diff --git a/python/vyos/utils/io.py b/python/vyos/utils/io.py
index 0afaf695c..7e6045291 100644
--- a/python/vyos/utils/io.py
+++ b/python/vyos/utils/io.py
@@ -1,104 +1,108 @@
 # Copyright 2023 VyOS maintainers and contributors <maintainers@vyos.io>
 #
 # This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 # modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
 # License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
 # version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
 #
 # This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 # but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 # MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
 # Lesser General Public License for more details.
 #
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
 # License along with this library.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-from typing import Callable
+from typing import Callable, Optional
 
 def print_error(str='', end='\n'):
     """
     Print `str` to stderr, terminated with `end`.
     Used for warnings and out-of-band messages to avoid mangling precious
      stdout output.
     """
     import sys
     sys.stderr.write(str)
     sys.stderr.write(end)
     sys.stderr.flush()
 
 def ask_input(question, default='', numeric_only=False, valid_responses=[],
               no_echo=False):
     from getpass import getpass
     question_out = question
     if default:
         question_out += f' (Default: {default})'
     response = ''
     while True:
         if not no_echo:
             response = input(question_out + ' ').strip()
         else:
             response = getpass(question_out + ' ').strip()
         if not response and default:
             return default
         if numeric_only:
             if not response.isnumeric():
                 print("Invalid value, try again.")
                 continue
             response = int(response)
         if valid_responses and response not in valid_responses:
             print("Invalid value, try again.")
             continue
         break
     return response
 
 def ask_yes_no(question, default=False) -> bool:
     """Ask a yes/no question via input() and return their answer."""
     from sys import stdout
     default_msg = "[Y/n]" if default else "[y/N]"
     while True:
         try:
             stdout.write("%s %s " % (question, default_msg))
             c = input().lower()
             if c == '':
                 return default
             elif c in ("y", "ye", "yes"):
                 return True
             elif c in ("n", "no"):
                 return False
             else:
                 stdout.write("Please respond with yes/y or no/n\n")
         except EOFError:
             stdout.write("\nPlease respond with yes/y or no/n\n")
 
 def is_interactive():
     """Try to determine if the routine was called from an interactive shell."""
     import os, sys
     return os.getenv('TERM', default=False) and sys.stderr.isatty() and sys.stdout.isatty()
 
 def is_dumb_terminal():
     """Check if the current TTY is dumb, so that we can disable advanced terminal features."""
     import os
     return os.getenv('TERM') in ['vt100', 'dumb']
 
 def select_entry(l: list, list_msg: str = '', prompt_msg: str = '',
-                 list_format: Callable = None,) -> str:
+                 list_format: Optional[Callable] = None,
+                 default_entry: Optional[int] = None) -> str:
     """Select an entry from a list
 
     Args:
         l (list): a list of entries
         list_msg (str): a message to print before listing the entries
         prompt_msg (str): a message to print as prompt for selection
 
     Returns:
         str: a selected entry
     """
     en = list(enumerate(l, 1))
     print(list_msg)
     for i, e in en:
         if list_format:
             print(f'\t{i}: {list_format(e)}')
         else:
             print(f'\t{i}: {e}')
-    select = ask_input(prompt_msg, numeric_only=True,
-                       valid_responses=range(1, len(l)+1))
+    valid_entry = range(1, len(l)+1)
+    if default_entry and default_entry not in valid_entry:
+        default_entry = None
+    select = ask_input(prompt_msg, default=default_entry, numeric_only=True,
+                       valid_responses=valid_entry)
     return next(filter(lambda x: x[0] == select, en))[1]