In one embodiment, a capable node in a computer network may host a path computation element, receive one or more neighborhood discovery messages including neighborhood information from a plurality of nodes in the computer network, and compute a minimum spanning tree (MinTree) for the computer network based on the neighborhood information. The MinTree may divide the plurality of nodes in the computer network into a first subset of routing nodes and a second subset of host nodes. The first subset of routing nodes may form one or more interconnected paths of routing nodes within the MinTree, and each host node within the second subset of host nodes may be located within one hop of at least one routing node. The capable node may then communicate a MinTree message to the plurality of nodes in the computer network to build the MinTree by enabling routing on each routing node.