OSPF NSR with link derivation synchronization is described. When a network element having an active OSPF instance and a standby OSPF instance attempts to create a FULL adjacency with a neighbor network element using a neighbor data structure of the active OSPF instance, and if and when a switch causes the second OSPF instance to act as the active OSPF instance, neighbor information is retrieved from the LSAs of the standby OSPF instance and a link is derived between the network element and the neighbor network element based on the retrieved neighbor information. In one embodiment, the standby OSPF instance retrieves virtual neighbor information from its LSAs and derives a virtual link between the network element and the neighbor network element based on the retrieved virtual neighbor information without having to synchronize the neighbor information between the active and standby OSPF instance.