diff --git a/nexthop.go b/nexthop.go
index 4f961665..f4407230 100644
--- a/nexthop.go
+++ b/nexthop.go
@@ -13,15 +13,25 @@ type Nexthop struct {
 	OIF       uint32
 	Gateway   net.IP
 	Protocol  RouteProtocol
+	Encap     Encap
 }
 
 func (h *Nexthop) String() string {
+	if h == nil {
+		return "<nil>"
+	}
 	elems := []string{
 		"ID: " + strconv.FormatUint(uint64(h.ID), 10),
 		"Blackhole: " + strconv.FormatBool(h.Blackhole),
 		"OIF: " + strconv.FormatUint(uint64(h.OIF), 10),
 		"Gateway: " + h.Gateway.String(),
 		"Protocol: " + h.Protocol.String(),
+		"Encap: " + func() string {
+			if h.Encap != nil {
+				return h.Encap.String()
+			}
+			return "<nil>"
+		}(),
 	}
 	return fmt.Sprintf("{%s}", strings.Join(elems, " "))
 }
diff --git a/nexthop_linux.go b/nexthop_linux.go
index d9f0c6d6..8023ffcd 100644
--- a/nexthop_linux.go
+++ b/nexthop_linux.go
@@ -112,9 +112,10 @@ var nexthopAttrHandlers = map[uint16]struct {
 	encode func(*Nexthop) *nl.RtAttr
 	// decode decodes the corresponding attribute from RtAttr into Nexthop
 	// It must perform bounds check for the given attribute's data and does
-	// nothing if the attribute encoding is invalid.
-	decode func(*Nexthop, *nl.RtAttr)
-	// match reports whether the given Nexthop
+	// nothing if the attribute encoding is invalid. The third parameter is
+	// the read-only full list of RtAttr for possible multi-attribute
+	// decoding.
+	decode func(*Nexthop, *nl.RtAttr, []*nl.RtAttr)
 }{
 	unix.NHA_ID: {
 		encode: func(nh *Nexthop) *nl.RtAttr {
@@ -125,7 +126,7 @@ var nexthopAttrHandlers = map[uint16]struct {
 			}
 			return nil
 		},
-		decode: func(nh *Nexthop, attr *nl.RtAttr) {
+		decode: func(nh *Nexthop, attr *nl.RtAttr, _ []*nl.RtAttr) {
 			if len(attr.Data) < 4 {
 				return
 			}
@@ -139,7 +140,7 @@ var nexthopAttrHandlers = map[uint16]struct {
 			}
 			return nil
 		},
-		decode: func(nh *Nexthop, attr *nl.RtAttr) {
+		decode: func(nh *Nexthop, attr *nl.RtAttr, _ []*nl.RtAttr) {
 			nh.Blackhole = true
 		},
 	},
@@ -152,7 +153,7 @@ var nexthopAttrHandlers = map[uint16]struct {
 			}
 			return nil
 		},
-		decode: func(nh *Nexthop, attr *nl.RtAttr) {
+		decode: func(nh *Nexthop, attr *nl.RtAttr, _ []*nl.RtAttr) {
 			if len(attr.Data) < 4 {
 				return
 			}
@@ -169,13 +170,55 @@ var nexthopAttrHandlers = map[uint16]struct {
 			}
 			return nil
 		},
-		decode: func(nh *Nexthop, attr *nl.RtAttr) {
+		decode: func(nh *Nexthop, attr *nl.RtAttr, _ []*nl.RtAttr) {
 			if len(attr.Data) != 0 {
 				nh.Gateway = make(net.IP, len(attr.Data))
 				copy(nh.Gateway, attr.Data)
 			}
 		},
 	},
+	unix.NHA_ENCAP_TYPE: {
+		encode: func(nh *Nexthop) *nl.RtAttr {
+			if nh.Encap != nil {
+				b := make([]byte, 2)
+				native.PutUint16(b, uint16(nh.Encap.Type()))
+				return nl.NewRtAttr(unix.NHA_ENCAP_TYPE, b)
+			}
+			return nil
+		},
+	},
+	unix.NHA_ENCAP: {
+		encode: func(nh *Nexthop) *nl.RtAttr {
+			if nh.Encap != nil {
+				data, err := nh.Encap.Encode()
+				if err != nil {
+					return nil
+				}
+				return nl.NewRtAttr(unix.NHA_ENCAP|unix.NLA_F_NESTED, data)
+			}
+			return nil
+		},
+		decode: func(nh *Nexthop, attr *nl.RtAttr, allAttrs []*nl.RtAttr) {
+			typ := nl.LWTUNNEL_ENCAP_NONE
+			for _, a := range allAttrs {
+				if a.Type == unix.NHA_ENCAP_TYPE {
+					if len(a.Data) < 2 {
+						return
+					}
+					typ = int(native.Uint16(a.Data[0:2]))
+					break
+				}
+			}
+			if typ == nl.LWTUNNEL_ENCAP_NONE {
+				return
+			}
+			e, err := decodeEncap(typ, attr.Data)
+			if err != nil {
+				return
+			}
+			nh.Encap = e
+		},
+	},
 }
 
