diff --git a/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.txt b/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.txt
index 9375324aa8e1..5cdc37c34830 100644
--- a/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.txt
+++ b/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.txt
@@ -1560,6 +1560,18 @@ skip_notify_on_dev_down - BOOLEAN
 	on userspace caches to track link events and evict routes.
 	Default: false (generate message)
 
+nexthop_compat_mode - BOOLEAN
+	New nexthop API provides a means for managing nexthops independent of
+	prefixes. Backwards compatibilty with old route format is enabled by
+	default which means route dumps and notifications contain the new
+	nexthop attribute but also the full, expanded nexthop definition.
+	Further, updates or deletes of a nexthop configuration generate route
+	notifications for each fib entry using the nexthop. Once a system
+	understands the new API, this sysctl can be disabled to achieve full
+	performance benefits of the new API by disabling the nexthop expansion
+	and extraneous notifications.
+	Default: true (backward compat mode)
+
 IPv6 Fragmentation:
 
 ip6frag_high_thresh - INTEGER
diff --git a/include/net/ip6_route.h b/include/net/ip6_route.h
index 9947eb1e9eb6..e525f003e619 100644
--- a/include/net/ip6_route.h
+++ b/include/net/ip6_route.h
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ int ipv6_route_ioctl(struct net *net, unsigned int cmd, void __user *arg);
 int ip6_route_add(struct fib6_config *cfg, gfp_t gfp_flags,
 		  struct netlink_ext_ack *extack);
 int ip6_ins_rt(struct net *net, struct fib6_info *f6i);
-int ip6_del_rt(struct net *net, struct fib6_info *f6i);
+int ip6_del_rt(struct net *net, struct fib6_info *f6i, bool skip_notify);
 
 void rt6_flush_exceptions(struct fib6_info *f6i);
 void rt6_age_exceptions(struct fib6_info *f6i, struct fib6_gc_args *gc_args,
diff --git a/include/net/ipv6_stubs.h b/include/net/ipv6_stubs.h
index 3e7d2c0e79ca..a5f7c12c326a 100644
--- a/include/net/ipv6_stubs.h
+++ b/include/net/ipv6_stubs.h
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ struct ipv6_stub {
 			    struct netlink_ext_ack *extack);
 	void (*fib6_nh_release)(struct fib6_nh *fib6_nh);
 	void (*fib6_update_sernum)(struct net *net, struct fib6_info *rt);
-	int (*ip6_del_rt)(struct net *net, struct fib6_info *rt);
+	int (*ip6_del_rt)(struct net *net, struct fib6_info *rt, bool skip_notify);
 	void (*fib6_rt_update)(struct net *net, struct fib6_info *rt,
 			       struct nl_info *info);
 
diff --git a/include/net/netns/ipv4.h b/include/net/netns/ipv4.h
index 154b8f01499b..5acdb4d414c4 100644
--- a/include/net/netns/ipv4.h
+++ b/include/net/netns/ipv4.h
@@ -111,6 +111,8 @@ struct netns_ipv4 {
 	int sysctl_tcp_early_demux;
 	int sysctl_udp_early_demux;
 
+	int sysctl_nexthop_compat_mode;
+
 	int sysctl_fwmark_reflect;
 	int sysctl_tcp_fwmark_accept;
 #ifdef CONFIG_NET_L3_MASTER_DEV
diff --git a/net/ipv4/af_inet.c b/net/ipv4/af_inet.c
index c618e242490f..6177c4ba0037 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/af_inet.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/af_inet.c
@@ -1835,6 +1835,7 @@ static __net_init int inet_init_net(struct net *net)
 	net->ipv4.sysctl_ip_early_demux = 1;
 	net->ipv4.sysctl_udp_early_demux = 1;
 	net->ipv4.sysctl_tcp_early_demux = 1;
+	net->ipv4.sysctl_nexthop_compat_mode = 1;
 #ifdef CONFIG_SYSCTL
 	net->ipv4.sysctl_ip_prot_sock = PROT_SOCK;
 #endif
diff --git a/net/ipv4/fib_semantics.c b/net/ipv4/fib_semantics.c
index 55ca2e521828..e53871e4a097 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/fib_semantics.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/fib_semantics.c
@@ -1780,6 +1780,8 @@ int fib_dump_info(struct sk_buff *skb, u32 portid, u32 seq, int event,
 			goto nla_put_failure;
 		if (nexthop_is_blackhole(fi->nh))
 			rtm->rtm_type = RTN_BLACKHOLE;
+		if (!fi->fib_net->ipv4.sysctl_nexthop_compat_mode)
+			goto offload;
 	}
 
 	if (nhs == 1) {
@@ -1805,6 +1807,7 @@ int fib_dump_info(struct sk_buff *skb, u32 portid, u32 seq, int event,
 			goto nla_put_failure;
 	}
 
