diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index 6c809cf9..6f501c17 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -114,7 +114,8 @@ lxc_container_download_template_options: >
 # Toggle the restart of containers via the handler.
 lxc_container_allow_restarts: yes
 
-lxc_container_network_veth_pair: "{{ inventory_hostname[-8:].replace('-', '').replace('_', '') }}_{{ item.value.interface }}"
+lxc_container_network_veth_pair_prefix: "{{ inventory_hostname[-8:].replace('-', '').replace('_', '') }}"
+lxc_container_network_veth_pair: "{{ lxc_container_network_veth_pair_prefix }}_{{ item.value.interface }}"
 
 # Enable fixed mac address generation for an lxc container
 lxc_container_fixed_mac: false
diff --git a/tasks/container_create.yml b/tasks/container_create.yml
index 098d28d7..79c4cb95 100644
--- a/tasks/container_create.yml
+++ b/tasks/container_create.yml
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@
 - name: Add veth pair name to match container name
   lineinfile:
     dest: "/var/lib/lxc/{{ inventory_hostname }}/config"
-    line: "lxc.network.veth.pair = {{ inventory_hostname[-8:].replace('-', '').replace('_', '') }}_eth0"
+    line: "lxc.network.veth.pair = {{ lxc_container_network_veth_pair_prefix }}_eth0"
     insertafter: "^lxc.network.name"
     backup: "true"
   delegate_to: "{{ physical_host }}"
diff --git a/templates/veth-cleanup.sh.j2 b/templates/veth-cleanup.sh.j2
index 6ab4fc04..bd1b32aa 100644
--- a/templates/veth-cleanup.sh.j2
+++ b/templates/veth-cleanup.sh.j2
@@ -3,13 +3,13 @@ export PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin"
 
 # LXC eth0 is considered special and not managed by the base container_networks
 #  data structure. This is being added outside of the loop for this reason.
-ip link del {{ inventory_hostname[-8:].replace('-', '').replace('_', '') }}_eth0 || true
+ip link del {{ lxc_container_network_veth_pair_prefix }}_eth0 || true
 
 # Veth cleanup for items in the container_networks data structure
 {% if container_networks is defined %}
 {% for key, value in container_networks.items() %}
 {% if value.type is not defined or value.type == 'veth' %}
-ip link del {{ inventory_hostname[-8:].replace('-', '').replace('_', '') }}_{{ value.interface }} || true
+ip link del {{ lxc_container_network_veth_pair_prefix }}_{{ value.interface }} || true
 {% endif %}
 {% endfor %}
 {% endif %}