diff --git a/docs/how-to.md b/docs/how-to.md
index 1b3c3d62..b4ca8b8d 100644
--- a/docs/how-to.md
+++ b/docs/how-to.md
@@ -244,14 +244,11 @@ The MAC address must be in the format `XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX` (with colons or hyphen
 container run --network default,mac=02:42:ac:11:00:02 ubuntu:latest
 ```
 
-To verify the MAC address is set correctly, run `ip addr show` inside the container:
+To verify the MAC address is set correctly, read the interface MAC directly from sysfs inside the container:
 
 ```console
-% container run --rm --network default,mac=02:42:ac:11:00:02 ubuntu:latest ip addr show eth0
-2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
-    link/ether 02:42:ac:11:00:02 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
-    inet 192.168.64.2/24 brd 192.168.64.255 scope global eth0
-       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
+% container run --rm --network default,mac=02:42:ac:11:00:02 ubuntu:latest cat /sys/class/net/eth0/address
+02:42:ac:11:00:02
 ```
 
 If you don't specify a MAC address, `container` will generate one for you. The generated address has a first nibble set to hexadecimal `f` (`fX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX`) in case you want to minimize the very small chance of conflict between your MAC address and generated addresses.