diff --git a/nova/utils.py b/nova/utils.py
index c5b9356731..9ecceafe0f 100644
--- a/nova/utils.py
+++ b/nova/utils.py
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ def generate_uid(topic, size=8):
 
 
 def generate_mac():
-    mac = [0x00, 0x16, 0x3e, random.randint(0x00, 0x7f),
+    mac = [0x02, 0x16, 0x3e, random.randint(0x00, 0x7f),
            random.randint(0x00, 0xff), random.randint(0x00, 0xff)
            ]
     return ':'.join(map(lambda x: "%02x" % x, mac))