diff --git a/azure/services/scalesets/scalesets.go b/azure/services/scalesets/scalesets.go
index e94425da0c2..c26e2aff411 100644
--- a/azure/services/scalesets/scalesets.go
+++ b/azure/services/scalesets/scalesets.go
@@ -594,10 +594,13 @@ func (s *Service) getVirtualMachineScaleSetNetworkConfiguration(vmssSpec azure.S
 		nicConfig := compute.VirtualMachineScaleSetNetworkConfiguration{}
 		nicConfig.VirtualMachineScaleSetNetworkConfigurationProperties = &compute.VirtualMachineScaleSetNetworkConfigurationProperties{}
 		nicConfig.Name = pointer.String(vmssSpec.Name + "-nic-" + strconv.Itoa(i))
-		if pointer.BoolDeref(n.AcceleratedNetworking, false) {
-			nicConfig.VirtualMachineScaleSetNetworkConfigurationProperties.EnableAcceleratedNetworking = pointer.Bool(true)
+		nicConfig.EnableIPForwarding = pointer.Bool(true)
+		if n.AcceleratedNetworking != nil {
+			nicConfig.VirtualMachineScaleSetNetworkConfigurationProperties.EnableAcceleratedNetworking = n.AcceleratedNetworking
 		} else {
-			nicConfig.VirtualMachineScaleSetNetworkConfigurationProperties.EnableAcceleratedNetworking = pointer.Bool(false)
+			// If AcceleratedNetworking is not specified, use the value from the VMSS spec.
+			// It will be set to true if the VMSS SKU supports it.
+			nicConfig.VirtualMachineScaleSetNetworkConfigurationProperties.EnableAcceleratedNetworking = vmssSpec.AcceleratedNetworking
 		}
 
 		// Create IPConfigs