diff --git a/pimd/pim_nht.c b/pimd/pim_nht.c
index 0ec239ceab..8a459fe86e 100644
--- a/pimd/pim_nht.c
+++ b/pimd/pim_nht.c
@@ -710,6 +710,7 @@ int pim_parse_nexthop_update(int command, struct zclient *zclient,
 		nexthops_free(pnc->nexthop);
 		pnc->nexthop = NULL;
 	}
+	SET_FLAG(pnc->flags, PIM_NEXTHOP_ANSWER_RECEIVED);
 
 	if (PIM_DEBUG_PIM_NHT) {
 		char buf[PREFIX2STR_BUFFER];
@@ -762,9 +763,11 @@ int pim_ecmp_nexthop_lookup(struct pim_instance *pim,
 	rpf.rpf_addr.u.prefix4 = src->u.prefix4;
 
 	pnc = pim_nexthop_cache_find(pim, &rpf);
-	if (pnc)
-		return pim_ecmp_nexthop_search(pim, pnc, nexthop, src, grp,
-					       neighbor_needed);
+	if (pnc) {
+		if (CHECK_FLAG(pnc->flags, PIM_NEXTHOP_ANSWER_RECEIVED))
+		    return pim_ecmp_nexthop_search(pim, pnc, nexthop, src, grp,
+						   neighbor_needed);
+	}
 
 	memset(nexthop_tab, 0,
 	       sizeof(struct pim_zlookup_nexthop) * MULTIPATH_NUM);
diff --git a/pimd/pim_nht.h b/pimd/pim_nht.h
index 8f68af5652..13bb0fcb55 100644
--- a/pimd/pim_nht.h
+++ b/pimd/pim_nht.h
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ struct pim_nexthop_cache {
 	int64_t last_update;
 	uint16_t flags;
 #define PIM_NEXTHOP_VALID             (1 << 0)
+#define PIM_NEXTHOP_ANSWER_RECEIVED   (1 << 1)
 
 	struct list *rp_list;
 	struct hash *upstream_hash;