diff --git a/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/api/ApiConstants.java b/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/api/ApiConstants.java
index 614fe6076de2..7d85d16ccf20 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/api/ApiConstants.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/api/ApiConstants.java
@@ -1047,6 +1047,7 @@ public class ApiConstants {
     public static final String VNF_NICS = "vnfnics";
     public static final String VNF_DETAILS = "vnfdetails";
     public static final String CLEAN_UP_VNF_DETAILS = "cleanupvnfdetails";
+    public static final String CLEAN_UP_VNF_NICS = "cleanupvnfnics";
 
     /**
      * This enum specifies IO Drivers, each option controls specific policies on I/O.
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/api/command/user/template/UpdateVnfTemplateCmd.java b/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/api/command/user/template/UpdateVnfTemplateCmd.java
index 72135e96f958..7479dd3be091 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/api/command/user/template/UpdateVnfTemplateCmd.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/api/command/user/template/UpdateVnfTemplateCmd.java
@@ -56,9 +56,14 @@ public class UpdateVnfTemplateCmd extends UpdateTemplateCmd implements UserCmd {
 
     @Parameter(name = ApiConstants.CLEAN_UP_VNF_DETAILS,
             type = CommandType.BOOLEAN,
-            description = "optional boolean field, which indicates if VNF details should be cleaned up or not")
+            description = "optional boolean field, which indicates if VNF details will be cleaned up or not")
     private Boolean cleanupVnfDetails = null;
 
+    @Parameter(name = ApiConstants.CLEAN_UP_VNF_NICS,
+            type = CommandType.BOOLEAN,
+            description = "optional boolean field, which indicates if VNF nics will be cleaned up or not")
+    private Boolean cleanupVnfNics = null;
+
     /////////////////////////////////////////////////////
     /////////////////// Accessors ///////////////////////
     /////////////////////////////////////////////////////
@@ -75,4 +80,8 @@ public Map<String, String> getVnfDetails() {
     public boolean isCleanupVnfDetails(){
         return cleanupVnfDetails == null ? false : cleanupVnfDetails.booleanValue();
     }
+
+    public boolean isCleanupVnfNics(){
+        return cleanupVnfNics == null ? false : cleanupVnfNics.booleanValue();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/template/VnfTemplateManagerImpl.java b/server/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/template/VnfTemplateManagerImpl.java
index a3b5d0d44e8f..3f88d34b603f 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/template/VnfTemplateManagerImpl.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/template/VnfTemplateManagerImpl.java
@@ -119,12 +119,13 @@ private void updateVnfTemplateDetails(long templateId, UpdateVnfTemplateCmd cmd)
     }
 
     private void updateVnfTemplateNics(long templateId, UpdateVnfTemplateCmd cmd) {
-        List<VNF.VnfNic> nics = cmd.getVnfNics();
-        if (CollectionUtils.isEmpty(nics)) {
-            return;
+        boolean cleanupVnfNics = cmd.isCleanupVnfNics();
+        if (cleanupVnfNics) {
+            vnfTemplateNicDao.deleteByTemplateId(templateId);
+        } else if (CollectionUtils.isNotEmpty(cmd.getVnfNics())) {
+            vnfTemplateNicDao.deleteByTemplateId(templateId);
+            persistVnfTemplateNics(templateId, cmd.getVnfNics());
         }
-        vnfTemplateNicDao.deleteByTemplateId(templateId);
-        persistVnfTemplateNics(templateId, nics);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/template/VnfTemplateManagerImplTest.java b/server/src/test/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/template/VnfTemplateManagerImplTest.java
index d2f489843c96..9c3f3fb1c6aa 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/template/VnfTemplateManagerImplTest.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/template/VnfTemplateManagerImplTest.java
@@ -129,9 +129,11 @@ public void testPersistVnfTemplateUpdate() {
     public void testPersistVnfTemplateUpdateWithoutNics() {
         UpdateVnfTemplateCmd cmd = new UpdateVnfTemplateCmd();
         ReflectionTestUtils.setField(cmd,"vnfDetails", vnfDetails);
+        ReflectionTestUtils.setField(cmd,"cleanupVnfNics", true);
 
         vnfTemplateManagerImpl.updateVnfTemplate(templateId, cmd);
 
+        Mockito.verify(vnfTemplateNicDao, Mockito.times(1)).deleteByTemplateId(templateId);
         Mockito.verify(vnfTemplateNicDao, Mockito.times(0)).persist(any(VnfTemplateNicVO.class));
         Mockito.verify(vnfTemplateDetailsDao, Mockito.times(1)).removeDetails(templateId);
         Mockito.verify(vnfTemplateDetailsDao, Mockito.times(5)).addDetail(eq(templateId), anyString(), anyString(), eq(true));
diff --git a/ui/src/views/image/TemplateVnfSettings.vue b/ui/src/views/image/TemplateVnfSettings.vue
index dc1440cf5b01..df6cae24473f 100644
--- a/ui/src/views/image/TemplateVnfSettings.vue
+++ b/ui/src/views/image/TemplateVnfSettings.vue
@@ -704,6 +704,9 @@ export default {
 
       if (areNicsChanged) {
         let i = 0
+        if (this.vnfNics.length === 0) {
+          params.cleanupvnfnics = true
+        }
         for (var index = 0; index < this.vnfNics.length; index++) {
           var nic = this.vnfNics[index]
           params['vnfnics[' + i + '].deviceid'] = nic.deviceid