diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 6e33218..42095fc 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ module github.com/moby/ipvs
 go 1.23
 
 require (
-	github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.10.2
 	github.com/vishvananda/netlink v1.3.1
 	github.com/vishvananda/netns v0.0.5
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.13.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 4231fa6..532bf3d 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,13 +1,7 @@
-github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.10.2 h1:G2SED73/qrAu6YwbdxOD6peLkCBI3z7L+ykJFTXJBBo=
-github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.10.2/go.mod h1:SLEg8TqYulVKKfIGHldVp2K2aYz2DKSVBq4g/H5bR7Q=
-github.com/stretchr/testify v1.12.1 h1:EuwCh5fleGS7H32xRwO3wRGT7DxrDhLAT6FF8MpWDWE=
-github.com/stretchr/testify v1.12.1/go.mod h1:MDEgiDPPsNp5cuIrHPPCyornHKgEVbtFUmoNlxoYthg=
 github.com/vishvananda/netlink v1.3.1 h1:3AEMt62VKqz90r0tmNhog0r/PpWKmrEShJU0wJW6bV0=
 github.com/vishvananda/netlink v1.3.1/go.mod h1:ARtKouGSTGchR8aMwmkzC0qiNPrrWO5JS/XMVl45+b4=
 github.com/vishvananda/netns v0.0.5 h1:DfiHV+j8bA32MFM7bfEunvT8IAqQ/NzSJHtcmW5zdEY=
 github.com/vishvananda/netns v0.0.5/go.mod h1:SpkAiCQRtJ6TvvxPnOSyH3BMl6unz3xZlaprSwhNNJM=
-go.yaml.in/yaml/v3 v3.0.5 h1:N6y/pJk8buWs9NY5ERU2HSMfm+IuD/OtfdAnq6kESPw=
-go.yaml.in/yaml/v3 v3.0.5/go.mod h1:HVTZu1O7/Vkt2N+BFy8Zza+lnLsABggaTM2ZpNIGuKg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.2.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.10.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.13.0 h1:Af8nKPmuFypiUBjVoU9V20FiaFXOcuZI21p0ycVYYGE=
diff --git a/ipvs_linux.go b/ipvs_linux.go
index e110f52..d6835b0 100644
--- a/ipvs_linux.go
+++ b/ipvs_linux.go
@@ -84,7 +84,9 @@ type Handle struct {
 // passed path. It will return a valid handle or an error in case an
 // error occurred while creating the handle.
 func New(path string) (*Handle, error) {
-	setup()
+	if _, err := ipvsFamily(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 
 	n := netns.None()
 	if path != "" {
@@ -93,8 +95,8 @@ func New(path string) (*Handle, error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
+		defer func() { _ = n.Close() }()
 	}
-	defer n.Close()
 
 	sock, err := nl.GetNetlinkSocketAt(n, netns.None(), unix.NETLINK_GENERIC)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/netlink_linux.go b/netlink_linux.go
index 86ffe00..c472b1a 100644
--- a/netlink_linux.go
+++ b/netlink_linux.go
@@ -8,24 +8,18 @@ import (
 	"math"
 	"net"
 	"os/exec"
-	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/vishvananda/netlink/nl"
 	"github.com/vishvananda/netns"
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
 )
 
 // For Quick Reference IPVS related netlink message is described at the end of this file.
-var (
-	native     = nl.NativeEndian()
-	ipvsFamily int
-	ipvsOnce   sync.Once
-)
+var native = nl.NativeEndian()
 
 // genlMsgHdrLen is the serialized size of genlMsgHdr. Keep this explicit
 // rather than deriving it with unsafe.Sizeof so the wire format does not
@@ -71,19 +65,31 @@ func (*ipvsFlags) Len() int {
 	return ipvsFlagsLen
 }
 
-func setup() {
-	ipvsOnce.Do(func() {
-		var err error
-		if out, err := exec.Command("modprobe", "-va", "ip_vs").CombinedOutput(); err != nil {
-			logrus.Warnf("Running modprobe ip_vs failed with message: `%s`, error: %v", strings.TrimSpace(string(out)), err)
-		}
+// ipvsFamily lazily discovers and caches the IPVS generic-netlink family ID
+// and any initialization error.
+var ipvsFamily = sync.OnceValues(func() (int, error) {
+	family, err := getIPVSFamily()
+	if err == nil {
+		return family, nil
+	}
 
-		ipvsFamily, err = getIPVSFamily()
-		if err != nil {
-			logrus.Error("Could not get ipvs family information from the kernel. It is possible that ipvs is not enabled in your kernel. Native loadbalancing will not work until this is fixed.")
+	// Linux 5.17 added automatic loading of ip_vs through generic-netlink
+	// family discovery. Older kernels, including RHEL 8's 4.18 kernel,
+	// may still require explicit module loading.
+	//
+	// See https://lists.openwall.net/netdev/2021/11/01/229
+	output, modprobeErr := exec.Command("modprobe", "-va", "ip_vs").CombinedOutput()
+
+	family, err = getIPVSFamily()
+	if err != nil {
+		err = fmt.Errorf("get IPVS generic-netlink family: %w", err)
+		if modprobeErr != nil && !errors.Is(modprobeErr, exec.ErrNotFound) {
+			err = errors.Join(err, fmt.Errorf("modprobe ip_vs: %w: %s", modprobeErr, bytes.TrimSpace(output)))
 		}
-	})
-}
+		return 0, err
+	}
+	return family, nil
+})
 
 func fillService(s *Service) nl.NetlinkRequestData {
 	cmdAttr := nl.NewRtAttr(int(ipvsCmdAttrService), nil)
@@ -218,7 +224,8 @@ func rawIPData(ip net.IP) []byte {
 }
 
 func newIPVSRequest(cmd ipvsCmd) *nl.NetlinkRequest {
-	return newGenlRequest(ipvsFamily, uint8(cmd))
+	family, _ := ipvsFamily()
+	return newGenlRequest(family, uint8(cmd))
 }
 
 func newGenlRequest(familyID int, cmd uint8) *nl.NetlinkRequest {