diff --git a/lib/neutron b/lib/neutron
index 0c4db25da5..2e4a41f4d8 100644
--- a/lib/neutron
+++ b/lib/neutron
@@ -455,6 +455,9 @@ function create_neutron_initial_network {
         if is_service_enabled q-l3; then
             # logic is specific to using the l3-agent for l3
             if is_neutron_ovs_base_plugin && [[ "$Q_USE_NAMESPACE" = "True" ]]; then
+                # Disable in-band as we are going to use local port
+                # to communicate with VMs
+                sudo ovs-vsctl set Bridge $PUBLIC_BRIDGE other_config:disable-in-band=true
                 CIDR_LEN=${FLOATING_RANGE#*/}
                 sudo ip addr add $EXT_GW_IP/$CIDR_LEN dev $PUBLIC_BRIDGE
                 sudo ip link set $PUBLIC_BRIDGE up