A capability for coping with link failures in central control plane architectures is provided. The capability for coping with link failures enables targeted reporting of link failures within the network in a manner that prevents flooding of link failure messages (LFMs) within the network. A method for reporting a failure of a link associated with a node includes detecting a failure of a link associated with the node, identifying an interface of the node associated with the failed link, identifying, from a flow table of the node, an ingress interface of the node via which a flow intended for the failed link is received, generating an LFM for the identified ingress interface, and sending the LFM via the identified ingress interface. A method for use at a local node having a flow table includes receiving an LFM indicative of a link failure detected at a remote node where the LFM includes a flow definition of a flow received at the remote node from the local node, identifying an interface of the local node via which the LFM is received, identifying from the flow table of the local node an ingress interface of the local node via which a flow intended for the failed link is received, generating a new LFM for the identified ingress interface of the node, and sending the new LFM via the identified ingress interface of the local node.