diff --git a/multus/multus.go b/multus/multus.go
index 9927ae2fc..6bd8a6bdb 100644
--- a/multus/multus.go
+++ b/multus/multus.go
@@ -308,6 +308,24 @@ func cmdDel(args *skel.CmdArgs, exec invoke.Exec, kubeClient k8s.KubeClient) err
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if args.Netns == "" {
+		return nil
+	}
+	netns, err := ns.GetNS(args.Netns)
+	if err != nil {
+		if err != nil {
+			//  if NetNs is passed down by the CEO, or if it called multiple times
+			// so don't return an error if the device is already removed.
+			// https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/issues/43014#issuecomment-287164444
+			_, ok := err.(ns.NSPathNotExistErr)
+			if ok {
+				return nil
+			}
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to open netns %q: %v", netns, err)
+		}
+	}
+	defer netns.Close()
+
 	k8sArgs, err := k8s.GetK8sArgs(args)
 	if err != nil {
 		return logging.Errorf("Multus: Err in getting k8s args: %v", err)