diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/vk.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/vk.py
index b8299c2377..a293b88751 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/vk.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/vk.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 class VKIE(InfoExtractor):
     IE_NAME = 'vk.com'
     _VALID_URL = r'https?://vk\.com/(?:videos.*?\?.*?z=)?video(?P<id>.*?)(?:\?|%2F|$)'
+    _NETRC_MACHINE = 'vk'
 
     _TESTS = [
         {