diff --git a/charms/openstack-hypervisor/src/charm.py b/charms/openstack-hypervisor/src/charm.py
index 32f2c928..b25697bb 100755
--- a/charms/openstack-hypervisor/src/charm.py
+++ b/charms/openstack-hypervisor/src/charm.py
@@ -35,29 +35,14 @@ import ops_sunbeam.charm as sunbeam_charm
 import ops_sunbeam.guard as sunbeam_guard
 import ops_sunbeam.ovn.relation_handlers as ovn_relation_handlers
 import ops_sunbeam.relation_handlers as sunbeam_rhandlers
-from netifaces import AF_INET, gateways, ifaddresses
 from ops.charm import ActionEvent
 from ops.main import main
 
+from utils import get_local_ip_by_default_route
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-def _get_local_ip_by_default_route() -> str:
-    """Get IP address of host associated with default gateway."""
-    interface = "lo"
-    ip = "127.0.0.1"
-
-    # TOCHK: Gathering only IPv4
-    if "default" in gateways():
-        interface = gateways()["default"][AF_INET][1]
-
-    ip_list = ifaddresses(interface)[AF_INET]
-    if len(ip_list) > 0 and "addr" in ip_list[0]:
-        ip = ip_list[0]["addr"]
-
-    return ip
-
-
 class HypervisorOperatorCharm(sunbeam_charm.OSBaseOperatorCharm):
     """Charm the service."""
 
@@ -179,7 +164,7 @@ class HypervisorOperatorCharm(sunbeam_charm.OSBaseOperatorCharm):
         self.check_relation_handlers_ready()
         config = self.model.config.get
         self.ensure_snap_present()
-        local_ip = _get_local_ip_by_default_route()
+        local_ip = get_local_ip_by_default_route()
         try:
             contexts = self.contexts()
             sb_connection_strs = list(contexts.ovsdb_cms.db_ingress_sb_connection_strs)
diff --git a/charms/openstack-hypervisor/src/utils.py b/charms/openstack-hypervisor/src/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..94631852
--- /dev/null
+++ b/charms/openstack-hypervisor/src/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+# Copyright 2023 Canonical Ltd.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""Utility helper functions."""
+
+
+import logging
+from typing import Optional
+
+import netifaces
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def _get_default_gw_iface_fallback() -> Optional[str]:
+    """Returns the default gateway interface.
+
+    Parses the /proc/net/route table to determine the interface with a default
+    route. The interface with the default route will have a destination of 0x000000,
+    a mask of 0x000000 and will have flags indicating RTF_GATEWAY and RTF_UP.
+
+    :return Optional[str, None]: the name of the interface the default gateway or
+            None if one cannot be found.
+    """
+    # see include/uapi/linux/route.h in kernel source for more explanation
+    RTF_UP = 0x1  # noqa - route is usable
+    RTF_GATEWAY = 0x2  # noqa - destination is a gateway
+
+    iface = None
+    with open("/proc/net/route", "r") as f:
+        contents = [line.strip() for line in f.readlines() if line.strip()]
+        logger.debug(contents)
+
+        entries = []
+        # First line is a header line of the table contents. Note, we skip blank entries
+        # by default there's an extra column due to an extra \t character for the table
+        # contents to line up. This is parsing the /proc/net/route and creating a set of
+        # entries. Each entry is a dict where the keys are table header and the values
+        # are the values in the table rows.
+        header = [col.strip().lower() for col in contents[0].split("\t") if col]
+        for row in contents[1:]:
+            cells = [col.strip() for col in row.split("\t") if col]
+            entries.append(dict(zip(header, cells)))
+
+        def is_up(flags: str) -> bool:
+            return int(flags, 16) & RTF_UP == RTF_UP
+
+        def is_gateway(flags: str) -> bool:
+            return int(flags, 16) & RTF_GATEWAY == RTF_GATEWAY
+
+        # Check each entry to see if it has the default gateway. The default gateway
+        # will have destination and mask set to 0x00, will be up and is noted as a
+        # gateway.
+        for entry in entries:
+            if int(entry.get("destination", 0xFF), 16) != 0:
+                continue
+            if int(entry.get("mask", 0xFF), 16) != 0:
+                continue
+            flags = entry.get("flags", 0x00)
+            if is_up(flags) and is_gateway(flags):
+                iface = entry.get("iface", None)
+                break
+
+    return iface
+
+
+def get_ifaddresses_by_default_route() -> dict:
+    """Get address configuration from interface associated with default gateway."""
+    interface = "lo"
+    ip = "127.0.0.1"
+    netmask = "255.0.0.0"
+
+    # TOCHK: Gathering only IPv4
+    default_gateways = netifaces.gateways().get("default", {})
+    if default_gateways and netifaces.AF_INET in default_gateways:
+        interface = netifaces.gateways()["default"][netifaces.AF_INET][1]
+    else:
+        # There are some cases where netifaces doesn't return the machine's default
+        # gateway, but it does exist. Let's check the /proc/net/route table to see
+        # if we can find the proper gateway.
+        interface = _get_default_gw_iface_fallback() or "lo"
+
+    ip_list = netifaces.ifaddresses(interface)[netifaces.AF_INET]
+    if len(ip_list) > 0 and "addr" in ip_list[0]:
+        return ip_list[0]
+
+    return {"addr": ip, "netmask": netmask}
+
+
+def get_local_ip_by_default_route() -> str:
+    """Get IP address of host associated with default gateway."""
+    return get_ifaddresses_by_default_route()["addr"]
diff --git a/charms/openstack-hypervisor/tests/unit/test_charm.py b/charms/openstack-hypervisor/tests/unit/test_charm.py
index d08e94c3..8391ff90 100644
--- a/charms/openstack-hypervisor/tests/unit/test_charm.py
+++ b/charms/openstack-hypervisor/tests/unit/test_charm.py
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ class _HypervisorOperatorCharm(charm.HypervisorOperatorCharm):
 
 
 class TestCharm(test_utils.CharmTestCase):
-    PATCHES = ["socket", "snap", "_get_local_ip_by_default_route"]
+    PATCHES = ["socket", "snap", "get_local_ip_by_default_route", "os"]
 
     def setUp(self):
         """Setup OpenStack Hypervisor tests."""
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ class TestCharm(test_utils.CharmTestCase):
 
     def test_all_relations(self):
         """Test all the charms relations."""
-        self._get_local_ip_by_default_route.return_value = "10.0.0.10"
+        self.get_local_ip_by_default_route.return_value = "10.0.0.10"
         hypervisor_snap_mock = mock.MagicMock()
         hypervisor_snap_mock.present = False
         self.snap.SnapState.Latest = "latest"