diff --git a/agent/ecscni/netconfig.go b/agent/ecscni/netconfig.go
index dda77a8f907..6f84fb71bb2 100644
--- a/agent/ecscni/netconfig.go
+++ b/agent/ecscni/netconfig.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ func newNetworkConfig(netcfg interface{}, plugin string, cniVersion string) (*li
 		Network: &cnitypes.NetConf{
 			Type:       plugin,
 			CNIVersion: cniVersion,
+			Name:       defaultNetworkName,
 		},
 		Bytes: configBytes,
 	}
diff --git a/agent/ecscni/types_linux.go b/agent/ecscni/types_linux.go
index 2ad65834acd..729acac38ff 100644
--- a/agent/ecscni/types_linux.go
+++ b/agent/ecscni/types_linux.go
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ const (
 	ECSBranchENIPluginName = "vpc-branch-eni"
 	// NetnsFormat is used to construct the path to cotainer network namespace
 	NetnsFormat = "/host/proc/%s/ns/net"
+	// Starting with CNI plugin v0.8.0 (this PR https://github.com/containernetworking/cni/pull/698)
+	// NetworkName has to be non-empty field for network config.
+	// We do not actually make use of the field, hence passing in a placeholder string to fulfill the API spec
+	defaultNetworkName = "network-name"
 )
 
 //IPAMNetworkConfig is the config format accepted by the plugin
diff --git a/agent/ecscni/types_windows.go b/agent/ecscni/types_windows.go
index 4a2218f255b..249c5b9ad19 100644
--- a/agent/ecscni/types_windows.go
+++ b/agent/ecscni/types_windows.go
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ const (
 	TaskHNSNetworkNamePrefix = "task"
 	// ECSBridgeNetworkName is the name of the HNS network used as ecs-bridge.
 	ECSBridgeNetworkName = "nat"
+	// Starting with CNI plugin v0.8.0 (this PR https://github.com/containernetworking/cni/pull/698)
+	// NetworkName has to be non-empty field for network config.
+	// We do not actually make use of the field, hence passing in a placeholder string to fulfill the API spec
+	defaultNetworkName = "network-name"
 )
 
 var (