diff --git a/zebra/zebra_nhg.c b/zebra/zebra_nhg.c
index 4f6bc02c6e..f5141c8f23 100644
--- a/zebra/zebra_nhg.c
+++ b/zebra/zebra_nhg.c
@@ -572,8 +572,7 @@ bool zebra_nhg_hash_equal(const void *arg1, const void *arg2)
 	/* Nexthops should be in-order, so we simply compare them in-place */
 	for (nexthop1 = nhe1->nhg.nexthop, nexthop2 = nhe2->nhg.nexthop;
 	     nexthop1 && nexthop2;
-	     nexthop1 = nexthop1->next, nexthop2 = nexthop2->next) {
-
+	     nexthop1 = nexthop_next(nexthop1), nexthop2 = nexthop_next(nexthop2)) {
 		if (!nhg_compare_nexthops(nexthop1, nexthop2))
 			return false;
 	}
@@ -608,8 +607,7 @@ bool zebra_nhg_hash_equal(const void *arg1, const void *arg2)
 	for (nexthop1 = nhe1->backup_info->nhe->nhg.nexthop,
 	     nexthop2 = nhe2->backup_info->nhe->nhg.nexthop;
 	     nexthop1 && nexthop2;
-	     nexthop1 = nexthop1->next, nexthop2 = nexthop2->next) {
-
+	     nexthop1 = nexthop_next(nexthop1), nexthop2 = nexthop_next(nexthop2)) {
 		if (!nhg_compare_nexthops(nexthop1, nexthop2))
 			return false;
 	}