diff --git a/ospfd/ospf_packet.c b/ospfd/ospf_packet.c
index b0dd5c6fc2..49cd42d030 100644
--- a/ospfd/ospf_packet.c
+++ b/ospfd/ospf_packet.c
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 #include "ospfd/ospf_flood.h"
 #include "ospfd/ospf_dump.h"
 #include "ospfd/ospf_errors.h"
+#include "ospfd/ospf_zebra.h"
 
 /*
  * OSPF Fragmentation / fragmented writes
@@ -4319,21 +4320,10 @@ void ospf_ls_ack_send_delayed(struct ospf_interface *oi)
  * punt-to-CPU set on them. This may overload the CPU control path that
  * can be avoided if the MAC was known apriori.
  */
-#define OSPF_PING_NBR_STR_MAX  (BUFSIZ)
 void ospf_proactively_arp(struct ospf_neighbor *nbr)
 {
-	char ping_nbr[OSPF_PING_NBR_STR_MAX];
-	int ret;
-
 	if (!nbr)
 		return;
 
-	snprintf(ping_nbr, sizeof(ping_nbr),
-		 "ping -c 1 -I %s %s > /dev/null 2>&1 &", nbr->oi->ifp->name,
-		 inet_ntoa(nbr->address.u.prefix4));
-
-	ret = system(ping_nbr);
-	if (IS_DEBUG_OSPF_EVENT)
-		zlog_debug("Executed %s %s", ping_nbr,
-			   ((ret == 0) ? "successfully" : "but failed"));
+	ospf_zebra_send_arp(nbr->oi->ifp, &nbr->address);
 }
diff --git a/ospfd/ospf_zebra.c b/ospfd/ospf_zebra.c
index 84bdb9ec5b..2b8769a4a8 100644
--- a/ospfd/ospf_zebra.c
+++ b/ospfd/ospf_zebra.c
@@ -1741,3 +1741,8 @@ void ospf_zebra_init(struct thread_master *master, unsigned short instance)
 	prefix_list_add_hook(ospf_prefix_list_update);
 	prefix_list_delete_hook(ospf_prefix_list_update);
 }
+
+void ospf_zebra_send_arp(const struct interface *ifp, const struct prefix *p)
+{
+	zclient_send_neigh_discovery_req(zclient, ifp, p);
+}
diff --git a/ospfd/ospf_zebra.h b/ospfd/ospf_zebra.h
index 80abf62369..6a79f39fa4 100644
--- a/ospfd/ospf_zebra.h
+++ b/ospfd/ospf_zebra.h
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ struct ospf_distance {
 };
 
 /* Prototypes */
+struct ospf_route;
 extern void ospf_zebra_add(struct ospf *ospf, struct prefix_ipv4 *,
 			   struct ospf_route *);
 extern void ospf_zebra_delete(struct ospf *ospf, struct prefix_ipv4 *,
@@ -98,4 +99,7 @@ bool ospf_external_default_routemap_apply_walk(
 int ospf_external_info_apply_default_routemap(struct ospf *ospf,
 					      struct external_info *ei,
 					      struct external_info *default_ei);
+
+extern void ospf_zebra_send_arp(const struct interface *ifp,
+				const struct prefix *p);
 #endif /* _ZEBRA_OSPF_ZEBRA_H */