diff --git a/zebra/dplane_fpm_nl.c b/zebra/dplane_fpm_nl.c
index 8c8004190b..4cd2bef307 100644
--- a/zebra/dplane_fpm_nl.c
+++ b/zebra/dplane_fpm_nl.c
@@ -1232,7 +1232,8 @@ static void fpm_process_queue(struct thread *t)
 		 * the output data in the STREAM_WRITEABLE
 		 * check above, so we can ignore the return
 		 */
-		(void)fpm_nl_enqueue(fnc, ctx);
+		if (fnc->socket != -1)
+			(void)fpm_nl_enqueue(fnc, ctx);
 
 		/* Account the processed entries. */
 		processed_contexts++;