diff --git a/src/openvpn/dco.h b/src/openvpn/dco.h
index 4e5aad5..4584004 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/dco.h
+++ b/src/openvpn/dco.h
@@ -109,7 +109,8 @@
 bool ovpn_dco_init(struct context *c);
 
 /**
- * Open/create a DCO interface
+ * Open/create a DCO interface and store its ifindex.
+ * If the interface already exists, save the ifindex anyway and return -EEXIST.
  *
  * @param tt        the tuntap context
  * @param ctx       the networking API context
diff --git a/src/openvpn/dco_linux.c b/src/openvpn/dco_linux.c
index 56f6259..777b43c 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/dco_linux.c
+++ b/src/openvpn/dco_linux.c
@@ -502,6 +502,19 @@
     CLEAR(dco);
 }
 
+static const char *
+ovpn_mode_to_str(enum ovpn_mode mode)
+{
+    switch (mode)
+    {
+        case OVPN_MODE_P2P:
+            return "p2p";
+        case OVPN_MODE_MP:
+            return "server";
+    }
+    return "unknown";
+}
+
 int
 open_tun_dco(struct tuntap *tt, openvpn_net_ctx_t *ctx, const char *dev)
 {
@@ -509,11 +522,30 @@
     ASSERT(tt->type == DEV_TYPE_TUN);
 
     int ret = net_iface_new(ctx, dev, OVPN_FAMILY_NAME, &tt->dco);
-    if (ret < 0)
+    if (ret < 0 && ret != -EEXIST)
     {
         msg(D_DCO_DEBUG, "Cannot create DCO interface %s: %d", dev, ret);
         return ret;
     }
+    if (ret == -EEXIST)
+    {
+        enum ovpn_mode mode;
+        int mode_ret = net_iface_ovpn_mode(ctx, dev, &mode);
+
+        if (mode_ret < 0)
+        {
+            msg(M_WARN, "DCO: cannot retrieve mode of existing interface %s: %s (%d)", dev,
+                strerror(-mode_ret), mode_ret);
+            return mode_ret;
+        }
+
+        if (mode != tt->dco.ifmode)
+        {
+            msg(M_WARN, "DCO: existing interface %s is in %s mode, expected %s mode",
+                dev, ovpn_mode_to_str(mode), ovpn_mode_to_str(tt->dco.ifmode));
+            return -EINVAL;
+        }
+    }
 
     tt->dco.ifindex = if_nametoindex(dev);
     if (!tt->dco.ifindex)
@@ -521,7 +553,7 @@
         msg(M_FATAL, "DCO: cannot retrieve ifindex for interface %s", dev);
     }
 
-    return 0;
+    return ret;
 }
 
 void
@@ -529,7 +561,10 @@
 {
     msg(D_DCO_DEBUG, __func__);
 
-    net_iface_del(ctx, tt->actual_name);
+    if (!tt->persistent_if)
+    {
+        net_iface_del(ctx, tt->actual_name);
+    }
     ovpn_dco_uninit_netlink(&tt->dco);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/openvpn/dco_linux.h b/src/openvpn/dco_linux.h
index e3e4824..42df09e 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/dco_linux.h
+++ b/src/openvpn/dco_linux.h
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #if defined(ENABLE_DCO) && defined(TARGET_LINUX)
 
 #include "event.h"
+#include "networking_sitnl.h"
 
 #include "ovpn_dco_linux.h"
 
@@ -38,28 +39,6 @@
 typedef enum ovpn_key_slot dco_key_slot_t;
 typedef enum ovpn_cipher_alg dco_cipher_t;
 