+offload:
 	if (fri->offload)
 		rtm->rtm_flags |= RTM_F_OFFLOAD;
 	if (fri->trap)
diff --git a/net/ipv4/nexthop.c b/net/ipv4/nexthop.c
index fdfca534d094..3957364d556c 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/nexthop.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/nexthop.c
@@ -784,7 +784,8 @@ static void __remove_nexthop_fib(struct net *net, struct nexthop *nh)
 	list_for_each_entry_safe(f6i, tmp, &nh->f6i_list, nh_list) {
 		/* __ip6_del_rt does a release, so do a hold here */
 		fib6_info_hold(f6i);
-		ipv6_stub->ip6_del_rt(net, f6i);
+		ipv6_stub->ip6_del_rt(net, f6i,
+				      !net->ipv4.sysctl_nexthop_compat_mode);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -1041,7 +1042,7 @@ out:
 	if (!rc) {
 		nh_base_seq_inc(net);
 		nexthop_notify(RTM_NEWNEXTHOP, new_nh, &cfg->nlinfo);
-		if (replace_notify)
+		if (replace_notify && net->ipv4.sysctl_nexthop_compat_mode)
 			nexthop_replace_notify(net, new_nh, &cfg->nlinfo);
 	}
 
diff --git a/net/ipv4/sysctl_net_ipv4.c b/net/ipv4/sysctl_net_ipv4.c
index 81b267e990a1..95ad71e76cc3 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/sysctl_net_ipv4.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/sysctl_net_ipv4.c
@@ -710,6 +710,15 @@ static struct ctl_table ipv4_net_table[] = {
 		.mode           = 0644,
 		.proc_handler   = proc_tcp_early_demux
 	},
+	{
+		.procname       = "nexthop_compat_mode",
+		.data           = &init_net.ipv4.sysctl_nexthop_compat_mode,
+		.maxlen         = sizeof(int),
+		.mode           = 0644,
+		.proc_handler   = proc_dointvec_minmax,
+		.extra1		= SYSCTL_ZERO,
+		.extra2		= SYSCTL_ONE,
+	},
 	{
 		.procname	= "ip_default_ttl",
 		.data		= &init_net.ipv4.sysctl_ip_default_ttl,
diff --git a/net/ipv6/addrconf.c b/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
index 27b4fb6e452b..2c4f20ec1e2a 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
@@ -1238,7 +1238,7 @@ cleanup_prefix_route(struct inet6_ifaddr *ifp, unsigned long expires,
 					ifp->idev->dev, 0, RTF_DEFAULT, true);
 	if (f6i) {
 		if (del_rt)
-			ip6_del_rt(dev_net(ifp->idev->dev), f6i);
+			ip6_del_rt(dev_net(ifp->idev->dev), f6i, false);
 		else {
 			if (!(f6i->fib6_flags & RTF_EXPIRES))
 				fib6_set_expires(f6i, expires);
@@ -2718,7 +2718,7 @@ void addrconf_prefix_rcv(struct net_device *dev, u8 *opt, int len, bool sllao)
 		if (rt) {
 			/* Autoconf prefix route */
 			if (valid_lft == 0) {
-				ip6_del_rt(net, rt);
+				ip6_del_rt(net, rt, false);
 				rt = NULL;
 			} else if (addrconf_finite_timeout(rt_expires)) {
 				/* not infinity */
@@ -3813,7 +3813,7 @@ restart:
 		spin_unlock_bh(&ifa->lock);
 
 		if (rt)
-			ip6_del_rt(net, rt);
+			ip6_del_rt(net, rt, false);
 
 		if (state != INET6_IFADDR_STATE_DEAD) {
 			__ipv6_ifa_notify(RTM_DELADDR, ifa);
@@ -4652,7 +4652,7 @@ static int modify_prefix_route(struct inet6_ifaddr *ifp,
 	prio = ifp->rt_priority ? : IP6_RT_PRIO_ADDRCONF;
 	if (f6i->fib6_metric != prio) {
 		/* delete old one */
-		ip6_del_rt(dev_net(ifp->idev->dev), f6i);
+		ip6_del_rt(dev_net(ifp->idev->dev), f6i, false);
 
