diff --git a/zebra/zebra_nhg.c b/zebra/zebra_nhg.c
index 4ee9dc5fcf8e..f2a673f6d9d0 100644
--- a/zebra/zebra_nhg.c
+++ b/zebra/zebra_nhg.c
@@ -977,6 +977,11 @@ static int nhg_ctx_get_afi(const struct nhg_ctx *ctx)
 	return ctx->afi;
 }
 
+static bool nhg_ctx_get_startup(const struct nhg_ctx *ctx)
+{
+	return ctx->startup;
+}
+
 static struct nexthop *nhg_ctx_get_nh(struct nhg_ctx *ctx)
 {
 	return &ctx->u.nh;
@@ -1028,10 +1033,9 @@ void nhg_ctx_free(struct nhg_ctx **ctx)
 	XFREE(MTYPE_NHG_CTX, *ctx);
 }
 
-static struct nhg_ctx *nhg_ctx_init(uint32_t id, struct nexthop *nh,
-				    struct nh_grp *grp, vrf_id_t vrf_id,
-				    afi_t afi, int type, uint8_t count,
-				    struct nhg_resilience *resilience)
+static struct nhg_ctx *nhg_ctx_init(uint32_t id, struct nexthop *nh, struct nh_grp *grp,
+				    vrf_id_t vrf_id, afi_t afi, int type, uint8_t count,
+				    struct nhg_resilience *resilience, bool startup)
 {
 	struct nhg_ctx *ctx = NULL;
 
@@ -1042,6 +1046,7 @@ static struct nhg_ctx *nhg_ctx_init(uint32_t id, struct nexthop *nh,
 	ctx->afi = afi;
 	ctx->type = type;
 	ctx->count = count;
+	ctx->startup = startup;
 
 	if (resilience)
 		ctx->resilience = *resilience;
@@ -1204,6 +1209,7 @@ static int nhg_ctx_process_new(struct nhg_ctx *ctx)
 	vrf_id_t vrf_id = nhg_ctx_get_vrf_id(ctx);
 	int type = nhg_ctx_get_type(ctx);
 	afi_t afi = nhg_ctx_get_afi(ctx);
+	bool startup = nhg_ctx_get_startup(ctx);
 
 	lookup = zebra_nhg_lookup_id(id);
 
@@ -1260,6 +1266,19 @@ static int nhg_ctx_process_new(struct nhg_ctx *ctx)
 	SET_FLAG(nhe->flags, NEXTHOP_GROUP_VALID);
 	SET_FLAG(nhe->flags, NEXTHOP_GROUP_INSTALLED);
 
+	/*
+	 * On startup Zebra is creating the nexthop group cache entry
+	 * after the router has it's startup time set.  This is because
+	 * the process of grabbing routes and nexthops is now *after*
+	 * the dataplane starts up, which is after the routers startup
+	 * time is set.  So let's just cheat a tiny bit on the time
+	 * and set the nexthop group hash entry startup time to be
+	 * slightly before the zrouter.startup_time.  Then graceful
+	 * restart sweeping will work properly for these nexthop entries
+	 */
+	if (startup)
+		nhe->uptime = zrouter.startup_time - 1;
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -1368,7 +1387,7 @@ int zebra_nhg_kernel_find(uint32_t id, struct nexthop *nh, struct nh_grp *grp,
 		 */
 		id_counter = id;
 
-	ctx = nhg_ctx_init(id, nh, grp, vrf_id, afi, type, count, nhgr);
+	ctx = nhg_ctx_init(id, nh, grp, vrf_id, afi, type, count, nhgr, startup);
 	nhg_ctx_set_op(ctx, NHG_CTX_OP_NEW);
 
 	/* Under statup conditions, we need to handle them immediately
@@ -1391,7 +1410,7 @@ int zebra_nhg_kernel_del(uint32_t id, vrf_id_t vrf_id)
 {
 	struct nhg_ctx *ctx = NULL;
 
-	ctx = nhg_ctx_init(id, NULL, NULL, vrf_id, 0, 0, 0, NULL);
+	ctx = nhg_ctx_init(id, NULL, NULL, vrf_id, 0, 0, 0, NULL, false);
 
 	nhg_ctx_set_op(ctx, NHG_CTX_OP_DEL);
 
diff --git a/zebra/zebra_nhg.h b/zebra/zebra_nhg.h
index 712c1057a1a8..6ae2041878c9 100644
--- a/zebra/zebra_nhg.h
+++ b/zebra/zebra_nhg.h
@@ -242,6 +242,8 @@ struct nhg_ctx {
 	struct nhg_resilience resilience;
 	enum nhg_ctx_op_e op;
 	enum nhg_ctx_status status;
+
+	bool startup;
 };
 
 /* Global control to disable use of kernel nexthops, if available. We can't