-/* OVPN section */
-
-#ifndef IFLA_OVPN_MAX
-
-enum ovpn_mode
-{
-    OVPN_MODE_P2P,
-    OVPN_MODE_MP,
-};
-
-enum ovpn_ifla_attrs
-{
-    IFLA_OVPN_UNSPEC = 0,
-    IFLA_OVPN_MODE,
-
-    __IFLA_OVPN_MAX,
-};
-
-#define IFLA_OVPN_MAX (__IFLA_OVPN_MAX - 1)
-
-#endif /* ifndef IFLA_OVPN_MAX */
-
 typedef struct
 {
     struct nl_sock *nl_sock;
diff --git a/src/openvpn/networking.h b/src/openvpn/networking.h
index bce0c19..cab560c 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/networking.h
+++ b/src/openvpn/networking.h
@@ -115,6 +115,19 @@
  */
 int net_iface_type(openvpn_net_ctx_t *ctx, const char *iface, char type[IFACE_TYPE_LEN_MAX]);
 
+#if defined(ENABLE_DCO) && defined(TARGET_LINUX)
+/**
+ * Retrieve the ovpn interface mode
+ *
+ * @param ctx       the implementation specific context
+ * @param iface     interface to query
+ * @param mode      variable where the ovpn mode attribute will be stored
+ *
+ * @return          0 on success, a negative error code otherwise
+ */
+int net_iface_ovpn_mode(openvpn_net_ctx_t *ctx, const char *iface, enum ovpn_mode *mode);
+#endif
+
 /**
  * Remove an interface
  *
diff --git a/src/openvpn/networking_iproute2.c b/src/openvpn/networking_iproute2.c
index a1f3525..85ab158 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/networking_iproute2.c
+++ b/src/openvpn/networking_iproute2.c
@@ -82,6 +82,16 @@
     return -1;
 }
 
+#if defined(ENABLE_DCO)
+int
+net_iface_ovpn_mode(openvpn_net_ctx_t *ctx, const char *iface, enum ovpn_mode *mode)
+{
+    /* not supported by iproute2 */
+    msg(M_WARN, "%s: operation not supported by iproute2 backend", __func__);
+    return -EOPNOTSUPP;
+}
+#endif
+
 int
 net_iface_del(openvpn_net_ctx_t *ctx, const char *iface)
 {
diff --git a/src/openvpn/networking_sitnl.c b/src/openvpn/networking_sitnl.c
index a396255..9d07638 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/networking_sitnl.c
+++ b/src/openvpn/networking_sitnl.c
@@ -1432,8 +1432,18 @@
     return 0;
 }
 
-int
-net_iface_type(openvpn_net_ctx_t *ctx, const char *iface, char type[IFACE_TYPE_LEN_MAX])
+/**
+ * Issue an RTM_GETLINK query for an interface and feed the reply to the given
+ * parsing callback.
+ *
+ * @param iface     name of the interface to query
+ * @param cb        callback invoked with the netlink reply
+ * @param arg       opaque argument passed through to the callback
+ *
+ * @return          0 on success, a negative error code otherwise
+ */
+static int
+sitnl_link_get(const char *iface, sitnl_parse_reply_cb cb, void *arg)
 {
     struct sitnl_link_req req = {};
     int ifindex = if_nametoindex(iface);
@@ -1450,9 +1460,15 @@
     req.i.ifi_family = AF_PACKET;
     req.i.ifi_index = ifindex;
 
+    return sitnl_send(&req.n, 0, 0, cb, arg);
+}
+
+int
+net_iface_type(openvpn_net_ctx_t *ctx, const char *iface, char type[IFACE_TYPE_LEN_MAX])
+{
     memset(type, 0, IFACE_TYPE_LEN_MAX);
 
-    int ret = sitnl_send(&req.n, 0, 0, sitnl_type_save, type);
+    int ret = sitnl_link_get(iface, sitnl_type_save, type);
     if (ret < 0)
     {
         msg(D_ROUTE, "%s: cannot retrieve iface %s: %s (%d)", __func__, iface, strerror(-ret), ret);
@@ -1464,6 +1480,82 @@
     return 0;
 }
 
