diff --git a/src/libsystemd-network/sd-ipv4acd.c b/src/libsystemd-network/sd-ipv4acd.c
index 0cc37a60bc..1a9a8f10ab 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd-network/sd-ipv4acd.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd-network/sd-ipv4acd.c
@@ -585,6 +585,12 @@ int sd_ipv4acd_start(sd_ipv4acd *acd, bool reset_conflicts) {
         assert_return(!ether_addr_is_null(&acd->mac_addr), -EINVAL);
         assert_return(acd->state == IPV4ACD_STATE_INIT, -EBUSY);
 
+        r = sd_event_get_state(acd->event);
+        if (r < 0)
+                return r;
+        if (r == SD_EVENT_FINISHED)
+                return -ESTALE;
+
         r = arp_network_bind_raw_socket(acd->ifindex, &acd->address, &acd->mac_addr);
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
diff --git a/src/network/networkd-dhcp4.c b/src/network/networkd-dhcp4.c
index efbae6d868..8cd16454db 100644
--- a/src/network/networkd-dhcp4.c
+++ b/src/network/networkd-dhcp4.c
@@ -1181,7 +1181,7 @@ static int dhcp4_handler(sd_dhcp_client *client, int event, void *userdata) {
                                 }
 
                                 r = sd_ipv4ll_start(link->ipv4ll);
-                                if (r < 0)
+                                if (r < 0 && r != -ESTALE) /* On exit, we cannot and should not start sd-ipv4ll. */
                                         return log_link_warning_errno(link, r, "Could not acquire IPv4 link-local address: %m");
                         }
 
diff --git a/test/test-network/systemd-networkd-tests.py b/test/test-network/systemd-networkd-tests.py
index 8ffcda37ed..fb9cf25c02 100755
--- a/test/test-network/systemd-networkd-tests.py
+++ b/test/test-network/systemd-networkd-tests.py
@@ -718,6 +718,8 @@ def stop_networkd(show_logs=True):
     check_output('systemctl stop systemd-networkd.service')
     if show_logs:
         print(read_networkd_log(invocation_id))
+    # Check if networkd exits cleanly.
+    assert call_quiet('systemctl is-failed -q systemd-networkd.service') == 1
 
 def start_networkd():
     check_output('systemctl start systemd-networkd')