diff --git a/tempest/common/utils/linux/remote_client.py b/tempest/common/utils/linux/remote_client.py
index e0ebce4..1aa09e6 100644
--- a/tempest/common/utils/linux/remote_client.py
+++ b/tempest/common/utils/linux/remote_client.py
@@ -80,7 +80,6 @@
         connect_timeout = CONF.validation.connect_timeout
         self.log_console = CONF.compute_feature_enabled.console_output
         self.ssh_shell_prologue = CONF.validation.ssh_shell_prologue
-        self.project_network_mask_bits = CONF.network.project_network_mask_bits
         self.ping_count = CONF.validation.ping_count
         self.ping_size = CONF.validation.ping_size
 
@@ -171,11 +170,9 @@
         cmd = "ip address"
         return self.exec_command(cmd)
 
-    def assign_static_ip(self, nic, addr):
+    def assign_static_ip(self, nic, addr, network_mask_bits=28):
         cmd = "sudo ip addr add {ip}/{mask} dev {nic}".format(
-            ip=addr, mask=self.project_network_mask_bits,
-            nic=nic
-        )
+            ip=addr, mask=network_mask_bits, nic=nic)
         return self.exec_command(cmd)
 
     def set_nic_state(self, nic, state="up"):
diff --git a/tempest/scenario/test_network_basic_ops.py b/tempest/scenario/test_network_basic_ops.py
index 7dacc4c..85d7e37 100644
--- a/tempest/scenario/test_network_basic_ops.py
+++ b/tempest/scenario/test_network_basic_ops.py
@@ -285,9 +285,9 @@
                                               % CONF.network.build_timeout)
 
         num, new_nic = self.diff_list[0]
-        ssh_client.assign_static_ip(nic=new_nic,
-                                    addr=new_port['fixed_ips'][0][
-                                        'ip_address'])
+        ssh_client.assign_static_ip(
+            nic=new_nic, addr=new_port['fixed_ips'][0]['ip_address'],
+            network_mask_bits=CONF.network.project_network_mask_bits)
         ssh_client.set_nic_state(nic=new_nic)
 
     def _get_server_nics(self, ssh_client):