diff --git a/ovn/controller/ofctrl.c b/ovn/controller/ofctrl.c
index 2186127872c..95b95b607a6 100644
--- a/ovn/controller/ofctrl.c
+++ b/ovn/controller/ofctrl.c
@@ -1265,3 +1265,9 @@ ofctrl_inject_pkt(const struct ovsrec_bridge *br_int, const char *flow_s,
 
     return NULL;
 }
+
+bool
+ofctrl_is_connected(void)
+{
+    return rconn_is_connected(swconn);
+}
diff --git a/ovn/controller/ofctrl.h b/ovn/controller/ofctrl.h
index ae0cfa51395..f7521801ba0 100644
--- a/ovn/controller/ofctrl.h
+++ b/ovn/controller/ofctrl.h
@@ -60,4 +60,7 @@ void ofctrl_check_and_add_flow(struct hmap *desired_flows, uint8_t table_id,
                                const struct match *,
                                const struct ofpbuf *ofpacts,
                                bool log_duplicate_flow);
+
+bool ofctrl_is_connected(void);
+
 #endif /* ovn/ofctrl.h */
diff --git a/ovn/controller/ovn-controller.c b/ovn/controller/ovn-controller.c
index 4e9a5865f84..b0f55a8701f 100644
--- a/ovn/controller/ovn-controller.c
+++ b/ovn/controller/ovn-controller.c
@@ -689,7 +689,18 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
                     ovsrec_bridge_table_get(ovs_idl_loop.idl), br_int,
                     sbrec_chassis_table_get(ovnsb_idl_loop.idl), chassis_id,
                     sbrec_sb_global_first(ovnsb_idl_loop.idl));
-                bfd_calculate_active_tunnels(br_int, &active_tunnels);
+
+                if (ofctrl_is_connected()) {
+                    /* Calculate the active tunnels only if have an an active
+                     * OpenFlow connection to br-int.
+                     * If we don't have a connection to br-int, it could mean
+                     * ovs-vswitchd is down for some reason and the BFD status
+                     * in the Interface rows could be stale. So its better to
+                     * consider 'active_tunnels' set to be empty.
+                     * */
+                    bfd_calculate_active_tunnels(br_int, &active_tunnels);
+                }
+
                 binding_run(ovnsb_idl_txn, ovs_idl_txn, sbrec_chassis_by_name,
                             sbrec_datapath_binding_by_key,
                             sbrec_port_binding_by_datapath,
diff --git a/tests/ovn.at b/tests/ovn.at
index f54f24c747f..feafe1f00a5 100644
--- a/tests/ovn.at
+++ b/tests/ovn.at
@@ -8055,7 +8055,35 @@ ovn-nbctl --timeout=3 --wait=hv \
 
 test_ip_packet gw2 gw1
 
-OVN_CLEANUP([hv1],[gw1],[gw2],[ext1])
+# Both gw1 and gw2 at this point should have claimed the cr-alice
+# once each.
+gw1_claim_ct=`grep "cr-alice: Claiming" gw1/ovn-controller.log | wc -l`
+gw2_claim_ct=`grep "cr-alice: Claiming" gw2/ovn-controller.log | wc -l`
+
+# Kill ovs-vswitchd in gw2. gw1 should claim the gateway port.
+# So gw1 should claim twice and gw1 only once.
+
+kill `cat gw2/ovs-vswitchd.pid`
+
+# gw1 should claim the cr-alice
+gw1_claim_ct=$((gw1_claim_ct+1))
+
+OVS_WAIT_UNTIL([test $gw1_claim_ct = `cat gw1/ovn-controller.log \
+| grep -c "cr-alice: Claiming"`])
+
+AT_CHECK([test $gw2_claim_ct = `cat gw2/ovn-controller.log | \
+grep -c "cr-alice: Claiming"`])
+
+ovn-sbctl show
+test_ip_packet gw1 gw2
+
+as gw2
+ovs-appctl -t ovn-controller exit
+ovs-appctl -t ovs-vswitchd exit
+ps -aef | grep ovn-c
+
+OVN_CLEANUP([hv1],[gw1],[ext1])
+
 AT_CLEANUP
 
 AT_SETUP([ovn -- 4 HV, 3 LS, 2 LR, packet test with HA distributed router gateway port])