diff --git a/cloudinit/sources/helpers/vmware/imc/config.py b/cloudinit/sources/helpers/vmware/imc/config.py
index 5d35933a254..1a406eb84bc 100644
--- a/cloudinit/sources/helpers/vmware/imc/config.py
+++ b/cloudinit/sources/helpers/vmware/imc/config.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ class Config:
     DEFAULT_RUN_POST_SCRIPT = "MISC|DEFAULT-RUN-POST-CUST-SCRIPT"
     CLOUDINIT_META_DATA = "CLOUDINIT|METADATA"
     CLOUDINIT_USER_DATA = "CLOUDINIT|USERDATA"
-    CLOUDINIT_INSTANCE_ID = "CLOUDINIT|INSTANCE-ID"
+    CLOUDINIT_INSTANCE_ID = "MISC|INSTANCE-ID"
 
     def __init__(self, configFile):
         self._configFile = configFile
diff --git a/tests/data/vmware/cust-dhcp-2nic-instance-id.cfg b/tests/data/vmware/cust-dhcp-2nic-instance-id.cfg
index 70a9d3139d4..53776c9baaf 100644
--- a/tests/data/vmware/cust-dhcp-2nic-instance-id.cfg
+++ b/tests/data/vmware/cust-dhcp-2nic-instance-id.cfg
@@ -33,5 +33,5 @@ SUFFIX|1 = eng.vmware.com
 TIMEZONE = Africa/Abidjan
 UTC = yes
 
-[CLOUDINIT]
-INSTANCE-ID = guest-os-customization-uuid
+[MISC]
+INSTANCE-ID = 50078779-0bc7-1a57-7c52-1179f03f5650