diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/net/mptcp/mptcp_connect.sh b/tools/testing/selftests/net/mptcp/mptcp_connect.sh
index 3a804abebd2c..e0bfd9b4730c 100755
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/net/mptcp/mptcp_connect.sh
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/net/mptcp/mptcp_connect.sh
@@ -375,11 +375,15 @@ do_transfer()
 		local capfile="${rndh}-${connector_ns:0:3}-${listener_ns:0:3}-${cl_proto}-${srv_proto}-${connect_addr}-${port}"
 		local capopt="-i any -s 65535 -B 32768 ${capuser}"
 
-		ip netns exec ${listener_ns}  tcpdump ${capopt} -w "${capfile}-listener.pcap"  >> "${capout}" 2>&1 &
+		ip netns exec ${listener_ns} tcpdump ${capopt} \
+			-w "${capfile}-listener.pcap" >> "${capout}" 2>&1 &
 		local cappid_listener=$!
 
-		ip netns exec ${connector_ns} tcpdump ${capopt} -w "${capfile}-connector.pcap" >> "${capout}" 2>&1 &
-		local cappid_connector=$!
+		if [ ${listener_ns} != ${connector_ns} ]; then
+			ip netns exec ${connector_ns} tcpdump ${capopt} \
+				-w "${capfile}-connector.pcap" >> "${capout}" 2>&1 &
+			local cappid_connector=$!
+		fi
 
 		sleep 1
 	fi
@@ -416,7 +420,9 @@ do_transfer()
 	if $capture; then
 		sleep 1
 		kill ${cappid_listener}
-		kill ${cappid_connector}
+		if [ ${listener_ns} != ${connector_ns} ]; then
+			kill ${cappid_connector}
+		fi
 	fi
 
 	mptcp_lib_nstat_get "${listener_ns}"