diff --git a/bin/netvm-node-up.sh b/bin/netvm-node-up.sh
index 95d93bb..2d9719e 100755
--- a/bin/netvm-node-up.sh
+++ b/bin/netvm-node-up.sh
@@ -10,8 +10,10 @@ CONF="/etc/netvm/${NODE}.conf"
 [ -f "$CONF" ] || { echo "missing $CONF — human generates it once (wgcf), root-owned 0600"; exit 1; }
 chmod 600 "$CONF"
 ip netns add "$NETNS" 2>/dev/null || true
-ip link add "wg-${NODE}" type wireguard 2>/dev/null || true
-ip link set "wg-${NODE}" netns "$NETNS"
+if ! ip netns exec "$NETNS" ip link show "wg-${NODE}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  ip link add "wg-${NODE}" type wireguard 2>/dev/null || true
+  ip link set "wg-${NODE}" netns "$NETNS"
+fi
 ip netns exec "$NETNS" wg setconf "wg-${NODE}" "$CONF"
 ip netns exec "$NETNS" ip link set lo up
 ip netns exec "$NETNS" ip link set "wg-${NODE}" up