diff --git a/Source/CNTKv2LibraryDll/API/CNTKLibraryInternals.h b/Source/CNTKv2LibraryDll/API/CNTKLibraryInternals.h
index d5a918512..f3d37fcae 100644
--- a/Source/CNTKv2LibraryDll/API/CNTKLibraryInternals.h
+++ b/Source/CNTKv2LibraryDll/API/CNTKLibraryInternals.h
@@ -242,6 +242,8 @@ namespace CNTK
 
         CNTK_API size_t NewUniqueId();
 
+        CNTK_API size_t GenerateRandomSeed();
+
         // Internal hooks for testing and higher-level bindings
         // These should not be directly called by C++ API users
         CNTK_API void EnableReversingTensorShapesInErrorMessages();
diff --git a/Source/CNTKv2LibraryDll/Common.cpp b/Source/CNTKv2LibraryDll/Common.cpp
index 63ef64f3a..d1a7eacd4 100644
--- a/Source/CNTKv2LibraryDll/Common.cpp
+++ b/Source/CNTKv2LibraryDll/Common.cpp
@@ -28,12 +28,26 @@ namespace CNTK
 {
     namespace Internal
     {
-        static std::atomic<unsigned long long> s_nextUniqueId(0);
+        static std::atomic_ullong s_nextUniqueId = ATOMIC_VAR_INIT(0);
         size_t NewUniqueId()
         {
             return s_nextUniqueId++;
         }
 
+        static std::atomic_ullong s_currentRandomSeed = ATOMIC_VAR_INIT(0);
+
+        size_t GenerateRandomSeed()
+        {
+            DistributedCommunicatorPtr communicator = MPICommunicator();
+            auto numWorkers = communicator->Workers().size();
+            auto rank = communicator->CurrentWorker().m_globalRank;
+
+            if (numWorkers < 1)
+                numWorkers = 1;
+
+            return (numWorkers * ++s_currentRandomSeed) + rank;
+        }
+
         std::atomic<bool> s_reverseTensorShapesInErrorMessages(false);
         void EnableReversingTensorShapesInErrorMessages()
         {
diff --git a/Source/CNTKv2LibraryDll/Function.cpp b/Source/CNTKv2LibraryDll/Function.cpp
index 25c134bf8..ee63a8643 100755
--- a/Source/CNTKv2LibraryDll/Function.cpp
+++ b/Source/CNTKv2LibraryDll/Function.cpp
@@ -1043,8 +1043,10 @@ namespace CNTK
         additionalProperties[PrimitiveFunction::AttributeNameNumSamples] = numSamples;
         additionalProperties[PrimitiveFunction::AttributeNameAllowDuplicates] = allowDuplicates;
 
-        if (seed != SentinelValueForAutoSelectRandomSeed) 
-            additionalProperties[PrimitiveFunction::AttributeNameRngSeed] = size_t(seed);
+        if (seed == SentinelValueForAutoSelectRandomSeed)
+            seed = Internal::GenerateRandomSeed();
+        
+        additionalProperties[PrimitiveFunction::AttributeNameRngSeed] = size_t(seed);
 
         return UnaryOp(PrimitiveOpType::RandomSample, operand, std::move(additionalProperties), name);
     }
@@ -1055,8 +1057,10 @@ namespace CNTK
         additionalProperties[PrimitiveFunction::AttributeNameNumSamples] = numSamples;
         additionalProperties[PrimitiveFunction::AttributeNameAllowDuplicates] = allowDuplicates;
 
-        if (seed != SentinelValueForAutoSelectRandomSeed)
-            additionalProperties[PrimitiveFunction::AttributeNameRngSeed] = size_t(seed);
+        if (seed == SentinelValueForAutoSelectRandomSeed)
+            seed = Internal::GenerateRandomSeed();
+
+        additionalProperties[PrimitiveFunction::AttributeNameRngSeed] = size_t(seed);
 
         return UnaryOp(PrimitiveOpType::RandomSampleInclusionFrequency, operand, std::move(additionalProperties), name);
     }
@@ -1066,8 +1070,10 @@ namespace CNTK
         auto additionalProperties = Dictionary();
         additionalProperties[PrimitiveFunction::AttributeNameDropoutRate] = dropoutRate;
 
-        if (seed != SentinelValueForAutoSelectRandomSeed)
-            additionalProperties[PrimitiveFunction::AttributeNameRngSeed] = size_t(seed);
+        if (seed == SentinelValueForAutoSelectRandomSeed)
+            seed = Internal::GenerateRandomSeed();
+        
+        additionalProperties[PrimitiveFunction::AttributeNameRngSeed] = size_t(seed);
 
         return UnaryOp(PrimitiveOpType::Dropout, operand, std::move(additionalProperties), name);
     }