In general, techniques are described for efficient management of ring networks with a system of two network devices. The first network device of the ring network is designated as an adjacent selective forwarding (ASF) device, and the second network device is designated as a master device. The master device monitors the ring network to determine whether a fault has occurred in the ring network and transmits via a secondary port of the master device a network status message to the ASF device based on the determination of whether the fault has occurred. The ASF device determines a status of the ring network based on the network status message and selectively forwards data traffic to the master network device based on the determination of the status. As a result, the master device more efficiently utilizes network resources by not consuming processor or memory resources to prevent traffic loops.