diff --git a/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.h b/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.h
index 06e442f5f..5e5887922 100644
--- a/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.h
+++ b/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.h
@@ -122,7 +122,8 @@ typedef struct {
         /* NMIPAddr is really a union for IP addresses.
          * However, as ethernet addresses fit in here nicely, use
          * it also for an ethernet MAC address. */
-        guint8 addr_eth[6 /*ETH_ALEN*/];
+        guint8      ether_addr_octet[6 /*ETH_ALEN*/];
+        NMEtherAddr ether_addr;
 
         guint8 array[sizeof(struct in6_addr)];
     };
@@ -135,6 +136,8 @@ typedef struct {
 
 extern const NMIPAddr nm_ip_addr_zero;
 
+#define nm_ether_addr_zero (nm_ip_addr_zero.ether_addr)
+
 static inline int
 nm_ip_addr_cmp(int addr_family, gconstpointer a, gconstpointer b)
 {
diff --git a/src/devices/nm-device-bridge.c b/src/devices/nm-device-bridge.c
index ad91fd94d..3c27b349d 100644
--- a/src/devices/nm-device-bridge.c
+++ b/src/devices/nm-device-bridge.c
@@ -760,7 +760,7 @@ bridge_set_vlan_options(NMDevice *device, NMSettingBridge *s_bridge)
 
     hwaddr = nm_platform_link_get_address(plat, ifindex, &length);
     g_return_val_if_fail(length == ETH_ALEN, FALSE);
-    if (nm_utils_hwaddr_matches(hwaddr, ETH_ALEN, nm_ip_addr_zero.addr_eth, ETH_ALEN)) {
+    if (nm_utils_hwaddr_matches(hwaddr, length, &nm_ether_addr_zero, ETH_ALEN)) {
         /* We need a non-zero MAC address to set the default pvid.
          * Retry later. */
         return TRUE;
diff --git a/src/devices/nm-device.c b/src/devices/nm-device.c
index 7f239dcdc..2dab5075a 100644
--- a/src/devices/nm-device.c
+++ b/src/devices/nm-device.c
@@ -16808,8 +16808,8 @@ nm_device_update_hw_address(NMDevice *self)
     if (priv->type == NM_DEVICE_TYPE_ETHERNET && hwaddr
         && nm_utils_hwaddr_matches(hwaddr,
                                    hwaddrlen,
-                                   nm_ip_addr_zero.addr_eth,
-                                   sizeof(nm_ip_addr_zero.addr_eth)))
+                                   &nm_ether_addr_zero,
+                                   sizeof(nm_ether_addr_zero)))
         hwaddrlen = 0;
 
     if (!hwaddrlen)
diff --git a/src/supplicant/nm-supplicant-interface.c b/src/supplicant/nm-supplicant-interface.c
index 33807660d..1f6252f63 100644
--- a/src/supplicant/nm-supplicant-interface.c
+++ b/src/supplicant/nm-supplicant-interface.c
@@ -658,7 +658,7 @@ _bss_info_properties_changed(NMSupplicantInterface *self,
     v_v = nm_g_variant_lookup_value(properties, "BSSID", G_VARIANT_TYPE_BYTESTRING);
     if (v_v) {
         arr_data = g_variant_get_fixed_array(v_v, &arr_len, 1);
-        if (arr_len == ETH_ALEN && memcmp(arr_data, nm_ip_addr_zero.addr_eth, ETH_ALEN) != 0
+        if (arr_len == ETH_ALEN && memcmp(arr_data, &nm_ether_addr_zero, ETH_ALEN) != 0
             && memcmp(arr_data, (char[ETH_ALEN]){0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF}, ETH_ALEN)
                    != 0) {
             /* pass */
@@ -881,7 +881,7 @@ _peer_info_properties_changed(NMSupplicantInterface *self,
     v_v = nm_g_variant_lookup_value(properties, "DeviceAddress", G_VARIANT_TYPE_BYTESTRING);
     if (v_v) {
         arr_data = g_variant_get_fixed_array(v_v, &arr_len, 1);
-        if (arr_len == ETH_ALEN && memcmp(arr_data, nm_ip_addr_zero.addr_eth, ETH_ALEN) != 0
+        if (arr_len == ETH_ALEN && memcmp(arr_data, &nm_ether_addr_zero, ETH_ALEN) != 0
             && memcmp(arr_data, (char[ETH_ALEN]){0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF}, ETH_ALEN)
                    != 0) {
             /* pass */