diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/remove-default-role-name-in-merge-nic-config-params-script-d670279038411978.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/remove-default-role-name-in-merge-nic-config-params-script-d670279038411978.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bfc91d46e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/remove-default-role-name-in-merge-nic-config-params-script-d670279038411978.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+other:
+  - |
+    The utility script ``tools/merge-new-params-nic-config-script.py``
+    previously used the ``Controller`` role by default if the ``--role-name``
+    argument was not specified. The argument (``--role-name``) no longer have a
+    default. It is now mandatory to specify the role when merging new
+    parameters into existing network configuration templates.
diff --git a/tools/merge-new-params-nic-config-script.py b/tools/merge-new-params-nic-config-script.py
index 910e0e88a1..8e8c1343ec 100755
--- a/tools/merge-new-params-nic-config-script.py
+++ b/tools/merge-new-params-nic-config-script.py
@@ -39,12 +39,11 @@ def parse_opts(argv):
                         default=('%s/network_data.yaml') % DEFAULT_THT_DIR)
     parser.add_argument('--role-name', metavar='ROLE-NAME',
                         help="Name of the role the NIC config is used for.",
-                        default='Controller')
+                        required=True)
     parser.add_argument('-t', '--template', metavar='TEMPLATE_FILE',
                         help=("Existing NIC config template to merge "
                               "parameter too."),
-                        required=True,
-                        )
+                        required=True)
     parser.add_argument('--tht-dir', metavar='THT_DIR',
                         help=("Path to tripleo-heat-templates (THT) "
                               "directory"),