diff --git a/bgpd/bgp_mplsvpn.c b/bgpd/bgp_mplsvpn.c
index 90881621b331..046d71595ef0 100644
--- a/bgpd/bgp_mplsvpn.c
+++ b/bgpd/bgp_mplsvpn.c
@@ -280,7 +280,8 @@ int bgp_nlri_parse_vpn(struct peer *peer, struct attr *attr,
  *
  * Sending this vrf-label association is qualified by a) whether vrf->vpn
  * exporting is active ("export vpn" is enabled, vpn-policy RD and RT list
- * are set) and b) whether vpn-policy label is set.
+ * are set), b) whether vpn-policy label is set and c) the vrf loopback
+ * interface is up.
  *
  * If any of these conditions do not hold, then we send MPLS_LABEL_NONE
  * for this vrf, which zebra interprets to mean "delete this vrf-label
@@ -288,6 +289,7 @@ int bgp_nlri_parse_vpn(struct peer *peer, struct attr *attr,
  */
 void vpn_leak_zebra_vrf_label_update(struct bgp *bgp, afi_t afi)
 {
+	const char *debugmsg = NULL;
 	mpls_label_t label = MPLS_LABEL_NONE;
 	int debug = BGP_DEBUG(vpn, VPN_LEAK_LABEL);
 
@@ -300,11 +302,15 @@ void vpn_leak_zebra_vrf_label_update(struct bgp *bgp, afi_t afi)
 		return;
 	}
 
-	if (vpn_leak_to_vpn_active(bgp, afi, NULL, false)) {
+	if (vpn_leak_to_vpn_active(bgp, afi, &debugmsg, false)) {
 		label = bgp->vpn_policy[afi].tovpn_label;
 	}
 
 	if (debug) {
+		if (debugmsg)
+			zlog_debug("%s: vrf %s: afi %s: label %u not updated, %s",
+				   __func__, bgp->name_pretty, afi2str(afi),
+				   bgp->vpn_policy[afi].tovpn_label, debugmsg);
 		zlog_debug("%s: vrf %s: afi %s: setting label %d for vrf id %d",
 			   __func__, bgp->name_pretty, afi2str(afi), label,
 			   bgp->vrf_id);
diff --git a/bgpd/bgp_mplsvpn.h b/bgpd/bgp_mplsvpn.h
index 92a9fba887ae..3a7e9e063f7f 100644
--- a/bgpd/bgp_mplsvpn.h
+++ b/bgpd/bgp_mplsvpn.h
@@ -116,6 +116,8 @@ static inline int vpn_leak_to_vpn_active(struct bgp *bgp_vrf, afi_t afi,
 					 const char **pmsg,
 					 bool ignore_export_rt_list)
 {
+	struct interface *ifp;
+
 	if (bgp_vrf->inst_type != BGP_INSTANCE_TYPE_VRF
 		&& bgp_vrf->inst_type != BGP_INSTANCE_TYPE_DEFAULT) {
 
@@ -124,6 +126,19 @@ static inline int vpn_leak_to_vpn_active(struct bgp *bgp_vrf, afi_t afi,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	ifp = if_get_vrf_loopback(bgp_vrf->vrf_id);
+	/* should not happen */
+	if (!ifp) {
+		if (pmsg)
+			*pmsg = "loopback interface not defined";
+		return 0;
+	}
+	if (!if_is_up(ifp)) {
+		if (pmsg)
+			*pmsg = "loopback interface is down";
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	/* Is vrf configured to export to vpn? */
 	if (!CHECK_FLAG(bgp_vrf->af_flags[afi][SAFI_UNICAST],
 			BGP_CONFIG_VRF_TO_MPLSVPN_EXPORT)