diff --git a/neutron/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/ovs_neutron_agent.py b/neutron/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/ovs_neutron_agent.py
index 0c0dbf7f6d1..462d9daf02e 100644
--- a/neutron/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/ovs_neutron_agent.py
+++ b/neutron/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/ovs_neutron_agent.py
@@ -179,7 +179,6 @@ class OVSNeutronAgent(l2population_rpc.L2populationRpcCallBackTunnelMixin,
         self.network_ports = collections.defaultdict(set)
         # keeps association between ports and ofports to detect ofport change
         self.vifname_to_ofport_map = {}
-        self.setup_rpc()
         self.bridge_mappings = self._parse_bridge_mappings(
             ovs_conf.bridge_mappings)
         self.setup_physical_bridges(self.bridge_mappings)
@@ -206,6 +205,8 @@ class OVSNeutronAgent(l2population_rpc.L2populationRpcCallBackTunnelMixin,
             self.setup_tunnel_br(ovs_conf.tunnel_bridge)
             self.setup_tunnel_br_flows()
 
+        self.setup_rpc()
+
         agent_api = ovs_ext_api.OVSAgentExtensionAPI(self.int_br, self.tun_br)
         self.ext_manager.initialize(
             self.connection, constants.EXTENSION_DRIVER_TYPE, agent_api)
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/test_ovs_neutron_agent.py b/neutron/tests/unit/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/test_ovs_neutron_agent.py
index c4aa7041d90..1468328440a 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/test_ovs_neutron_agent.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/test_ovs_neutron_agent.py
@@ -176,6 +176,20 @@ class TestOvsNeutronAgent(object):
                 "Port", mock.ANY, "other_config", vlan_mapping)
             self.assertTrue(needs_binding)
 
+    def test_setup_physical_bridges_during_agent_initialization(self):
+        with mock.patch.object(
+            self.mod_agent.OVSNeutronAgent,
+            'setup_physical_bridges') as setup_physical_bridges,\
+                mock.patch.object(
+                    self.mod_agent.OVSNeutronAgent, 'setup_rpc') as setup_rpc:
+            setup_rpc.side_effect = oslo_messaging.MessagingException(
+                "Test communication failure")
+            try:
+                self._make_agent()
+            except oslo_messaging.MessagingException:
+                pass
+            setup_physical_bridges.assert_called_once_with(mock.ANY)
+
     def test_datapath_type_system(self):
         # verify kernel datapath is default
         expected = constants.OVS_DATAPATH_SYSTEM