One embodiment of the present invention provides a switch. The switch includes a link aggregation module adapted to establish a virtual link aggregation group comprising a plurality of links coupling a network device to the switch and one or more other switches. The switch also includes an acknowledgment module adapted to identify an acknowledgment of a notification message from each of the one or more other switches, where the notification message includes port information associated with a local link participating in the virtual link aggregation group. The switch further includes a link selection module adapted to, in response to identifying the acknowledgment from each of the one or more other switches, determine a state for the local link based on the port information, where the state indicates whether the local link is an active link or a standby link for the virtual link aggregation group.