diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/test_lwt_ip_encap.sh b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/test_lwt_ip_encap.sh
index 59ea56945e6cd..b497bb85b667f 100755
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/test_lwt_ip_encap.sh
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/test_lwt_ip_encap.sh
@@ -112,6 +112,14 @@ setup()
 	ip netns add "${NS2}"
 	ip netns add "${NS3}"
 
+	# rp_filter gets confused by what these tests are doing, so disable it
+	ip netns exec ${NS1} sysctl -wq net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter=0
+	ip netns exec ${NS2} sysctl -wq net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter=0
+	ip netns exec ${NS3} sysctl -wq net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter=0
+	ip netns exec ${NS1} sysctl -wq net.ipv4.conf.default.rp_filter=0
+	ip netns exec ${NS2} sysctl -wq net.ipv4.conf.default.rp_filter=0
+	ip netns exec ${NS3} sysctl -wq net.ipv4.conf.default.rp_filter=0
+
 	ip link add veth1 type veth peer name veth2
 	ip link add veth3 type veth peer name veth4
 	ip link add veth5 type veth peer name veth6
@@ -236,11 +244,6 @@ setup()
 	ip -netns ${NS1} -6 route add ${IPv6_GRE}/128 dev veth5 via ${IPv6_6} ${VRF}
 	ip -netns ${NS2} -6 route add ${IPv6_GRE}/128 dev veth7 via ${IPv6_8} ${VRF}
 
-	# rp_filter gets confused by what these tests are doing, so disable it
-	ip netns exec ${NS1} sysctl -wq net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter=0
-	ip netns exec ${NS2} sysctl -wq net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter=0
-	ip netns exec ${NS3} sysctl -wq net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter=0
-
 	TMPFILE=$(mktemp /tmp/test_lwt_ip_encap.XXXXXX)
 
 	sleep 1  # reduce flakiness