diff --git a/soft-interface.c b/soft-interface.c
index d962363..321c6bd 100644
--- a/soft-interface.c
+++ b/soft-interface.c
@@ -437,10 +437,15 @@ out:
  *  possibly free it
  * @softif_vlan: the vlan object to release
  */
-void batadv_softif_vlan_free_ref(struct batadv_softif_vlan *softif_vlan)
+void batadv_softif_vlan_free_ref(struct batadv_softif_vlan *vlan)
 {
-	if (atomic_dec_and_test(&softif_vlan->refcount))
-		kfree_rcu(softif_vlan, rcu);
+	if (atomic_dec_and_test(&vlan->refcount)) {
+		spin_lock_bh(&vlan->bat_priv->softif_vlan_list_lock);
+		hlist_del_rcu(&vlan->list);
+		spin_unlock_bh(&vlan->bat_priv->softif_vlan_list_lock);
+
+		kfree_rcu(vlan, rcu);
+	}
 }
 
 /**
@@ -494,6 +499,7 @@ int batadv_softif_create_vlan(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv, unsigned short vid)
 	if (!vlan)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
+	vlan->bat_priv = bat_priv;
 	vlan->vid = vid;
 	atomic_set(&vlan->refcount, 1);
 
@@ -505,6 +511,10 @@ int batadv_softif_create_vlan(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv, unsigned short vid)
 		return err;
 	}
 
+	spin_lock_bh(&bat_priv->softif_vlan_list_lock);
+	hlist_add_head_rcu(&vlan->list, &bat_priv->softif_vlan_list);
+	spin_unlock_bh(&bat_priv->softif_vlan_list_lock);
+
 	/* add a new TT local entry. This one will be marked with the NOPURGE
 	 * flag
 	 */
@@ -512,10 +522,6 @@ int batadv_softif_create_vlan(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv, unsigned short vid)
 			    bat_priv->soft_iface->dev_addr, vid,
 			    BATADV_NULL_IFINDEX, BATADV_NO_MARK);
 
-	spin_lock_bh(&bat_priv->softif_vlan_list_lock);
-	hlist_add_head_rcu(&vlan->list, &bat_priv->softif_vlan_list);
-	spin_unlock_bh(&bat_priv->softif_vlan_list_lock);
-
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -527,18 +533,13 @@ int batadv_softif_create_vlan(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv, unsigned short vid)
 static void batadv_softif_destroy_vlan(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv,
 				       struct batadv_softif_vlan *vlan)
 {
-	spin_lock_bh(&bat_priv->softif_vlan_list_lock);
-	hlist_del_rcu(&vlan->list);
-	spin_unlock_bh(&bat_priv->softif_vlan_list_lock);
-
-	batadv_sysfs_del_vlan(bat_priv, vlan);
-
 	/* explicitly remove the associated TT local entry because it is marked
 	 * with the NOPURGE flag
 	 */
 	batadv_tt_local_remove(bat_priv, bat_priv->soft_iface->dev_addr,
 			       vlan->vid, "vlan interface destroyed", false);
 
+	batadv_sysfs_del_vlan(bat_priv, vlan);
 	batadv_softif_vlan_free_ref(vlan);
 }
 
@@ -556,6 +557,8 @@ static int batadv_interface_add_vid(struct net_device *dev, __be16 proto,
 				    unsigned short vid)
 {
 	struct batadv_priv *bat_priv = netdev_priv(dev);
+	struct batadv_softif_vlan *vlan;
+	int ret;
 
 	/* only 802.1Q vlans are supported.
 	 * batman-adv does not know how to handle other types
@@ -565,6 +568,30 @@ static int batadv_interface_add_vid(struct net_device *dev, __be16 proto,
 
 	vid |= BATADV_VLAN_HAS_TAG;
 
+	/* if a new vlan is getting created, but it is found in the list, it
+	 * means that it was not deleted yet. Make batadv_softif_vlan_get()
+	 * increase the refcounter by one and return
+	 */
+	vlan = batadv_softif_vlan_get(bat_priv, vid);
+	if (vlan) {
+		/* add a new TT local entry. This one will be marked with the
+		 * NOPURGE flag. This must be added again, even if the vlan
+		 * object already exists, because the entry was deleted by
+		 * kill_vid()
+		 */
+		batadv_tt_local_add(bat_priv->soft_iface,
+				    bat_priv->soft_iface->dev_addr, vid,
+				    BATADV_NULL_IFINDEX, BATADV_NO_MARK);
+		ret = 0;
+		if (!vlan->kobj) {
+			ret = batadv_sysfs_add_vlan(bat_priv->soft_iface, vlan);
+			if (ret)
+				batadv_softif_vlan_free_ref(vlan);
+		}
+
+		return ret;
+	}
+
 	return batadv_softif_create_vlan(bat_priv, vid);
 }
 
diff --git a/translation-table.c b/translation-table.c
index 959dde7..b689981 100644
--- a/translation-table.c
+++ b/translation-table.c
@@ -485,6 +485,7 @@ bool batadv_tt_local_add(struct net_device *soft_iface, const uint8_t *addr,
 	struct batadv_priv *bat_priv = netdev_priv(soft_iface);
 	struct batadv_tt_local_entry *tt_local;
 	struct batadv_tt_global_entry *tt_global;
+	struct batadv_softif_vlan *vlan;
 	struct net_device *in_dev = NULL;
 	struct hlist_head *head;
 	struct batadv_tt_orig_list_entry *orig_entry;
@@ -544,6 +545,9 @@ bool batadv_tt_local_add(struct net_device *soft_iface, const uint8_t *addr,
 	if (!tt_local)
 		goto out;
 
