diff --git a/net/tipc/bearer.c b/net/tipc/bearer.c
index 17652f20a359..aa37261626d6 100644
--- a/net/tipc/bearer.c
+++ b/net/tipc/bearer.c
@@ -108,7 +108,8 @@ int  tipc_register_media(struct media *m_ptr)
 
 	if (!media_name_valid(m_ptr->name))
 		goto exit;
-	if (m_ptr->bcast_addr.type != htonl(m_ptr->type_id))
+	if ((m_ptr->bcast_addr.media_id != m_ptr->type_id) ||
+	    !m_ptr->bcast_addr.broadcast)
 		goto exit;
 	if (m_ptr->priority > TIPC_MAX_LINK_PRI)
 		goto exit;
@@ -138,20 +139,17 @@ void tipc_media_addr_printf(struct print_buf *pb, struct tipc_media_addr *a)
 {
 	char addr_str[MAX_ADDR_STR];
 	struct media *m_ptr;
-	u32 media_type;
 
-	media_type = ntohl(a->type);
-	m_ptr = media_find_id(media_type);
+	m_ptr = media_find_id(a->media_id);
 
 	if (m_ptr && !m_ptr->addr2str(a, addr_str, sizeof(addr_str)))
 		tipc_printf(pb, "%s(%s)", m_ptr->name, addr_str);
 	else {
-		unchar *addr = (unchar *)&a->dev_addr;
 		u32 i;
 
-		tipc_printf(pb, "UNKNOWN(%u)", media_type);
-		for (i = 0; i < (sizeof(*a) - sizeof(a->type)); i++)
-			tipc_printf(pb, "-%02x", addr[i]);
+		tipc_printf(pb, "UNKNOWN(%u)", a->media_id);
+		for (i = 0; i < sizeof(a->value); i++)
+			tipc_printf(pb, "-%02x", a->value[i]);
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/net/tipc/bearer.h b/net/tipc/bearer.h
index 41a61d219c38..54a5a575d69a 100644
--- a/net/tipc/bearer.h
+++ b/net/tipc/bearer.h
@@ -59,17 +59,16 @@
 #define TIPC_MEDIA_TYPE_ETH	1
 
 /*
- * Destination address structure used by TIPC bearers when sending messages
- *
- * IMPORTANT: The fields of this structure MUST be stored using the specified
- * byte order indicated below, as the structure is exchanged between nodes
- * as part of a link setup process.
+ * struct tipc_media_addr - destination address used by TIPC bearers
+ * @value: address info (format defined by media)
+ * @media_id: TIPC media type identifier
+ * @broadcast: non-zero if address is a broadcast address
  */
+
 struct tipc_media_addr {
-	__be32  type;			/* bearer type (network byte order) */
-	union {
-		__u8   eth_addr[6];	/* 48 bit Ethernet addr (byte array) */
-	} dev_addr;
+	u8 value[TIPC_MEDIA_ADDR_SIZE];
+	u8 media_id;
+	u8 broadcast;
 };
 
 struct tipc_bearer;
diff --git a/net/tipc/discover.c b/net/tipc/discover.c
index f2fb96e86ee8..1ea2d44bbc36 100644
--- a/net/tipc/discover.c
+++ b/net/tipc/discover.c
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ static struct sk_buff *tipc_disc_init_msg(u32 type,
 		msg_set_non_seq(msg, 1);
 		msg_set_dest_domain(msg, dest_domain);
 		msg_set_bc_netid(msg, tipc_net_id);
-		msg_set_media_addr(msg, &b_ptr->addr);
+		b_ptr->media->addr2msg(&b_ptr->addr, msg_media_addr(msg));
 	}
 	return buf;
 }
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ void tipc_disc_recv_msg(struct sk_buff *buf, struct tipc_bearer *b_ptr)
 	u32 type = msg_type(msg);
 	int link_fully_up;
 
-	msg_get_media_addr(msg, &media_addr);
+	b_ptr->media->msg2addr(&media_addr, msg_media_addr(msg));
 	buf_discard(buf);
 
 	/* Validate discovery message from requesting node */
diff --git a/net/tipc/eth_media.c b/net/tipc/eth_media.c
index ebba0fcd937e..3b75c0d656d9 100644
--- a/net/tipc/eth_media.c
+++ b/net/tipc/eth_media.c
@@ -54,18 +54,24 @@ struct eth_bearer {
 	struct packet_type tipc_packet_type;
 };
 
+static struct media eth_media_info;
 static struct eth_bearer eth_bearers[MAX_ETH_BEARERS];
 static int eth_started;
 static struct notifier_block notifier;
 
