A method is disclosed for application layer message-based network element management of server failures. According to one aspect, a network element such as a router intercepts session state information that is contained in a request from a client and locally stores the session state information. As a result, application servers to which the requests are directed do not need to store the session state information. If an application server fails, then the network element can use the session state information stored at the network element to continue the session with another application server, transparently to the client application that is involved in the session.