diff --git a/src/kernel-install/kernel-install.in b/src/kernel-install/kernel-install.in
index bba22f8a206..fa2c0d5276a 100755
--- a/src/kernel-install/kernel-install.in
+++ b/src/kernel-install/kernel-install.in
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@ if [ -z "$MACHINE_ID" ] && [ -f /etc/machine-info ]; then
 fi
 if [ -z "$MACHINE_ID" ] && [ -s /etc/machine-id ]; then
     read -r MACHINE_ID </etc/machine-id
+    [ "$MACHINE_ID" = "uninitialized" ] && unset MACHINE_ID
     [ -n "$MACHINE_ID" ] && \
         log_verbose "machine-id $MACHINE_ID acquired from /etc/machine-id"
 fi