diff --git a/mininet/net.py b/mininet/net.py
index 9ca263287f55d7ed4a8dc0b62956172fed1fdf37..b74b93002c79cf04c7b35f718d7d674788a47f96 100755
--- a/mininet/net.py
+++ b/mininet/net.py
@@ -562,8 +562,11 @@ def ping( self, hosts=None, timeout=None ):
                     opts = ''
                     if timeout:
                         opts = '-W %s' % timeout
-                    result = node.cmd( 'ping -c1 %s %s' % (opts, dest.IP()) )
-                    sent, received = self._parsePing( result )
+                    if dest.intfs:
+                        result = node.cmd( 'ping -c1 %s %s' % (opts, dest.IP()) )
+                        sent, received = self._parsePing( result )
+                    else:
+                        sent, received = 0, 0
                     packets += sent
                     if received > sent:
                         error( '*** Error: received too many packets' )