if (slave_ops->ndo_set_mac_address == NULL) {
                if (!bond_has_slaves(bond)) {
-                       pr_warning("%s: Warning: The first slave device specified does not support setting the MAC address. Setting fail_over_mac to active.",
-                                  bond_dev->name);
-                       bond->params.fail_over_mac = BOND_FOM_ACTIVE;
+                       pr_warn("%s: Warning: The first slave device specified does not support setting the MAC address.\n",
+                               bond_dev->name);
+                       if (bond->params.mode == BOND_MODE_ACTIVEBACKUP) {
+                               bond->params.fail_over_mac = BOND_FOM_ACTIVE;
+                               pr_warn("%s: Setting fail_over_mac to active for active-backup mode.\n",
+                                       bond_dev->name);
+                       }
                } else if (bond->params.fail_over_mac != BOND_FOM_ACTIVE) {
                        pr_err("%s: Error: The slave device specified does not support setting the MAC address, but fail_over_mac is not set to active.\n",
                               bond_dev->name);
         */
        memcpy(new_slave->perm_hwaddr, slave_dev->dev_addr, ETH_ALEN);
 
-       if (!bond->params.fail_over_mac) {
+       if (!bond->params.fail_over_mac ||
+           bond->params.mode != BOND_MODE_ACTIVEBACKUP) {
                /*
                 * Set slave to master's mac address.  The application already
                 * set the master's mac address to that of the first slave
        dev_close(slave_dev);
 
 err_restore_mac:
-       if (!bond->params.fail_over_mac) {
+       if (!bond->params.fail_over_mac ||
+           bond->params.mode != BOND_MODE_ACTIVEBACKUP) {
                /* XXX TODO - fom follow mode needs to change master's
                 * MAC if this slave's MAC is in use by the bond, or at
                 * least print a warning.
 
        bond->current_arp_slave = NULL;
 
-       if (!all && !bond->params.fail_over_mac) {
+       if (!all && (!bond->params.fail_over_mac ||
+                    bond->params.mode != BOND_MODE_ACTIVEBACKUP)) {
                if (ether_addr_equal_64bits(bond_dev->dev_addr, slave->perm_hwaddr) &&
                    bond_has_slaves(bond))
                        pr_warn("%s: Warning: the permanent HWaddr of %s - %pM - is still in use by %s. Set the HWaddr of %s to a different address to avoid conflicts.\n",
        /* close slave before restoring its mac address */
        dev_close(slave_dev);
 
-       if (bond->params.fail_over_mac != BOND_FOM_ACTIVE) {
+       if (bond->params.fail_over_mac != BOND_FOM_ACTIVE ||
+           bond->params.mode != BOND_MODE_ACTIVEBACKUP) {
                /* restore original ("permanent") mac address */
                memcpy(addr.sa_data, slave->perm_hwaddr, ETH_ALEN);
                addr.sa_family = slave_dev->type;