+#if defined(ENABLE_DCO)
+static int
+sitnl_ovpn_mode_save(struct nlmsghdr *n, void *arg)
+{
+    struct ifinfomsg *ifi = NLMSG_DATA(n);
+    struct rtattr *tb[IFLA_MAX + 1];
+    struct rtattr *tb_link[IFLA_INFO_MAX + 1];
+    struct rtattr *tb_data[IFLA_OVPN_MAX + 1];
+    enum ovpn_mode *mode = arg;
+    uint8_t raw_mode;
+
+    if (n->nlmsg_type != RTM_NEWLINK)
+    {
+        return -EINVAL;
+    }
+
+    if (n->nlmsg_len < NLMSG_LENGTH(sizeof(*ifi)))
+    {
+        return -EINVAL;
+    }
+
+    sitnl_parse_rtattr(tb, IFLA_MAX, IFLA_RTA(ifi), IFLA_PAYLOAD(n));
+
+    if (!tb[IFLA_LINKINFO])
+    {
+        return -ENOENT;
+    }
+
+    sitnl_parse_rtattr_nested(tb_link, IFLA_INFO_MAX, tb[IFLA_LINKINFO]);
+
+    if (!tb_link[IFLA_INFO_KIND]
+        || strcmp(RTA_DATA(tb_link[IFLA_INFO_KIND]), OVPN_FAMILY_NAME) != 0)
+    {
+        return -EINVAL;
+    }
+
+    if (!tb_link[IFLA_INFO_DATA])
+    {
+        return -ENOENT;
+    }
+
+    sitnl_parse_rtattr_nested(tb_data, IFLA_OVPN_MAX, tb_link[IFLA_INFO_DATA]);
+
+    if (!tb_data[IFLA_OVPN_MODE])
+    {
+        return -ENOENT;
+    }
+
+    if (RTA_PAYLOAD(tb_data[IFLA_OVPN_MODE]) < sizeof(raw_mode))
+    {
+        return -EINVAL;
+    }
+
+    raw_mode = *(uint8_t *)RTA_DATA(tb_data[IFLA_OVPN_MODE]);
+    *mode = (enum ovpn_mode)raw_mode;
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+int
+net_iface_ovpn_mode(openvpn_net_ctx_t *ctx, const char *iface, enum ovpn_mode *mode)
+{
+    int ret = sitnl_link_get(iface, sitnl_ovpn_mode_save, mode);
+    if (ret < 0)
+    {
+        msg(D_ROUTE, "%s: cannot retrieve ovpn mode for iface %s: %s (%d)", __func__, iface,
+            strerror(-ret), ret);
+        return ret;
+    }
+
+    msg(D_ROUTE, "%s: mode of %s: %d", __func__, iface, *mode);
+
+    return 0;
+}
+#endif /* defined(ENABLE_DCO) */
+
 int
 net_iface_del(openvpn_net_ctx_t *ctx, const char *iface)
 {
diff --git a/src/openvpn/networking_sitnl.h b/src/openvpn/networking_sitnl.h
index 481cc36..7a2d964 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/networking_sitnl.h
+++ b/src/openvpn/networking_sitnl.h
@@ -24,4 +24,30 @@
 typedef char openvpn_net_iface_t;
 typedef void *openvpn_net_ctx_t;
 
+#if defined(TARGET_LINUX)
+
+#include <linux/if_link.h>
+
+#ifndef IFLA_OVPN_MAX
+
+enum ovpn_mode
+{
+    OVPN_MODE_P2P,
+    OVPN_MODE_MP,
+};
+
+enum ovpn_ifla_attrs
+{
+    IFLA_OVPN_UNSPEC = 0,
+    IFLA_OVPN_MODE,
+
+    __IFLA_OVPN_MAX,
+};
+
+#define IFLA_OVPN_MAX (__IFLA_OVPN_MAX - 1)
+
+#endif /* ifndef IFLA_OVPN_MAX */
+
+#endif /* if defined(TARGET_LINUX) */
+
 #endif /* NETWORKING_SITNL_H_ */