diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmveth.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmveth.c
index 302d59401065..70fd55968844 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmveth.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/ibmveth.c
@@ -1322,7 +1322,7 @@ static const struct net_device_ops ibmveth_netdev_ops = {
 
 static int ibmveth_probe(struct vio_dev *dev, const struct vio_device_id *id)
 {
-	int rc, i;
+	int rc, i, mac_len;
 	struct net_device *netdev;
 	struct ibmveth_adapter *adapter;
 	unsigned char *mac_addr_p;
@@ -1332,11 +1332,19 @@ static int ibmveth_probe(struct vio_dev *dev, const struct vio_device_id *id)
 		dev->unit_address);
 
 	mac_addr_p = (unsigned char *)vio_get_attribute(dev, VETH_MAC_ADDR,
-							NULL);
+							&mac_len);
 	if (!mac_addr_p) {
 		dev_err(&dev->dev, "Can't find VETH_MAC_ADDR attribute\n");
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
+	/* Workaround for old/broken pHyp */
+	if (mac_len == 8)
+		mac_addr_p += 2;
+	else if (mac_len != 6) {
+		dev_err(&dev->dev, "VETH_MAC_ADDR attribute wrong len %d\n",
+			mac_len);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
 
 	mcastFilterSize_p = (unsigned int *)vio_get_attribute(dev,
 						VETH_MCAST_FILTER_SIZE, NULL);
@@ -1361,17 +1369,6 @@ static int ibmveth_probe(struct vio_dev *dev, const struct vio_device_id *id)
 
 	netif_napi_add(netdev, &adapter->napi, ibmveth_poll, 16);
 
-	/*
-	 * Some older boxes running PHYP non-natively have an OF that returns
-	 * a 8-byte local-mac-address field (and the first 2 bytes have to be
-	 * ignored) while newer boxes' OF return a 6-byte field. Note that
-	 * IEEE 1275 specifies that local-mac-address must be a 6-byte field.
-	 * The RPA doc specifies that the first byte must be 10b, so we'll
-	 * just look for it to solve this 8 vs. 6 byte field issue
-	 */
-	if ((*mac_addr_p & 0x3) != 0x02)
-		mac_addr_p += 2;
-
 	adapter->mac_addr = 0;
 	memcpy(&adapter->mac_addr, mac_addr_p, 6);