diff --git a/include/utils.h b/include/utils.h
index 8a9c3020..927fdc17 100644
--- a/include/utils.h
+++ b/include/utils.h
@@ -294,14 +294,12 @@ extern int cmdlineno;
 ssize_t getcmdline(char **line, size_t *len, FILE *in);
 int makeargs(char *line, char *argv[], int maxargs);
 
-int do_each_netns(int (*func)(char *nsname, void *arg), void *arg,
-		bool show_label);
-
 char *int_to_str(int val, char *buf);
 int get_guid(__u64 *guid, const char *arg);
 int get_real_family(int rtm_type, int rtm_family);
 
-int cmd_exec(const char *cmd, char **argv, bool do_fork);
+int cmd_exec(const char *cmd, char **argv, bool do_fork,
+	     int (*setup)(void *), void *arg);
 int make_path(const char *path, mode_t mode);
 char *find_cgroup2_mount(void);
 int get_command_name(const char *pid, char *comm, size_t len);
diff --git a/ip/ipnetns.c b/ip/ipnetns.c
index e4788e75..e32e44bd 100644
--- a/ip/ipnetns.c
+++ b/ip/ipnetns.c
@@ -395,11 +395,24 @@ static int netns_list(int argc, char **argv)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int do_switch(void *arg)
+{
+	char *netns = arg;
+
+	/* we just changed namespaces. clear any vrf association
+	 * with prior namespace before exec'ing command
+	 */
+	vrf_reset();
+
+	return netns_switch(netns);
+}
+
 static int on_netns_exec(char *nsname, void *arg)
 {
 	char **argv = arg;
 
-	cmd_exec(argv[1], argv + 1, true);
+	printf("\nnetns: %s\n", nsname);
+	cmd_exec(argv[0], argv, true, do_switch, nsname);
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -408,8 +421,6 @@ static int netns_exec(int argc, char **argv)
 	/* Setup the proper environment for apps that are not netns
 	 * aware, and execute a program in that environment.
 	 */
-	const char *cmd;
-
 	if (argc < 1 && !do_all) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "No netns name specified\n");
 		return -1;
@@ -420,22 +431,13 @@ static int netns_exec(int argc, char **argv)
 	}
 
 	if (do_all)
-		return do_each_netns(on_netns_exec, --argv, 1);
-
-	if (netns_switch(argv[0]))
-		return -1;
-
-	/* we just changed namespaces. clear any vrf association
-	 * with prior namespace before exec'ing command
-	 */
-	vrf_reset();
+		return netns_foreach(on_netns_exec, argv);
 
 	/* ip must return the status of the child,
 	 * but do_cmd() will add a minus to this,
 	 * so let's add another one here to cancel it.
 	 */
-	cmd = argv[1];
-	return -cmd_exec(cmd, argv + 1, !!batch_mode);
+	return -cmd_exec(argv[1], argv + 1, !!batch_mode, do_switch, argv[0]);
 }
 
 static int is_pid(const char *str)
diff --git a/ip/ipvrf.c b/ip/ipvrf.c
index 08a0d45b..aebcb253 100644
--- a/ip/ipvrf.c
+++ b/ip/ipvrf.c
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ static int ipvrf_exec(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (vrf_switch(argv[0]))
 		return -1;
 
-	return -cmd_exec(argv[1], argv + 1, !!batch_mode);
+	return -cmd_exec(argv[1], argv + 1, !!batch_mode, NULL, NULL);
 }
 
 /* reset VRF association of current process to default VRF;
diff --git a/lib/exec.c b/lib/exec.c
index eb36b59d..9b1c8f4a 100644
--- a/lib/exec.c
+++ b/lib/exec.c
@@ -5,8 +5,10 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 #include "utils.h"
+#include "namespace.h"
 
-int cmd_exec(const char *cmd, char **argv, bool do_fork)
+int cmd_exec(const char *cmd, char **argv, bool do_fork,
+	     int (*setup)(void *), void *arg)
 {
 	fflush(stdout);
 	if (do_fork) {
@@ -34,6 +36,9 @@ int cmd_exec(const char *cmd, char **argv, bool do_fork)
 		}
 	}
 
+	if (setup && setup(arg))
+		return -1;
+
 	if (execvp(cmd, argv)  < 0)
 		fprintf(stderr, "exec of \"%s\" failed: %s\n",
 				cmd, strerror(errno));
diff --git a/lib/utils.c b/lib/utils.c
index a81c0700..be0f11b0 100644
--- a/lib/utils.c
+++ b/lib/utils.c
@@ -1418,33 +1418,6 @@ void print_nlmsg_timestamp(FILE *fp, const struct nlmsghdr *n)
 	fprintf(fp, "Timestamp: %s %lu us\n", tstr, usecs);
 }
 
-static int on_netns(char *nsname, void *arg)
-{
-	struct netns_func *f = arg;
-
-	if (netns_switch(nsname))
-		return -1;
-
-	return f->func(nsname, f->arg);
-}
-
-static int on_netns_label(char *nsname, void *arg)
-{
-	printf("\nnetns: %s\n", nsname);
-	return on_netns(nsname, arg);
-}
-
-int do_each_netns(int (*func)(char *nsname, void *arg), void *arg,
-		bool show_label)
-{
-	struct netns_func nsf = { .func = func, .arg = arg };
-
-	if (show_label)
-		return netns_foreach(on_netns_label, &nsf);
-
-	return netns_foreach(on_netns, &nsf);
-}
-
 char *int_to_str(int val, char *buf)
 {
 	sprintf(buf, "%d", val);