diff --git a/docs/system/nvme.rst b/docs/system/nvme.rst
index b5f8288d7c..33a15c7dbc 100644
--- a/docs/system/nvme.rst
+++ b/docs/system/nvme.rst
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ There are a number of parameters available:
 ``eui64``
   Set the EUI-64 of the namespace. This will be reported as a "IEEE Extended
   Unique Identifier" descriptor in the Namespace Identification Descriptor List.
+  Since machine type 6.1 a non-zero default value is used if the parameter
+  is not provided. For earlier machine types the field defaults to 0.
 
 ``bus``
   If there are more ``nvme`` devices defined, this parameter may be used to
diff --git a/hw/core/machine.c b/hw/core/machine.c
index 55b9bc7817..d0e9348888 100644
--- a/hw/core/machine.c
+++ b/hw/core/machine.c
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 GlobalProperty hw_compat_6_0[] = {
     { "gpex-pcihost", "allow-unmapped-accesses", "false" },
     { "i8042", "extended-state", "false"},
+    { "nvme-ns", "eui64-default", "off"},
 };
 const size_t hw_compat_6_0_len = G_N_ELEMENTS(hw_compat_6_0);
 
diff --git a/hw/nvme/ns.c b/hw/nvme/ns.c
index 45e457de6a..4275c3db63 100644
--- a/hw/nvme/ns.c
+++ b/hw/nvme/ns.c
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ void nvme_ns_init_format(NvmeNamespace *ns)
 
 static int nvme_ns_init(NvmeNamespace *ns, Error **errp)
 {
+    static uint64_t ns_count;
     NvmeIdNs *id_ns = &ns->id_ns;
     uint8_t ds;
     uint16_t ms;
@@ -73,6 +74,12 @@ static int nvme_ns_init(NvmeNamespace *ns, Error **errp)
         id_ns->nmic |= NVME_NMIC_NS_SHARED;
     }
 
+    /* Substitute a missing EUI-64 by an autogenerated one */
+    ++ns_count;
+    if (!ns->params.eui64 && ns->params.eui64_default) {
+        ns->params.eui64 = ns_count + NVME_EUI64_DEFAULT;
+    }
+
     /* simple copy */
     id_ns->mssrl = cpu_to_le16(ns->params.mssrl);
     id_ns->mcl = cpu_to_le32(ns->params.mcl);
@@ -533,6 +540,8 @@ static Property nvme_ns_props[] = {
                        params.max_open_zones, 0),
     DEFINE_PROP_UINT32("zoned.descr_ext_size", NvmeNamespace,
                        params.zd_extension_size, 0),
+    DEFINE_PROP_BOOL("eui64-default", NvmeNamespace, params.eui64_default,
+                     true),
     DEFINE_PROP_END_OF_LIST(),
 };
 
diff --git a/hw/nvme/nvme.h b/hw/nvme/nvme.h
index ac90e13d7b..371ac9bfd8 100644
--- a/hw/nvme/nvme.h
+++ b/hw/nvme/nvme.h
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 
 #define NVME_MAX_CONTROLLERS 32
 #define NVME_MAX_NAMESPACES  256
+#define NVME_EUI64_DEFAULT ((uint64_t)0x5254000000000000)
 
 typedef struct NvmeCtrl NvmeCtrl;
 typedef struct NvmeNamespace NvmeNamespace;
@@ -84,6 +85,7 @@ typedef struct NvmeNamespaceParams {
     uint32_t nsid;
     QemuUUID uuid;
     uint64_t eui64;
+    bool     eui64_default;
 
     uint16_t ms;
     uint8_t  mset;