 		/* add new one */
 		addrconf_prefix_route(modify_peer ? &ifp->peer_addr : &ifp->addr,
@@ -6073,10 +6073,10 @@ static void __ipv6_ifa_notify(int event, struct inet6_ifaddr *ifp)
 						       ifp->idev->dev, 0, 0,
 						       false);
 			if (rt)
-				ip6_del_rt(net, rt);
+				ip6_del_rt(net, rt, false);
 		}
 		if (ifp->rt) {
-			ip6_del_rt(net, ifp->rt);
+			ip6_del_rt(net, ifp->rt, false);
 			ifp->rt = NULL;
 		}
 		rt_genid_bump_ipv6(net);
diff --git a/net/ipv6/addrconf_core.c b/net/ipv6/addrconf_core.c
index ea00ce3d4117..9ebf3fe0d2b1 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/addrconf_core.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/addrconf_core.c
@@ -185,7 +185,8 @@ static int eafnosupport_fib6_nh_init(struct net *net, struct fib6_nh *fib6_nh,
 	return -EAFNOSUPPORT;
 }
 
-static int eafnosupport_ip6_del_rt(struct net *net, struct fib6_info *rt)
+static int eafnosupport_ip6_del_rt(struct net *net, struct fib6_info *rt,
+				   bool skip_notify)
 {
 	return -EAFNOSUPPORT;
 }
diff --git a/net/ipv6/anycast.c b/net/ipv6/anycast.c
index fed91ab7ec46..893261230ffc 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/anycast.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/anycast.c
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ int __ipv6_dev_ac_dec(struct inet6_dev *idev, const struct in6_addr *addr)
 	ipv6_del_acaddr_hash(aca);
 	addrconf_leave_solict(idev, &aca->aca_addr);
 
-	ip6_del_rt(dev_net(idev->dev), aca->aca_rt);
+	ip6_del_rt(dev_net(idev->dev), aca->aca_rt, false);
 
 	aca_put(aca);
 	return 0;
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@ void ipv6_ac_destroy_dev(struct inet6_dev *idev)
 
 		addrconf_leave_solict(idev, &aca->aca_addr);
 
-		ip6_del_rt(dev_net(idev->dev), aca->aca_rt);
+		ip6_del_rt(dev_net(idev->dev), aca->aca_rt, false);
 
 		aca_put(aca);
 
diff --git a/net/ipv6/ndisc.c b/net/ipv6/ndisc.c
index 1ecd4e9b0bdf..2d09c4da03ee 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/ndisc.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/ndisc.c
@@ -1302,7 +1302,7 @@ static void ndisc_router_discovery(struct sk_buff *skb)
 		}
 	}
 	if (rt && lifetime == 0) {
-		ip6_del_rt(net, rt);
+		ip6_del_rt(net, rt, false);
 		rt = NULL;
 	}
 
diff --git a/net/ipv6/route.c b/net/ipv6/route.c
index 310cbddaa533..803212aae4ca 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/route.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/route.c
@@ -984,7 +984,7 @@ int rt6_route_rcv(struct net_device *dev, u8 *opt, int len,
 					gwaddr, dev);
 
 	if (rt && !lifetime) {
-		ip6_del_rt(net, rt);
+		ip6_del_rt(net, rt, false);
 		rt = NULL;
 	}
 
@@ -3729,9 +3729,12 @@ out:
 	return err;
 }
 
-int ip6_del_rt(struct net *net, struct fib6_info *rt)
+int ip6_del_rt(struct net *net, struct fib6_info *rt, bool skip_notify)
 {
-	struct nl_info info = { .nl_net = net };
+	struct nl_info info = {
+		.nl_net = net,
+		.skip_notify = skip_notify
+	};
 
 	return __ip6_del_rt(rt, &info);
 }
@@ -4252,7 +4255,7 @@ restart:
 		    (!idev || idev->cnf.accept_ra != 2) &&
 		    fib6_info_hold_safe(rt)) {
 			rcu_read_unlock();
-			ip6_del_rt(net, rt);
+			ip6_del_rt(net, rt, false);
 			goto restart;
 		}
 	}
@@ -5554,7 +5557,8 @@ static int rt6_fill_node(struct net *net, struct sk_buff *skb,
 		if (nexthop_is_blackhole(rt->nh))
 			rtm->rtm_type = RTN_BLACKHOLE;
 
-		if (rt6_fill_node_nexthop(skb, rt->nh, &nh_flags) < 0)
+		if (net->ipv4.sysctl_nexthop_compat_mode &&
+		    rt6_fill_node_nexthop(skb, rt->nh, &nh_flags) < 0)
 			goto nla_put_failure;
 
 		rtm->rtm_flags |= nh_flags;
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/net/fib_nexthops.sh b/tools/testing/selftests/net/fib_nexthops.sh
index b785241127df..dd0e5fec6367 100755
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/net/fib_nexthops.sh
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/net/fib_nexthops.sh
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ ret=0
 ksft_skip=4
 
