A method comprising: receiving, by a first routing device that is communicatively coupled to a second routing device via a link on which a flood reduction technique is used, a first set of data comprising a link state advertisement, LSA, from the second routing device indicative of a first link state for the second routing device according to a link-state protocol, wherein the link on which the flood reduction technique is used comprises an Open Shortest Path First, OSPF, demand circuit, wherein the link-state protocol comprises OSPF and wherein the first set of data is associated with a first sequence number; storing, by the first routing device, data representative of the first link state and the first sequence number; after receiving the first set of data, receiving, by the first routing device, a second set of data comprising a grace LSA from the second routing device indicating that the second routing device will be performing a graceful restart; after receiving the second set of data, receiving, by the first routing device, a third set of data comprising a database description, DBD, packet from the second routing device representative of a second link state for the second routing device, wherein the third set of data is associated with a second sequence number that is different than the first sequence number; in response to the second set of data and the third set of data, determining, by the first routing device, whether the second link state is the same as the first link state despite the difference between the first sequence number and the second sequence number; and avoiding, by the first routing device, sending a request for a current link state to the second routing device when the second link state is determined to be the same as the first link state despite the difference between the first sequence number and the second sequence number. receiving, by a first routing device that is communicatively coupled to a second routing device via a link on which a flood reduction technique is used, a first set of data comprising a link state advertisement, LSA, from the second routing device indicative of a first link state for the second routing device according to a link-state protocol, wherein the link on which the flood reduction technique is used comprises an Open Shortest Path First, OSPF, demand circuit, wherein the link-state protocol comprises OSPF and wherein the first set of data is associated with a first sequence number; storing, by the first routing device, data representative of the first link state and the first sequence number; after receiving the first set of data, receiving, by the first routing device, a second set of data comprising a grace LSA from the second routing device indicating that the second routing device will be performing a graceful restart; after receiving the second set of data, receiving, by the first routing device, a third set of data comprising a database description, DBD, packet from the second routing device representative of a second link state for the second routing device, wherein the third set of data is associated with a second sequence number that is different than the first sequence number; in response to the second set of data and the third set of data, determining, by the first routing device, whether the second link state is the same as the first link state despite the difference between the first sequence number and the second sequence number; and avoiding, by the first routing device, sending a request for a current link state to the second routing device when the second link state is determined to be the same as the first link state despite the difference between the first sequence number and the second sequence number.