Having laboured though the nineties, Warner appeared to have earned himself an infamous dismissal on 99 when he shelved a pull shot to mid-on to seemingly give England debutant Tom Curran his first Test wicket.
But with the opener halfway off the ground and the England players and fans jubilantly celebrating Curran's memorable breakthrough, replays on the big screen showed that the right-armer had marginally over-stepped the front line.
The cheers of the touring fans turned to silence as the home supporters roared their approval when Umpire Kumar Dharmasena held out his right arm to confirm the no-ball and Warner's reprieve.
And the opener took full advantage of his unexpected Christmas gift, nudging the next ball onto the leg-side for a single to belatedly bring up three figures.
He celebrated with typical gusto, removing his helmet and leaping in the air to accept the loud roar of the home crowd.
With emotions running high, Warner then had some choice words for Curran at the end of the over before England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow and paceman Jimmy Anderson walked in to stand up for their debutant.
Incredibly, it's the second time in 12 months that Warner has been dismissed on a no-ball on his way to a century at the MCG.
In the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan last year, Warner was bowled by Wahab Riaz when on 81 before replays showed the left-armer had over-stepped. Warner went on to score 144.
The incident was similar to the Adelaide Ashes Test four years ago when Ben Stokes had his maiden Test wicket, that of Brad Haddin, taken away from him when replays showed he had overstepped.
Curran is the third England bowler since 2013 to be denied his maiden Test wicket by a no-ball, joining Stokes and Mark Wood (against New Zealand in 2015). Warner also avoided the infamy of being dismissed on 99 in a Test. The last Australian to suffer that was Shaun Marsh at this venue three years ago, while Steve Smith was dismissed for 199 in Jamaica in 2015.
Magellan Ashes Series
Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.
England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.
