DHCP defines a new 'client identifier' option that is used to pass an
explicit client identifier to a DHCP server. This change eliminates
the overloading of the 'chaddr' field in BOOTP messages, where
'chaddr' is used both as a hardware address for transmission of BOOTP
reply messages and as a client identifier. The 'client identifier'
is an opaque key, not to be interpreted by the server; for example,
the 'client identifier' may contain a hardware address, identical to
the contents of the 'chaddr' field, or it may contain another type of
identifier, such as a DNS name. The 'client identifier' chosen by a
DHCP client MUST be unique to that client within the subnet to which
the client is attached. If the client uses a 'client identifier' in
one message, it MUST use that same identifier in all subsequent
messages, to ensure that all servers correctly identify the client.
RFC 2131
It allows the client to specify something other than a MAC.
RFC 2132, section 9.14 defines the Client-Identifier option.