diff --git a/src/NetworkManagerUtils.c b/src/NetworkManagerUtils.c
index f973c5b570..71513a4f70 100644
--- a/src/NetworkManagerUtils.c
+++ b/src/NetworkManagerUtils.c
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ nm_match_spec_string (const GSList *specs, const char *match)
 	const GSList *iter;
 
 	for (iter = specs; iter; iter = g_slist_next (iter)) {
-		if (!strcmp ((const char *) iter->data, match))
+		if (!g_ascii_strcasecmp ((const char *) iter->data, match))
 			return TRUE;
 	}
 
@@ -379,18 +379,12 @@ nm_match_spec_string (const GSList *specs, const char *match)
 gboolean
 nm_match_spec_hwaddr (const GSList *specs, const char *hwaddr)
 {
-	char *hwaddr_match, *p;
+	char *hwaddr_match;
 	gboolean matched;
 
 	g_return_val_if_fail (hwaddr != NULL, FALSE);
 
-	p = hwaddr_match = g_strdup_printf ("mac:%s", hwaddr);
-
-	while (*p) {
-		*p = g_ascii_tolower (*p);
-		p++;
-	}
-
+	hwaddr_match = g_strdup_printf ("mac:%s", hwaddr);
 	matched = nm_match_spec_string (specs, hwaddr_match);
 	g_free (hwaddr_match);
 	return matched;
diff --git a/src/settings/plugins/example/plugin.c b/src/settings/plugins/example/plugin.c
index 8d4b627705..c8c1bff770 100644
--- a/src/settings/plugins/example/plugin.c
+++ b/src/settings/plugins/example/plugin.c
@@ -559,18 +559,7 @@ get_unmanaged_specs (NMSystemConfigInterface *config)
 	ids = g_strsplit (str, ";", -1);
 	for (i = 0; ids[i] != NULL; i++) {
 		/* Verify unmanaged specification and add it to the list */
-		if (!strncmp (ids[i], "mac:", 4) && ether_aton (ids[i] + 4)) {
-			char *p = ids[i];
-
-			/* To accept uppercase MACs in configuration file, we have to
-			 * convert values to lowercase here. Unmanaged MACs in specs are
-			 * always in lowercase.
-			 */
-			while (*p) {
-				*p = g_ascii_tolower (*p);
-				p++;
-			}
-
+		if (!strncmp (ids[i], "mac:", 4) && nm_utils_hwaddr_valid (ids[i] + 4)) {
 			specs = g_slist_append (specs, ids[i]);
 		} else if (!strncmp (ids[i], "interface-name:", 15) && nm_utils_iface_valid_name (ids[i] + 15)) {
 			specs = g_slist_append (specs, ids[i]);
diff --git a/src/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/plugin.c b/src/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/plugin.c
index 13edfb17ea..e7494826e7 100644
--- a/src/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/plugin.c
+++ b/src/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/plugin.c
@@ -147,8 +147,17 @@ _internal_new_connection (SCPluginIfcfg *self,
 	PLUGIN_PRINT (IFCFG_PLUGIN_NAME, "    read connection '%s'", cid);
 
 	if (nm_ifcfg_connection_get_unmanaged_spec (connection)) {
-		PLUGIN_PRINT (IFCFG_PLUGIN_NAME, "Ignoring connection '%s' and its "
-		              "device due to NM_CONTROLLED/BRIDGE/VLAN.", cid);
+		const char *spec;
+		const char *device_id;
+
+		spec = nm_ifcfg_connection_get_unmanaged_spec (connection);
+		device_id = strchr (spec, ':');
+		if (device_id)
+			device_id++;
+		else
+			device_id = spec;
+		PLUGIN_PRINT (IFCFG_PLUGIN_NAME, "Ignoring connection '%s' / device '%s' "
+		              "due to NM_CONTROLLED/BRIDGE/VLAN.", cid, device_id);
 	} else {
 		/* Wait for the connection to become unmanaged once it knows the
 		 * hardware IDs of its device, if/when the device gets plugged in.
diff --git a/src/settings/plugins/keyfile/plugin.c b/src/settings/plugins/keyfile/plugin.c
index b216eda246..52cb36d37b 100644
--- a/src/settings/plugins/keyfile/plugin.c
+++ b/src/settings/plugins/keyfile/plugin.c
@@ -412,15 +412,7 @@ get_unmanaged_specs (NMSystemConfigInterface *config)
 
 		for (i = 0; udis[i] != NULL; i++) {
 			/* Verify unmanaged specification and add it to the list */
-			if (!strncmp (udis[i], "mac:", 4) && ether_aton (udis[i] + 4)) {
-				char *p = udis[i];
-
-				/* To accept uppercase MACs in configuration file, we have to convert values to lowercase here.
-				 * Unmanaged MACs in specs are always in lowercase. */
-				while (*p) {
-					*p = g_ascii_tolower (*p);
-					p++;
-				}
+			if (!strncmp (udis[i], "mac:", 4) && nm_utils_hwaddr_valid (udis[i] + 4)) {
 				specs = g_slist_append (specs, udis[i]);
 			} else if (!strncmp (udis[i], "interface-name:", 15) && nm_utils_iface_valid_name (udis[i] + 15)) {
 				specs = g_slist_append (specs, udis[i]);