diff --git a/pkg/utils/utils.go b/pkg/utils/utils.go
index 961394117..d24928a0f 100644
--- a/pkg/utils/utils.go
+++ b/pkg/utils/utils.go
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ var (
 	NetDirectory = "/sys/class/net"
 	// SysBusPci is sysfs pci device directory
 	SysBusPci = "/sys/bus/pci/devices"
+	// UserspaceDrivers is a list of driver names that don't have netlink representation for their devices
+	UserspaceDrivers = []string{"vfio-pci", "uio_pci_generic"}
 )
 
 // GetSriovNumVfs takes in a PF name(ifName) as string and returns number of VF configured as int
@@ -138,12 +140,40 @@ func GetSharedPF(ifName string) (string, error) {
 	return pfName, fmt.Errorf("Shared PF not found")
 }
 
+// ShouldHaveNetlink determines whether VF is expected to have a netlink interface
+func ShouldHaveNetlink(pfName string, vfID int) (bool, error) {
+	driverLink := filepath.Join(NetDirectory, pfName, "device", fmt.Sprintf("virtfn%d", vfID), "driver")
+	driverPath, err := filepath.EvalSymlinks(driverLink)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	driverStat, err := os.Stat(driverPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	driverName := driverStat.Name()
+	for _, drv := range UserspaceDrivers {
+		if driverName == drv {
+			return false, nil
+		}
+	}
+	return true, nil
+}
+
 // GetVFLinkNames returns VF's network interface name given it's PF name as string and VF id as int
 func GetVFLinkNames(pfName string, vfID int) ([]string, error) {
-	var names []string
+	var names = make([]string, 0)
+
 	vfDir := filepath.Join(NetDirectory, pfName, "device", fmt.Sprintf("virtfn%d", vfID), "net")
 	if _, err := os.Lstat(vfDir); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		netlinkExpected, shouldHaveNetlinkErr := ShouldHaveNetlink(pfName, vfID)
+		if shouldHaveNetlinkErr != nil {
+			return nil, shouldHaveNetlinkErr
+		}
+		if netlinkExpected {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		return names, nil
 	}
 
 	fInfos, err := ioutil.ReadDir(vfDir)
@@ -151,7 +181,6 @@ func GetVFLinkNames(pfName string, vfID int) ([]string, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read the virtfn%d dir of the device %q: %v", vfID, pfName, err)
 	}
 
-	names = make([]string, 0)
 	for _, f := range fInfos {
 		names = append(names, f.Name())
 	}
diff --git a/sriov/main.go b/sriov/main.go
index a427eaf95..b67ba246e 100644
--- a/sriov/main.go
+++ b/sriov/main.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containernetworking/cni/pkg/types"
 	"github.com/containernetworking/cni/pkg/version"
 	"github.com/intel/sriov-cni/pkg/config"
+	"github.com/intel/sriov-cni/pkg/utils"
 	"github.com/vishvananda/netlink"
 )
 
@@ -78,9 +79,14 @@ func cmdAdd(args *skel.CmdArgs) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("VF information are not available to invoke setupVF()")
 	}
 
+	vfLinks, err := utils.GetVFLinkNames(n.Master, n.DeviceInfo.Vfid)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	// skip the IPAM allocation for the DPDK and L2 mode
 	var result *types.Result
-	if n.DPDKMode || n.L2Mode {
+	if n.DPDKMode || n.L2Mode || len(vfLinks) == 0 {
 		return result.Print()
 	}
 
diff --git a/sriov/sriov.go b/sriov/sriov.go
index 055b7ea59..897760894 100644
--- a/sriov/sriov.go
+++ b/sriov/sriov.go
@@ -114,6 +114,10 @@ func setupVF(conf *sriovtypes.NetConf, podifName string, cid string, netns ns.Ne
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if len(vfLinks) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	if conf.Vlan != 0 {
 		if err = netlink.LinkSetVfVlan(m, conf.DeviceInfo.Vfid, conf.Vlan); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to set vf %d vlan: %v", conf.DeviceInfo.Vfid, err)
@@ -201,6 +205,14 @@ func releaseVF(conf *sriovtypes.NetConf, podifName string, cid string, netns ns.
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	netlinkExpected, err := utils.ShouldHaveNetlink(conf.Master, conf.DeviceInfo.Vfid)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to determine if interface should have netlink device: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !netlinkExpected {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	initns, err := ns.GetCurrentNS()
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get init netns: %v", err)