diff --git a/src/vm/VirtualMachineNic.cc b/src/vm/VirtualMachineNic.cc
index aded84ddfd..5594f70ff5 100644
--- a/src/vm/VirtualMachineNic.cc
+++ b/src/vm/VirtualMachineNic.cc
@@ -323,6 +323,9 @@ int VirtualMachineNics::get_network_leases(int vm_id, int uid,
             }
             else
             {
+                // set nic name for NIC_ALIAS
+                nic->set_nic_name();
+
                 nic->replace("NIC_ID", nic_id);
             }