In one embodiment, a method comprises detecting, by a provider edge router configured for providing reachability for core network traffic to a prescribed destination address prefix, a backup provider edge router relative to the prescribed destination address prefix; allocating, by the provider edge router, a distinct protected next-hop address for reachability to at least the destination address prefix via the provider edge router; and sending via a core network, by the provider edge router, repair information for the prescribed destination address prefix to ingress provider edge routers and a BGP-free core network router in the core network, the repair information enabling the ingress provider edge routers to insert primary and backup switching labels into each data packet of the core network traffic enabling the BGP-free core network router to reroute the received packet to the backup provider edge router if the provider edge router is unavailable.