diff --git a/lib/ironic b/lib/ironic
index 3f7ae2111c..8af3a7c3a6 100644
--- a/lib/ironic
+++ b/lib/ironic
@@ -455,7 +455,11 @@ function create_ovs_taps {
     # intentional sleep to make sure the tag has been set to port
     sleep 10
 
-    local tapdev=$(sudo ip netns exec qdhcp-${ironic_net_id} ip link list | grep " tap" | cut -d':' -f2 | cut -b2-)
+    if  [[ "$Q_USE_NAMESPACE" = "True" ]]; then
+        local tapdev=$(sudo ip netns exec qdhcp-${ironic_net_id} ip link list | grep " tap" | cut -d':' -f2 | cut -b2-)
+    else
+        local tapdev=$(sudo ip link list | grep " tap" | cut -d':' -f2 | cut -b2-)
+    fi
     local tag_id=$(sudo ovs-vsctl show |grep ${tapdev} -A1 -m1 | grep tag | cut -d':' -f2 | cut -b2-)
 
     # make sure veth pair is not existing, otherwise delete its links