A Provider Edge (PE) node includes a plurality of ports including an inter-chassis port to a second PE node, a port connected to a root node, and one or more ports connected to leaf nodes, wherein the plurality of ports are in an Ethernet Tree (E-Tree), and wherein the root node is dual-homed to the PE node and the second PE node; switching circuitry configured to switch traffic between the plurality of ports; and circuitry configured to designate the inter-chassis port as one of a leaf node and a root node in the E-Tree instance, and manage a designation of the inter-chassis port based on a status of the port connected to the root node. The designation is changed in a data plane instead of in a control plane.