diff --git a/lib/neutron b/lib/neutron
index 4e9691dfc0..4847e87f2f 100644
--- a/lib/neutron
+++ b/lib/neutron
@@ -95,6 +95,9 @@ NEUTRON_ROOTWRAP_CONF_FILE=$NEUTRON_CONF_DIR/rootwrap.conf
 NEUTRON_ROOTWRAP_CMD="$NEUTRON_ROOTWRAP $NEUTRON_ROOTWRAP_CONF_FILE"
 NEUTRON_ROOTWRAP_DAEMON_CMD="$NEUTRON_ROOTWRAP-daemon $NEUTRON_ROOTWRAP_CONF_FILE"
 
+# This is needed because _neutron_ovs_base_configure_l3_agent will set
+# external_network_bridge
+Q_USE_PROVIDERNET_FOR_PUBLIC=${Q_USE_PROVIDERNET_FOR_PUBLIC:-True}
 # This is needed because _neutron_ovs_base_configure_l3_agent uses it to create
 # an external network bridge
 PUBLIC_BRIDGE=${PUBLIC_BRIDGE:-br-ex}
diff --git a/lib/neutron_plugins/ovs_base b/lib/neutron_plugins/ovs_base
index 558a7d5d07..523024e2fe 100644
--- a/lib/neutron_plugins/ovs_base
+++ b/lib/neutron_plugins/ovs_base
@@ -96,6 +96,10 @@ function _neutron_ovs_base_configure_firewall_driver {
 }
 
 function _neutron_ovs_base_configure_l3_agent {
+    if [ "$Q_USE_PROVIDERNET_FOR_PUBLIC" != "True" ]; then
+        iniset $Q_L3_CONF_FILE DEFAULT external_network_bridge $PUBLIC_BRIDGE
+    fi
+
     neutron-ovs-cleanup --config-file $NEUTRON_CONF
     if [[ "$Q_USE_PUBLIC_VETH" = "True" ]]; then
         ip link show $Q_PUBLIC_VETH_INT > /dev/null 2>&1 ||