Abstract: Various exemplary embodiments relate to a network management system (NMS) and a method performed on the NMS including one or more of the following: receiving a notification of a new endpoint discovered in the network, the new endpoint representing an endpoint in a multi-chassis pair; determining that an address of the new endpoint conflicts with an address of a first existing endpoint of an existing multi-chassis pair, wherein the first existing endpoint is currently paired with a second existing endpoint; determining whether the new endpoint or the first existing endpoint is a proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair; and when the new endpoint is the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair, updating the data representing the topology in the storage module to replace the first existing endpoint with the new endpoint as paired with the second existing endpoint.