diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index cac00c7f17..2c8727de54 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -9665,7 +9665,7 @@ virDomainNetDefParseXML(virDomainXMLOption *xmlopt,
             return NULL;
     }
 
-    if (!macaddr) {
+    if (!macaddr || virMacAddrIsAllClear(&def->mac)) {
         virDomainNetGenerateMAC(xmlopt, &def->mac);
         def->mac_generated = true;
     }
diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 1e3e407097..f8cda2f773 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -2743,6 +2743,7 @@ virMacAddrCompare;
 virMacAddrFormat;
 virMacAddrGenerate;
 virMacAddrGetRaw;
+virMacAddrIsAllClear;
 virMacAddrIsBroadcastRaw;
 virMacAddrIsMulticast;
 virMacAddrIsUnicast;
diff --git a/src/util/virmacaddr.c b/src/util/virmacaddr.c
index 073f298b5b..e06bb200fc 100644
--- a/src/util/virmacaddr.c
+++ b/src/util/virmacaddr.c
@@ -246,6 +246,11 @@ virMacAddrIsBroadcastRaw(const unsigned char s[VIR_MAC_BUFLEN])
     return memcmp(virMacAddrBroadcastAddrRaw, s, sizeof(*s)) == 0;
 }
 
+bool virMacAddrIsAllClear(const virMacAddr *addr)
+{
+    return !virMacAddrCmpRaw(addr, (const unsigned char[VIR_MAC_BUFLEN]){0});
+}
+
 void
 virMacAddrFree(virMacAddr *addr)
 {
diff --git a/src/util/virmacaddr.h b/src/util/virmacaddr.h
index f32b58805a..7b9eb7443b 100644
--- a/src/util/virmacaddr.h
+++ b/src/util/virmacaddr.h
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ int virMacAddrParseHex(const char* str,
 bool virMacAddrIsUnicast(const virMacAddr *addr);
 bool virMacAddrIsMulticast(const virMacAddr *addr);
 bool virMacAddrIsBroadcastRaw(const unsigned char s[VIR_MAC_BUFLEN]);
+bool virMacAddrIsAllClear(const virMacAddr *addr);
 void virMacAddrFree(virMacAddr *addr);
 
 G_DEFINE_AUTOPTR_CLEANUP_FUNC(virMacAddr, virMacAddrFree);
diff --git a/tests/genericxml2xmlindata/network-interface-mac-clear.xml b/tests/genericxml2xmlindata/network-interface-mac-clear.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..41beda8a79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/genericxml2xmlindata/network-interface-mac-clear.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>QEMUGuest1</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>219136</memory>
+  <currentMemory unit='KiB'>219136</currentMemory>
+  <vcpu placement='static'>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='x86_64' machine='pc'>hvm</type>
+    <boot dev='hd'/>
+  </os>
+  <clock offset='utc'/>
+  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
+  <devices>
+    <interface type='bridge'>
+      <mac address='00:00:00:00:00:00'/>
+      <source bridge='br0'/>
+    </interface>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/genericxml2xmloutdata/network-interface-mac-clear.xml b/tests/genericxml2xmloutdata/network-interface-mac-clear.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a7935fa9f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/genericxml2xmloutdata/network-interface-mac-clear.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>QEMUGuest1</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>219136</memory>
+  <currentMemory unit='KiB'>219136</currentMemory>
+  <vcpu placement='static'>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='x86_64' machine='pc'>hvm</type>
+    <boot dev='hd'/>
+  </os>
+  <clock offset='utc'/>
+  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
+  <devices>
+    <interface type='bridge'>
+      <mac address='52:54:00:00:00:00'/>
+      <source bridge='br0'/>
+    </interface>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/genericxml2xmltest.c b/tests/genericxml2xmltest.c
index ce8073e85a..3cf9bd8159 100644
--- a/tests/genericxml2xmltest.c
+++ b/tests/genericxml2xmltest.c
@@ -187,6 +187,7 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST("cpu-cache-disable");
 
     DO_TEST("network-interface-mac-check");
+    DO_TEST_DIFFERENT("network-interface-mac-clear");
 
     DO_TEST_DIFFERENT("chardev-tcp");
     DO_TEST_FAIL_ACTIVE("chardev-tcp-missing-host");
@@ -257,4 +258,5 @@ mymain(void)
     return ret == 0 ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE;
 }
 
-VIR_TEST_MAIN(mymain)
+VIR_TEST_MAIN_PRELOAD(mymain,
+                      VIR_TEST_MOCK("virrandom"))