diff --git a/mptcp/files/etc/init.d/mptcp b/mptcp/files/etc/init.d/mptcp
index 1fb6407e4..8ca851e59 100755
--- a/mptcp/files/etc/init.d/mptcp
+++ b/mptcp/files/etc/init.d/mptcp
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ interface_multipath_settings() {
 		fi
 	fi
 
-	if [ "$(uci -q get openmptcprouter.settings.force_multipath)" != "0" ]; then
+	if [ "$(uci -q get openmptcprouter.settings.force_multipath)" != "0" ] && [ -n "$(ip a show dev $iface | grep inet)" ]; then
 		if ([ "$mode" = "master" ] || [ "$mode" = "on" ]) && [ -z "$(multipath $iface | grep default)" ]; then
 			logger -t "MPTCP" "Set $iface to $mode from $(multipath $iface)"
 			multipath "$iface" "on"