diff --git a/src/flb_utils.c b/src/flb_utils.c
index 2f445980d84..7c287de05e4 100644
--- a/src/flb_utils.c
+++ b/src/flb_utils.c
@@ -1403,7 +1403,7 @@ int flb_utils_get_machine_id(char **out_id, size_t *out_size)
     status = RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,
                           TEXT("SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Cryptography"),
                           0,
-                          KEY_QUERY_VALUE,
+                          KEY_QUERY_VALUE|KEY_WOW64_64KEY,
                           &hKey);
 
     if (status != ERROR_SUCCESS) {
@@ -1420,9 +1420,16 @@ int flb_utils_get_machine_id(char **out_id, size_t *out_size)
             return -1;
         }
 
-        *out_size = dwBufSize;
+        memcpy(*out_id, buf, dwBufSize);
+
+        /* RegQueryValueEx sets dwBufSize to strlen()+1 for the NULL 
+         * terminator, but we only need strlen(). */
+        *out_size = dwBufSize-1;
         return 0;
     }
+    else {
+        flb_error("unable to retrieve MachineGUID, error code: %d", status);
+    }
 #elif defined (FLB_SYSTEM_MACOS)
     bool bret;
     CFStringRef serialNumber;
@@ -1464,6 +1471,8 @@ int flb_utils_get_machine_id(char **out_id, size_t *out_size)
     }
 #endif
 
+    flb_warn("falling back on random machine UUID");
+
     /* generate a random uuid */
     uuid = flb_malloc(38);
     if (!uuid) {
diff --git a/tests/internal/utils.c b/tests/internal/utils.c
index bcb9053d86f..f55a3672c37 100644
--- a/tests/internal/utils.c
+++ b/tests/internal/utils.c
@@ -608,14 +608,38 @@ void test_flb_utils_split_quoted_errors()
 void test_flb_utils_get_machine_id()
 {
     int ret;
+    int idx;
     char *id = NULL;
     size_t size;
+    char *id2 = NULL;
+    size_t size2;
 
     ret = flb_utils_get_machine_id(&id, &size);
+    TEST_CHECK(ret == 0);
     TEST_CHECK(size != 0);
     TEST_CHECK(id != NULL);
 
+    for (idx = 0; idx < size; idx++) {
+        if (!TEST_CHECK(id[idx] != 0)) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "zero in ID: id[%d] = 0x%02x\n", idx, id[idx]);
+        }
+    }
+
+    ret = flb_utils_get_machine_id(&id2, &size2);
+    TEST_CHECK(ret == 0);
+    TEST_CHECK(size2 != 0);
+    TEST_CHECK(id2 != NULL);
+    TEST_CHECK(size2 == size);
+
+    for (idx = 0; idx < size; idx++) {
+        if (!TEST_CHECK(id[idx] == id2[idx])) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "bad byte in id v2 id2: id[%d] = 0x%02x, id2[%d] = 0x%02x\n",
+                    idx, id[idx], idx, id2[idx]);
+        }
+    }
+
     flb_free(id);
+    flb_free(id2);
 }
 
 struct size_to_bytes_check {