A method for operating a remote-controlled network element in a telecommunication network includes: configuring the network element with a new configuration; determining whether a network connection failure between the network element and a network management system of the telecommunication network exists after the configuration; and in response to detecting a network connection failure, setting the network element automatically to a standard configuration and establishing a network connection between the network element and the network management system using the standard configuration. Setting the network element automatically to a standard configuration and establishing the network connection includes: loading a previous IPSec certificate in case that the previous Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) certificate has been at least partly replaced during the configuration; and establishing the network connection between the network element and the network management system using the previous IPSec certificate.