A first network device may receive a flow of unicast packets with a loop prevention bit set. The flow of unicast packets may be received from a second network device associated with a non-operational link provided between the second network device and a destination device. The second network device may be a peer of the first network device. The first network device may determine whether a link provided between the first network device and the destination device is operational, and may forgo returning the flow of unicast packets to the second network device when the link provided between the first network device and the destination device is non-operational and based on the loop prevention bit.