 /**
  * eth_media_addr_set - initialize Ethernet media address structure
+ *
+ * Media-dependent "value" field stores MAC address in first 6 bytes
+ * and zeroes out the remaining bytes.
  */
 
 static void eth_media_addr_set(struct tipc_media_addr *a, char *mac)
 {
-	a->type = htonl(TIPC_MEDIA_TYPE_ETH);
-	memcpy(&a->dev_addr.eth_addr, mac, ETH_ALEN);
+	memcpy(a->value, mac, ETH_ALEN);
+	memset(a->value + ETH_ALEN, 0, sizeof(a->value) - ETH_ALEN);
+	a->media_id = TIPC_MEDIA_TYPE_ETH;
+	a->broadcast = !memcmp(mac, eth_media_info.bcast_addr.value, ETH_ALEN);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -94,7 +100,7 @@ static int send_msg(struct sk_buff *buf, struct tipc_bearer *tb_ptr,
 
 	skb_reset_network_header(clone);
 	clone->dev = dev;
-	dev_hard_header(clone, dev, ETH_P_TIPC, &dest->dev_addr.eth_addr,
+	dev_hard_header(clone, dev, ETH_P_TIPC, dest->value,
 			dev->dev_addr, clone->len);
 	dev_queue_xmit(clone);
 	return 0;
@@ -256,12 +262,10 @@ static int recv_notification(struct notifier_block *nb, unsigned long evt,
 
 static int eth_addr2str(struct tipc_media_addr *a, char *str_buf, int str_size)
 {
-	unchar *addr = (unchar *)&a->dev_addr;
-
 	if (str_size < 18)	/* 18 = strlen("aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff\0") */
 		return 1;
 
-	sprintf(str_buf, "%pM", addr);
+	sprintf(str_buf, "%pM", a->value);
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -293,7 +297,7 @@ static int eth_addr2msg(struct tipc_media_addr *a, char *msg_area)
 {
 	memset(msg_area, 0, TIPC_MEDIA_ADDR_SIZE);
 	msg_area[TIPC_MEDIA_TYPE_OFFSET] = TIPC_MEDIA_TYPE_ETH;
-	memcpy(msg_area + ETH_ADDR_OFFSET, a->dev_addr.eth_addr, ETH_ALEN);
+	memcpy(msg_area + ETH_ADDR_OFFSET, a->value, ETH_ALEN);
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -322,8 +326,8 @@ static struct media eth_media_info = {
 	.str2addr	= eth_str2addr,
 	.addr2msg	= eth_addr2msg,
 	.msg2addr	= eth_msg2addr,
-	.bcast_addr	= { htonl(TIPC_MEDIA_TYPE_ETH),
-			    { {0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff} } },
+	.bcast_addr	= { { 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff },
+			    TIPC_MEDIA_TYPE_ETH, 1 },
 	.priority	= TIPC_DEF_LINK_PRI,
 	.tolerance	= TIPC_DEF_LINK_TOL,
 	.window		= TIPC_DEF_LINK_WIN,
diff --git a/net/tipc/msg.c b/net/tipc/msg.c
index 83d50967910c..3e4d3e29be61 100644
--- a/net/tipc/msg.c
+++ b/net/tipc/msg.c
@@ -333,11 +333,14 @@ void tipc_msg_dbg(struct print_buf *buf, struct tipc_msg *msg, const char *str)
 	}
 
 	if (msg_user(msg) ==  LINK_CONFIG) {
-		u32 *raw = (u32 *)msg;
-		struct tipc_media_addr *orig = (struct tipc_media_addr *)&raw[5];
+		struct tipc_media_addr orig;
+
 		tipc_printf(buf, ":DDOM(%x):", msg_dest_domain(msg));
 		tipc_printf(buf, ":NETID(%u):", msg_bc_netid(msg));
-		tipc_media_addr_printf(buf, orig);
+		memcpy(orig.value, msg_media_addr(msg), sizeof(orig.value));
+		orig.media_id = 0;
+		orig.broadcast = 0;
+		tipc_media_addr_printf(buf, &orig);
 	}
 	if (msg_user(msg) == BCAST_PROTOCOL) {
 		tipc_printf(buf, "BCNACK:AFTER(%u):", msg_bcgap_after(msg));
diff --git a/net/tipc/msg.h b/net/tipc/msg.h
index d93178f2e852..7b0cda167107 100644
--- a/net/tipc/msg.h
+++ b/net/tipc/msg.h
@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@
 
 #define MAX_MSG_SIZE (MAX_H_SIZE + TIPC_MAX_USER_MSG_SIZE)
 
+#define TIPC_MEDIA_ADDR_OFFSET	5
+
 
 struct tipc_msg {
 	__be32 hdr[15];
@@ -682,6 +684,10 @@ static inline void msg_set_redundant_link(struct tipc_msg *m, u32 r)
 	msg_set_bits(m, 5, 12, 0x1, r);
 }
 
+static inline char *msg_media_addr(struct tipc_msg *m)
+{
+	return (char *)&m->hdr[TIPC_MEDIA_ADDR_OFFSET];
+}
 
 /*
  * Word 9
@@ -734,14 +740,4 @@ int tipc_msg_build(struct tipc_msg *hdr, struct iovec const *msg_sect,
 		   u32 num_sect, unsigned int total_len,
 			    int max_size, int usrmem, struct sk_buff **buf);
 
-static inline void msg_set_media_addr(struct tipc_msg *m, struct tipc_media_addr *a)
-{
-	memcpy(&((int *)m)[5], a, sizeof(*a));
-}
-
-static inline void msg_get_media_addr(struct tipc_msg *m, struct tipc_media_addr *a)
-{
-	memcpy(a, &((int *)m)[5], sizeof(*a));
-}
-
 #endif