A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided herein for enabling a D2D bearer to stay alive even in an instance in which a D2D connection is lost. In some example embodiments, a method is provided that comprises detecting a condition that indicates that a device-to-device bearer is to be terminated. The method of this embodiment may also include modifying a cellular bearer protocol data unit header, such that the cellular bearer protocol data unit header indicates that a cellular bearer service data unit is a device-to-device protocol data unit. The method of this embodiment may also include causing one or more device-to-device protocol data units to be encapsulated within one or more cellular bearer protocol data units, such that the one or more device-to-device protocol data units are transmitted via a cellular bearer.