diff --git a/DisplayOptionsPanel.c b/DisplayOptionsPanel.c
index 234df4b68..9d3cfbb97 100644
--- a/DisplayOptionsPanel.c
+++ b/DisplayOptionsPanel.c
@@ -206,6 +206,7 @@ DisplayOptionsPanel* DisplayOptionsPanel_new(Settings* settings, ScreenManager*
    #ifdef HAVE_LIBHWLOC
    Panel_add(super, (Object*) CheckItem_newByRef("Show topology when selecting affinity by default", &(settings->topologyAffinity)));
    #endif
+   Panel_add(super, (Object*) CheckItem_newByRef("Ignore virtual network interfaces to count rx and tx values", &(settings->ignoreVirtualNetworkInterfaces)));
 
    return this;
 }
diff --git a/NetworkIOMeter.c b/NetworkIOMeter.c
index 784c90ac3..a0fb39664 100644
--- a/NetworkIOMeter.c
+++ b/NetworkIOMeter.c
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ static void NetworkIOMeter_updateValues(Meter* this) {
 
    /* update only every 500ms to have a sane span for rate calculation */
    if (passedTimeInMs > 500) {
+      data.ignoreVirtualIntf = host->settings->ignoreVirtualNetworkInterfaces;
       hasNewData = Platform_getNetworkIO(&data);
       if (!hasNewData) {
          status = RATESTATUS_NODATA;
diff --git a/NetworkIOMeter.h b/NetworkIOMeter.h
index 355b815b2..e47261317 100644
--- a/NetworkIOMeter.h
+++ b/NetworkIOMeter.h
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ typedef struct NetworkIOData_ {
    uint64_t packetsReceived;
    uint64_t bytesTransmitted;
    uint64_t packetsTransmitted;
+   bool ignoreVirtualIntf;
 } NetworkIOData;
 
 extern const MeterClass NetworkIOMeter_class;
diff --git a/Settings.h b/Settings.h
index 01e808e86..028b4205f 100644
--- a/Settings.h
+++ b/Settings.h
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ typedef struct Settings_ {
 
    bool changed;
    uint64_t lastUpdate;
+   bool ignoreVirtualNetworkInterfaces;
 } Settings;
 
 #define Settings_cpuId(settings, cpu) ((settings)->countCPUsFromOne ? (cpu)+1 : (cpu))
diff --git a/freebsd/Platform.c b/freebsd/Platform.c
index 0eda02b7a..dd7f098ee 100644
--- a/freebsd/Platform.c
+++ b/freebsd/Platform.c
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ in the source distribution for its full text.
 #include <time.h>
 #include <net/if.h>
 #include <net/if_mib.h>
-#include <sys/_types.h>
+#include <net/if_types.h>
 #include <sys/devicestat.h>
 #include <sys/param.h>
 #include <sys/resource.h>
@@ -150,6 +150,32 @@ void Platform_setBindings(Htop_Action* keys) {
    (void) keys;
 }
 
+static bool Platform_isVirtualNetworkInterface(const struct ifmibdata* ifmd) {
+    switch (ifmd->ifmd_data.ifi_type) {
+        case IFT_LOOP:    // Loopback
+#ifdef IFT_VLAN
+        case IFT_VLAN:    // VLAN
+#endif
+        case IFT_TUNNEL:  // IP tunnel
+        case IFT_GIF:     // Generic tunnel
+        case IFT_BRIDGE:  // Bridge
+        case IFT_L2VLAN:  // Layer 2 VLAN
+#ifdef IFT_FAITH
+        case IFT_FAITH:   // IPv6-to-IPv4 translation
+#endif
+        case IFT_STF:     // 6to4 tunnel
+        case IFT_PPP:     // PPP
+        case IFT_PFSYNC:  // pfsync
+#ifdef IFT_CARP
+        case IFT_CARP:    // CARP
+#endif
+            return true;
+        default:
+            break;
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
 int Platform_getUptime(void) {
    struct timeval bootTime, currTime;
    const int mib[2] = { CTL_KERN, KERN_BOOTTIME };
@@ -361,7 +387,8 @@ bool Platform_getNetworkIO(NetworkIOData* data) {
       if (r < 0)
          continue;
 
-      if (ifmd.ifmd_flags & IFF_LOOPBACK)
+      if ((ifmd.ifmd_flags & IFF_LOOPBACK) || // Loopback must be always ignored
+            (data->ignoreVirtualIntf && Platform_isVirtualNetworkInterface(&ifmd)))
          continue;
 
       data->bytesReceived += ifmd.ifmd_data.ifi_ibytes;
diff --git a/linux/Platform.c b/linux/Platform.c
index ddaf1324d..1795d32d4 100644
--- a/linux/Platform.c
+++ b/linux/Platform.c
@@ -209,6 +209,14 @@ void Platform_setBindings(Htop_Action* keys) {
    keys[KEY_F(20)] = Platform_actionHigherAutogroupPriority; // Shift-F8
 }
 
+static bool Platform_isVirtualNetworkInterface(const char* name) {
+   char path[PATH_MAX];
+
+   // Since kerel 2.6.13 virtual interfaces are listed in /sys/devices/virtual/net
+   xSnprintf(path, sizeof(path), "/sys/devices/virtual/net/%s", name);
+   return access(path, F_OK) == 0;
+}
+
 const MeterClass* const Platform_meterTypes[] = {
    &CPUMeter_class,
    &ClockMeter_class,
@@ -712,7 +720,9 @@ bool Platform_getNetworkIO(NetworkIOData* data) {
                              &packetsTransmitted) != 5)
          continue;
 
-      if (String_eq(interfaceName, "lo:"))
+      if (String_eq(interfaceName, "lo:") || // Loopback must be always ignored
+         (data->ignoreVirtualIntf && Platform_isVirtualNetworkInterface(interfaceName))
+      )
          continue;
 
       data->bytesReceived += bytesReceived;