A system and method for link failure handling includes detecting a failure in a first network connection between a first network switching unit and a second network switching unit, where the first network connection is associated with a first communication port of the first network switching unit; suspending the first communication port from a link aggregation group (LAG), where the first communication port is associated with the LAG; and associating one or more first inter-chassis link (ICL) ports with the LAG. The first ICL ports are associated with a first ICL coupling the first network switching unit to a third network switching unit. The first network switching unit and the third network switching unit are peers.