diff --git a/gns3server/modules/qemu/qemu_vm.py b/gns3server/modules/qemu/qemu_vm.py
index 2006a285..d7d5bba1 100644
--- a/gns3server/modules/qemu/qemu_vm.py
+++ b/gns3server/modules/qemu/qemu_vm.py
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ import subprocess
 import shlex
 import asyncio
 import socket
-import random
 import gns3server
 
 from gns3server.utils import parse_version
@@ -494,9 +493,10 @@ class QemuVM(BaseVM):
         """
 
         if not mac_address:
-            self._mac_address = "12:34:%02x:%02x:%02x:00" % (random.randint(0, 255), random.randint(0, 255), random.randint(0, 255))
+            # use the node UUID to generate a random MAC address
+            self._mac_address = "00:%s:%s:%s:%s:00" % (self.project.id[-4:-2], self.project.id[-2:], self.id[-4:-2], self.id[-2:])
         else:
-            self._mac_address = mac_address[:8] + ":%02x:%02x:00" % (random.randint(0, 255), random.randint(0, 255))
+            self._mac_address = mac_address
 
         log.info('QEMU VM "{name}" [{id}]: MAC address changed to {mac_addr}'.format(name=self._name,
                                                                                      id=self._id,