+	/* increase the refcounter of the related vlan */
+	vlan = batadv_softif_vlan_get(bat_priv, vid);
+
 	batadv_dbg(BATADV_DBG_TT, bat_priv,
 		   "Creating new local tt entry: %pM (vid: %d, ttvn: %d)\n",
 		   addr, BATADV_PRINT_VID(vid),
@@ -573,6 +577,7 @@ bool batadv_tt_local_add(struct net_device *soft_iface, const uint8_t *addr,
 	if (unlikely(hash_added != 0)) {
 		/* remove the reference for the hash */
 		batadv_tt_local_entry_free_ref(tt_local);
+		batadv_softif_vlan_free_ref(vlan);
 		goto out;
 	}
 
@@ -978,6 +983,7 @@ uint16_t batadv_tt_local_remove(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv,
 {
 	struct batadv_tt_local_entry *tt_local_entry;
 	uint16_t flags, curr_flags = BATADV_NO_FLAGS;
+	struct batadv_softif_vlan *vlan;
 
 	tt_local_entry = batadv_tt_local_hash_find(bat_priv, addr, vid);
 	if (!tt_local_entry)
@@ -1008,6 +1014,11 @@ uint16_t batadv_tt_local_remove(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv,
 	hlist_del_rcu(&tt_local_entry->common.hash_entry);
 	batadv_tt_local_entry_free_ref(tt_local_entry);
 
+	/* decrease the reference held for this vlan */
+	vlan = batadv_softif_vlan_get(bat_priv, vid);
+	batadv_softif_vlan_free_ref(vlan);
+	batadv_softif_vlan_free_ref(vlan);
+
 out:
 	if (tt_local_entry)
 		batadv_tt_local_entry_free_ref(tt_local_entry);
@@ -1080,6 +1091,7 @@ static void batadv_tt_local_table_free(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv)
 	spinlock_t *list_lock; /* protects write access to the hash lists */
 	struct batadv_tt_common_entry *tt_common_entry;
 	struct batadv_tt_local_entry *tt_local;
+	struct batadv_softif_vlan *vlan;
 	struct hlist_node *node_tmp;
 	struct hlist_head *head;
 	uint32_t i;
@@ -1100,6 +1112,13 @@ static void batadv_tt_local_table_free(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv)
 			tt_local = container_of(tt_common_entry,
 						struct batadv_tt_local_entry,
 						common);
+
+			/* decrease the reference held for this vlan */
+			vlan = batadv_softif_vlan_get(bat_priv,
+						      tt_common_entry->vid);
+			batadv_softif_vlan_free_ref(vlan);
+			batadv_softif_vlan_free_ref(vlan);
+
 			batadv_tt_local_entry_free_ref(tt_local);
 		}
 		spin_unlock_bh(list_lock);
@@ -3078,6 +3097,7 @@ static void batadv_tt_local_purge_pending_clients(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv)
 	struct batadv_hashtable *hash = bat_priv->tt.local_hash;
 	struct batadv_tt_common_entry *tt_common;
 	struct batadv_tt_local_entry *tt_local;
+	struct batadv_softif_vlan *vlan;
 	struct hlist_node *node_tmp;
 	struct hlist_head *head;
 	spinlock_t *list_lock; /* protects write access to the hash lists */
@@ -3106,6 +3126,12 @@ static void batadv_tt_local_purge_pending_clients(struct batadv_priv *bat_priv)
 			tt_local = container_of(tt_common,
 						struct batadv_tt_local_entry,
 						common);
+
+			/* decrease the reference held for this vlan */
+			vlan = batadv_softif_vlan_get(bat_priv, tt_common->vid);
+			batadv_softif_vlan_free_ref(vlan);
+			batadv_softif_vlan_free_ref(vlan);
+
 			batadv_tt_local_entry_free_ref(tt_local);
 		}
 		spin_unlock_bh(list_lock);
diff --git a/types.h b/types.h
index 78370ab..c4aba2f 100644
--- a/types.h
+++ b/types.h
@@ -638,6 +638,7 @@ struct batadv_priv_nc {
 
 /**
  * struct batadv_softif_vlan - per VLAN attributes set
+ * @bat_priv: pointer to the mesh object
  * @vid: VLAN identifier
  * @kobj: kobject for sysfs vlan subdirectory
  * @ap_isolation: AP isolation state
@@ -647,6 +648,7 @@ struct batadv_priv_nc {
  * @rcu: struct used for freeing in a RCU-safe manner
  */
 struct batadv_softif_vlan {
+	struct batadv_priv *bat_priv;
 	unsigned short vid;
 	struct kobject *kobj;
 	atomic_t ap_isolation;		/* boolean */
