diff --git a/oslo_utils/tests/test_uuidutils.py b/oslo_utils/tests/test_uuidutils.py
index 43ed0b93..e4de301e 100644
--- a/oslo_utils/tests/test_uuidutils.py
+++ b/oslo_utils/tests/test_uuidutils.py
@@ -29,6 +29,12 @@ class UUIDUtilsTest(test_base.BaseTestCase):
         # make sure there are 4 dashes
         self.assertEqual(len(uuid_string.replace('-', '')), 32)
 
+    def test_generate_uuid_dashed_false(self):
+        uuid_string = uuidutils.generate_uuid(dashed=False)
+        self.assertIsInstance(uuid_string, str)
+        self.assertEqual(len(uuid_string), 32)
+        self.assertFalse('-' in uuid_string)
+
     def test_is_uuid_like(self):
         self.assertTrue(uuidutils.is_uuid_like(str(uuid.uuid4())))
         self.assertTrue(uuidutils.is_uuid_like(
diff --git a/oslo_utils/uuidutils.py b/oslo_utils/uuidutils.py
index 5a48ae68..01615e91 100644
--- a/oslo_utils/uuidutils.py
+++ b/oslo_utils/uuidutils.py
@@ -22,12 +22,16 @@ UUID related utilities and helper functions.
 import uuid
 
 
-def generate_uuid():
+def generate_uuid(dashed=True):
     """Creates a random uuid string.
 
+    :param dashed: Generate uuid with dashes or not
+    :type dashed: bool
     :returns: string
     """
-    return str(uuid.uuid4())
+    if dashed:
+        return str(uuid.uuid4())
+    return uuid.uuid4().hex
 
 
 def _format_uuid_string(string):