diff --git a/src/platform/nm-platform-utils.c b/src/platform/nm-platform-utils.c
index 953ac8c54..b0b0b5664 100644
--- a/src/platform/nm-platform-utils.c
+++ b/src/platform/nm-platform-utils.c
@@ -142,7 +142,8 @@ nmp_utils_ethtool_get_permanent_address (const char *ifname,
 		struct ethtool_perm_addr e;
 		guint8 _extra_data[NM_UTILS_HWADDR_LEN_MAX + 1];
 	} edata;
-	guint zeros[NM_UTILS_HWADDR_LEN_MAX] = { 0 };
+	static const guint8 zeros[NM_UTILS_HWADDR_LEN_MAX] = { 0 };
+	static guint8 ones[NM_UTILS_HWADDR_LEN_MAX] = { 0 };
 
 	if (!ifname)
 		return FALSE;
@@ -161,6 +162,12 @@ nmp_utils_ethtool_get_permanent_address (const char *ifname,
 	if (memcmp (edata.e.data, zeros, edata.e.size) == 0)
 		return FALSE;
 
+	/* Some drivers return a permanent address of all ones. Reject that too */
+	if (G_UNLIKELY (ones[0] != 0xFF))
+		memset (ones, 0xFF, sizeof (ones));
+	if (memcmp (edata.e.data, ones, edata.e.size) == 0)
+		return FALSE;
+
 	memcpy (buf, edata.e.data, edata.e.size);
 	*length = edata.e.size;
 	return TRUE;