diff --git a/ip/ipnetns.c b/ip/ipnetns.c
index 46cc235b..14e8e087 100644
--- a/ip/ipnetns.c
+++ b/ip/ipnetns.c
@@ -75,9 +75,12 @@ static int ipnetns_have_nsid(void)
 	};
 	int fd;
 
-	if (have_rtnl_getnsid < 0) {
+	if (have_rtnl_getnsid >= 0) {
 		fd = open("/proc/self/ns/net", O_RDONLY);
 		if (fd < 0) {
+			fprintf(stderr,
+				"/proc/self/ns/net: %s. Continuing anyway.\n",
+				strerror(errno));
 			have_rtnl_getnsid = 0;
 			return 0;
 		}
@@ -85,8 +88,12 @@ static int ipnetns_have_nsid(void)
 		addattr32(&req.n, 1024, NETNSA_FD, fd);
 
 		if (rtnl_send(&rth, &req.n, req.n.nlmsg_len) < 0) {
-			perror("request send failed");
-			exit(1);
+			fprintf(stderr,
+				"rtnl_send(RTM_GETNSID): %s. Continuing anyway.\n",
+				strerror(errno));
+			have_rtnl_getnsid = 0;
+			close(fd);
+			return 0;
 		}
 		rtnl_listen(&rth, ipnetns_accept_msg, NULL);
 		close(fd);