diff --git a/meta-google/recipes-google/networking/gbmc-bridge/gbmc-br-nft.sh b/meta-google/recipes-google/networking/gbmc-bridge/gbmc-br-nft.sh
index 980f7b6..ca4e15a 100644
--- a/meta-google/recipes-google/networking/gbmc-bridge/gbmc-br-nft.sh
+++ b/meta-google/recipes-google/networking/gbmc-bridge/gbmc-br-nft.sh
@@ -37,9 +37,7 @@
   mkdir -p -m 755 "$(dirname "$rfile")"
   printf '%s' "$contents" >"$rfile"
 
-  echo 'Restarting nftables' >&2
-  systemctl reset-failed nftables
-  systemctl --no-block restart nftables
+  systemctl reset-failed nftables && systemctl --no-block reload-or-restart nftables || true
 }
 
 gbmc_br_nft_hook() {