diff --git a/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/guru/VmwareVmImplementer.java b/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/guru/VmwareVmImplementer.java
index 990a1875a57f..d60dc99a4290 100644
--- a/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/guru/VmwareVmImplementer.java
+++ b/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/guru/VmwareVmImplementer.java
@@ -129,15 +129,15 @@ VirtualMachineTO implement(VirtualMachineProfile vm, VirtualMachineTO to, long c
                 }
             }
         } else {
-            // for user-VM, use E1000 as default
             if (nicDeviceType == null) {
-                details.put(VmDetailConstants.NIC_ADAPTER, VirtualEthernetCardType.E1000.toString());
+                details.put(VmDetailConstants.NIC_ADAPTER, vmwareMgr.VmwareUserVmNicDeviceType.value());
             } else {
                 try {
                     VirtualEthernetCardType.valueOf(nicDeviceType);
                 } catch (Exception e) {
-                    LOGGER.warn("Invalid NIC device type " + nicDeviceType + " is specified in VM details, switch to default E1000");
-                    details.put(VmDetailConstants.NIC_ADAPTER, VirtualEthernetCardType.E1000.toString());
+                    LOGGER.warn(String.format("Invalid NIC device type [%s] specified in VM details, switching to value [%s] of configuration [%s].",
+                            nicDeviceType, vmwareMgr.VmwareUserVmNicDeviceType.value(), vmwareMgr.VmwareUserVmNicDeviceType.toString()));
+                    details.put(VmDetailConstants.NIC_ADAPTER, vmwareMgr.VmwareUserVmNicDeviceType.value());
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/manager/VmwareManager.java b/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/manager/VmwareManager.java
index c2cdbccdae70..d64a2d38ece8 100644
--- a/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/manager/VmwareManager.java
+++ b/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/manager/VmwareManager.java
@@ -53,6 +53,14 @@ public interface VmwareManager {
             "VMware interval window (in seconds) to collect metrics. If this is set to less than 20, then default (300 seconds) will be used. The interval used must be enabled in vCenter for this change to work, "
             + "otherwise the collection of metrics will result in an error. Check VMWare docs to know how to enable metrics interval.", true);
 
+    static final ConfigKey<String> VmwareUserVmNicDeviceType = new ConfigKey<String>(
+            String.class,
+            "vmware.uservm.nic.device.type",
+            "Advanced",
+            "E1000",
+            "Specify the default network device type for user VMs, valid values are E1000, PCNet32, Vmxnet2, Vmxnet3",
+            true, ConfigKey.Scope.Global, null, null, null, null, null, ConfigKey.Kind.Select, "E1000,PCNet32,Vmxnet2,Vmxnet3");
+
     String composeWorkerName();
 
     String getSystemVMIsoFileNameOnDatastore();
diff --git a/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/manager/VmwareManagerImpl.java b/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/manager/VmwareManagerImpl.java
index 199f96a8539f..2074da7f0820 100644
--- a/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/manager/VmwareManagerImpl.java
+++ b/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/manager/VmwareManagerImpl.java
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ public String getConfigComponentName() {
 
     @Override
     public ConfigKey<?>[] getConfigKeys() {
-        return new ConfigKey<?>[] {s_vmwareNicHotplugWaitTimeout, s_vmwareCleanOldWorderVMs, templateCleanupInterval, s_vmwareSearchExcludeFolder, s_vmwareOVAPackageTimeout, s_vmwareCleanupPortGroups, VMWARE_STATS_TIME_WINDOW};
+        return new ConfigKey<?>[] {s_vmwareNicHotplugWaitTimeout, s_vmwareCleanOldWorderVMs, templateCleanupInterval, s_vmwareSearchExcludeFolder, s_vmwareOVAPackageTimeout, s_vmwareCleanupPortGroups, VMWARE_STATS_TIME_WINDOW, VmwareUserVmNicDeviceType};
     }
     @Override
     public boolean configure(String name, Map<String, Object> params) throws ConfigurationException {