 # all tests in this script. Can be overridden with -t option
-IPV4_TESTS="ipv4_fcnal ipv4_grp_fcnal ipv4_withv6_fcnal ipv4_fcnal_runtime"
-IPV6_TESTS="ipv6_fcnal ipv6_grp_fcnal ipv6_fcnal_runtime"
+IPV4_TESTS="ipv4_fcnal ipv4_grp_fcnal ipv4_withv6_fcnal ipv4_fcnal_runtime ipv4_compat_mode"
+IPV6_TESTS="ipv6_fcnal ipv6_grp_fcnal ipv6_fcnal_runtime ipv6_compat_mode"
 
 ALL_TESTS="basic ${IPV4_TESTS} ${IPV6_TESTS}"
 TESTS="${ALL_TESTS}"
@@ -253,6 +253,33 @@ check_route6()
 	check_output "${out}" "${expected}"
 }
 
+start_ip_monitor()
+{
+	local mtype=$1
+
+	# start the monitor in the background
+	tmpfile=`mktemp /var/run/nexthoptestXXX`
+	mpid=`($IP monitor $mtype > $tmpfile & echo $!) 2>/dev/null`
+	sleep 0.2
+	echo "$mpid $tmpfile"
+}
+
+stop_ip_monitor()
+{
+	local mpid=$1
+	local tmpfile=$2
+	local el=$3
+
+	# check the monitor results
+	kill $mpid
+	lines=`wc -l $tmpfile | cut "-d " -f1`
+	test $lines -eq $el
+	rc=$?
+	rm -rf $tmpfile
+
+	return $rc
+}
+
 ################################################################################
 # basic operations (add, delete, replace) on nexthops and nexthop groups
 #
@@ -883,6 +910,173 @@ ipv4_fcnal_runtime()
 	log_test $? 0 "IPv4 route with MPLS encap, v6 gw - check"
 }
 
