diff --git a/plugins/main/bridge/bridge.go b/plugins/main/bridge/bridge.go
index 03d14e7ee..d0e8bcf25 100644
--- a/plugins/main/bridge/bridge.go
+++ b/plugins/main/bridge/bridge.go
@@ -56,9 +56,13 @@ type NetConf struct {
 	PromiscMode  bool   `json:"promiscMode"`
 	Vlan         int    `json:"vlan"`
 	Mac          string `json:"mac,omitempty"`
+
 	Args struct {
 		Cni BridgeArgs `json:"cni,omitempty"`
 	} `json:"args,omitempty"`
+	RuntimeConfig struct {
+		Mac string `json:"mac,omitempty"`
+	} `json:"runtimeConfig,omitempty"`
 }
 
 type BridgeArgs struct {
@@ -110,6 +114,10 @@ func loadNetConf(bytes []byte, envArgs string) (*NetConf, string, error) {
 		n.Mac = mac
 	}
 
+	if mac := n.RuntimeConfig.Mac; mac != "" {
+		n.Mac = mac
+	}
+
 	return n, n.CNIVersion, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/plugins/main/bridge/bridge_test.go b/plugins/main/bridge/bridge_test.go
index f6c738b3a..658325330 100644
--- a/plugins/main/bridge/bridge_test.go
+++ b/plugins/main/bridge/bridge_test.go
@@ -174,6 +174,11 @@ const (
             "mac": %q
         }
     }`
+
+	runtimeConfig = `,
+    "RuntimeConfig": {
+        "mac": %q
+    }`
 )
 
 // netConfJSON() generates a JSON network configuration string
@@ -192,6 +197,9 @@ func (tc testCase) netConfJSON(dataDir string) string {
 	if tc.args.cni.mac != "" {
 		conf += fmt.Sprintf(argsFormat, tc.args.cni.mac)
 	}
+	if tc.runtimeConfig.mac != "" {
+		conf += fmt.Sprintf(runtimeConfig, tc.runtimeConfig.mac)
+	}
 
 	if !tc.isLayer2 {
 		conf += netDefault
@@ -2069,6 +2077,28 @@ var _ = Describe("bridge Operations", func() {
 			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 		})
 
+		It(fmt.Sprintf("[%s] uses an explicit MAC addresses for the container iface (from RuntimeConfig)", ver), func() {
+			err := originalNS.Do(func(ns.NetNS) error {
+				defer GinkgoRecover()
+
+				const expectedMac = "02:00:00:00:00:00"
+				tc := testCase{
+					cniVersion: ver,
+					subnet:     "10.1.2.0/24",
+					mac:        "02:00:00:00:01:23",
+					envArgs:    "MAC=" + "02:00:00:00:04:56",
+
+					expectedMac: expectedMac,
+				}
+				tc.args.cni.mac = "02:00:00:00:07:89"
+				tc.runtimeConfig.mac = expectedMac
+				cmdAddDelTest(originalNS, targetNS, tc, dataDir)
+
+				return nil
+			})
+			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		})
+
 		It(fmt.Sprintf("[%s] checks ip release in case of error", ver), func() {
 			err := originalNS.Do(func(ns.NetNS) error {
 				defer GinkgoRecover()