1
     fi
+    if [[ "${worker_ip}" == */* && "${worker_ip}" != */24 ]]; then
+        echo "LAB_PIMOX_WORKER_STATIC_IPS currently supports host IPv4 values or /24 CIDRs, got '${worker_ip}'." >&2
+        return 1
+    fi
     if [[ "${worker_ip}" != */* ]]; then
         worker_ip="${worker_ip}/24"
     fi
+    worker_address="${worker_ip%%/*}"
     if ! [[ "${gateway}" =~ ^[0-9]{1,3}(\.[0-9]{1,3}){3}$ ]]; then
         echo "Invalid LAB_PIMOX_WORKER_GATEWAY '${gateway}'." >&2
         return 1
@@ -1213,19 +1219,25 @@ iface lo inet loopback
 
 auto ${interface_name}
 iface ${interface_name} inet static
-  address ${worker_ip}
+  address ${worker_address}
+  netmask 255.255.255.0
   gateway ${gateway}
   dns-nameservers ${dns_servers}
 INTERFACES
 sudo cp /tmp/homelab-interfaces /etc/network/interfaces
 sudo systemctl disable --now systemd-networkd NetworkManager 2>/dev/null || true
 sudo systemctl enable networking >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
-sudo systemctl restart networking || true
+sudo ifdown --force ${interface_name} 2>/dev/null || true
 sudo ip addr flush dev ${interface_name} || true
-sudo ifup ${interface_name} || true
+sudo ip link set ${interface_name} up
+sudo ip addr add ${worker_ip} dev ${interface_name}
+sudo ip route replace default via ${gateway} dev ${interface_name}
+printf '%s\n' ${dns_servers} | awk '{ for (i = 1; i <= NF; i++) print "nameserver " \$i }' | sudo tee /etc/resolv.conf >/dev/null
+sudo ifup --force ${interface_name} 2>/dev/null || true
 sudo systemctl restart ssh 2>/dev/null || true
 ip -br addr show ${interface_name}
 ip route
+ip -4 addr show dev ${interface_name} | grep -q '${worker_address}/'
 EOF
 )"
     encoded_script="$(printf '%s' "${script}" | base64 | tr -d '\n')"