+sysctl_nexthop_compat_mode_check()
+{
+	local sysctlname="net.ipv4.nexthop_compat_mode"
+	local lprefix=$1
+
+	IPE="ip netns exec me"
+
+	$IPE sysctl -q $sysctlname 2>&1 >/dev/null
+	if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+		echo "SKIP: kernel lacks nexthop compat mode sysctl control"
+		return $ksft_skip
+	fi
+
+	out=$($IPE sysctl $sysctlname 2>/dev/null)
+	log_test $? 0 "$lprefix default nexthop compat mode check"
+	check_output "${out}" "$sysctlname = 1"
+}
+
+sysctl_nexthop_compat_mode_set()
+{
+	local sysctlname="net.ipv4.nexthop_compat_mode"
+	local mode=$1
+	local lprefix=$2
+
+	IPE="ip netns exec me"
+
+	out=$($IPE sysctl -w $sysctlname=$mode)
+	log_test $? 0 "$lprefix set compat mode - $mode"
+	check_output "${out}" "net.ipv4.nexthop_compat_mode = $mode"
+}
+
+ipv6_compat_mode()
+{
+	local rc
+
+	echo
+	echo "IPv6 nexthop api compat mode test"
+	echo "--------------------------------"
+
+	sysctl_nexthop_compat_mode_check "IPv6"
+	if [ $? -eq $ksft_skip ]; then
+		return $ksft_skip
+	fi
+
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop add id 62 via 2001:db8:91::2 dev veth1"
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop add id 63 via 2001:db8:91::3 dev veth1"
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop add id 122 group 62/63"
+	ipmout=$(start_ip_monitor route)
+
+	run_cmd "$IP -6 ro add 2001:db8:101::1/128 nhid 122"
+	# route add notification should contain expanded nexthops
+	stop_ip_monitor $ipmout 3
+	log_test $? 0 "IPv6 compat mode on - route add notification"
+
+	# route dump should contain expanded nexthops
+	check_route6 "2001:db8:101::1" "2001:db8:101::1 nhid 122 metric 1024 pref medium nexthop via 2001:db8:91::2 dev veth1 weight 1 nexthop via 2001:db8:91::3 dev veth1 weight 1"
+	log_test $? 0 "IPv6 compat mode on - route dump"
+
+	# change in nexthop group should generate route notification
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop add id 64 via 2001:db8:91::4 dev veth1"
+	ipmout=$(start_ip_monitor route)
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop replace id 122 group 62/64"
+	stop_ip_monitor $ipmout 3
+
+	log_test $? 0 "IPv6 compat mode on - nexthop change"
+
+	# set compat mode off
+	sysctl_nexthop_compat_mode_set 0 "IPv6"
+
+	run_cmd "$IP -6 ro del 2001:db8:101::1/128 nhid 122"
+
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop add id 62 via 2001:db8:91::2 dev veth1"
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop add id 63 via 2001:db8:91::3 dev veth1"
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop add id 122 group 62/63"
+	ipmout=$(start_ip_monitor route)
+
+	run_cmd "$IP -6 ro add 2001:db8:101::1/128 nhid 122"
+	# route add notification should not contain expanded nexthops
+	stop_ip_monitor $ipmout 1
+	log_test $? 0 "IPv6 compat mode off - route add notification"
+
+	# route dump should not contain expanded nexthops
+	check_route6 "2001:db8:101::1" "2001:db8:101::1 nhid 122 metric 1024 pref medium"
+	log_test $? 0 "IPv6 compat mode off - route dump"
+
+	# change in nexthop group should not generate route notification
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop add id 64 via 2001:db8:91::4 dev veth1"
+	ipmout=$(start_ip_monitor route)
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop replace id 122 group 62/64"
+	stop_ip_monitor $ipmout 0
+	log_test $? 0 "IPv6 compat mode off - nexthop change"
+
+	# nexthop delete should not generate route notification
+	ipmout=$(start_ip_monitor route)
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop del id 122"
+	stop_ip_monitor $ipmout 0
+	log_test $? 0 "IPv6 compat mode off - nexthop delete"
+
+	# set compat mode back on
+	sysctl_nexthop_compat_mode_set 1 "IPv6"
+}
+
+ipv4_compat_mode()
+{
+	local rc
+
+	echo
+	echo "IPv4 nexthop api compat mode"
+	echo "----------------------------"
+
+	sysctl_nexthop_compat_mode_check "IPv4"
+	if [ $? -eq $ksft_skip ]; then
+		return $ksft_skip
+	fi
+
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop add id 21 via 172.16.1.2 dev veth1"
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop add id 22 via 172.16.1.2 dev veth1"
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop add id 122 group 21/22"
+	ipmout=$(start_ip_monitor route)
+
+	run_cmd "$IP ro add 172.16.101.1/32 nhid 122"
+	stop_ip_monitor $ipmout 3
+
+	# route add notification should contain expanded nexthops
+	log_test $? 0 "IPv4 compat mode on - route add notification"
+
+	# route dump should contain expanded nexthops
+	check_route "172.16.101.1" "172.16.101.1 nhid 122 nexthop via 172.16.1.2 dev veth1 weight 1 nexthop via 172.16.1.2 dev veth1 weight 1"
+	log_test $? 0 "IPv4 compat mode on - route dump"
+
+	# change in nexthop group should generate route notification
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop add id 23 via 172.16.1.3 dev veth1"
+	ipmout=$(start_ip_monitor route)
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop replace id 122 group 21/23"
+	stop_ip_monitor $ipmout 3
+	log_test $? 0 "IPv4 compat mode on - nexthop change"
+
+	sysctl_nexthop_compat_mode_set 0 "IPv4"
+
+	# cleanup
+	run_cmd "$IP ro del 172.16.101.1/32 nhid 122"
+
+	ipmout=$(start_ip_monitor route)
+	run_cmd "$IP ro add 172.16.101.1/32 nhid 122"
+	stop_ip_monitor $ipmout 1
+	# route add notification should not contain expanded nexthops
+	log_test $? 0 "IPv4 compat mode off - route add notification"
+
+	# route dump should not contain expanded nexthops
+	check_route "172.16.101.1" "172.16.101.1 nhid 122"
+	log_test $? 0 "IPv4 compat mode off - route dump"
+
+	# change in nexthop group should not generate route notification
+	ipmout=$(start_ip_monitor route)
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop replace id 122 group 21/22"
+	stop_ip_monitor $ipmout 0
+	log_test $? 0 "IPv4 compat mode off - nexthop change"
+
+	# nexthop delete should not generate route notification
+	ipmout=$(start_ip_monitor route)
+	run_cmd "$IP nexthop del id 122"
+	stop_ip_monitor $ipmout 0
+	log_test $? 0 "IPv4 compat mode off - nexthop delete"
+
+	sysctl_nexthop_compat_mode_set 1 "IPv4"
+}
+
 basic()
 {
 	echo