A network element upgrade method and a device are provided, which relate to the field of communications technologies, so as to resolve a problem that in an existing upgrade process, after a network element switches all services to a new version, an overall situation may be affected once a problem occurs during the upgrade to the new version. The network element upgrade method provided in the present invention includes: receiving a distribution policy; forwarding, to a first network element according to the distribution policy, some of a plurality of received service messages sent by an external network element, and forwarding remaining service messages to a second network element according to the distribution policy; forwarding, to the second network element according to the distribution policy, all of a plurality of subsequently received service messages sent by the external network element.