 // encodeNexthopAttrs encodes the attributes in the Nexthop into the slice of
@@ -206,7 +249,7 @@ func decodeNexthopAttrs(nh *Nexthop, attrs []*nl.RtAttr) {
 		if !found || handler.decode == nil {
 			continue
 		}
-		handler.decode(nh, attr)
+		handler.decode(nh, attr, attrs)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -255,6 +298,8 @@ func prepareNewNexthop(nh *Nexthop, req *nl.NetlinkRequest, msg *nl.Nhmsg) error
 		unix.NHA_BLACKHOLE,
 		unix.NHA_OIF,
 		unix.NHA_GATEWAY,
+		unix.NHA_ENCAP_TYPE,
+		unix.NHA_ENCAP,
 	})...)
 
 	msg.Family = deriveFamilyFromNexthop(nh)
diff --git a/nexthop_test.go b/nexthop_test.go
index ebe1ae80..e877e78a 100644
--- a/nexthop_test.go
+++ b/nexthop_test.go
@@ -8,9 +8,19 @@ import (
 	"slices"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/vishvananda/netlink/nl"
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
 )
 
+func TestNexthopString(t *testing.T) {
+	var nh *Nexthop = nil
+	// Ensure calling String() does not panic with nil receiver
+	t.Log(nh.String())
+	// Ensure calling String() does not panic with empty fields
+	nh = &Nexthop{}
+	t.Log(nh.String())
+}
+
 func TestNexthopAddListDelReplace(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Cleanup(setUpNetlinkTest(t))
 
@@ -153,3 +163,60 @@ func TestNexthopAddListDelReplace(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("Nexthop Gateway mismatch: expected %s, got %s", nh2.Gateway, resNH2.Gateway)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestNexthopEncap(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Cleanup(setUpNetlinkTest(t))
+
+	// get loopback interface
+	loop, err := LinkByName("lo")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// bring the interface up
+	if err = LinkSetUp(loop); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	nh := &Nexthop{
+		ID:  1,
+		OIF: uint32(loop.Attrs().Index),
+		Encap: &SEG6Encap{
+			Mode: nl.SEG6_IPTUN_MODE_ENCAP,
+			Segments: []net.IP{
+				net.ParseIP("2001:db8:1234::"),
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	if err = NexthopAdd(nh); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	nhs, err := NexthopList()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(nhs) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected 1 nexthop, got %d", len(nhs))
+	}
+
+	// Check we can read what we wrote
+	resNH := nhs[0]
+	if resNH.Encap == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Nexthop Encap is nil")
+	}
+	seg6Encap, ok := resNH.Encap.(*SEG6Encap)
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("Nexthop Encap is not SEG6Encap, got %T", resNH.Encap)
+	}
+	if seg6Encap.Mode != nl.SEG6_IPTUN_MODE_ENCAP {
+		t.Fatalf("Nexthop Encap Mode mismatch: expected %d, got %d", nl.SEG6_IPTUN_MODE_ENCAP, seg6Encap.Mode)
+	}
+	if len(seg6Encap.Segments) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected 1 segment, got %d", len(seg6Encap.Segments))
+	}
+	if !seg6Encap.Segments[0].Equal(net.ParseIP("2001:db8:1234::")) {
+		t.Fatalf("Nexthop Encap Segment mismatch: expected %s, got %s", "2001:db8:1234::", seg6Encap.Segments[0])
+	}
+}
diff --git a/route_linux.go b/route_linux.go
index 1f99a17d..a6cda1c3 100644
--- a/route_linux.go
+++ b/route_linux.go
@@ -1569,33 +1569,9 @@ func deserializeRoute(m []byte) (Route, error) {
 
 	if len(encap.Value) != 0 && len(encapType.Value) != 0 {
 		typ := int(native.Uint16(encapType.Value[0:2]))
-		var e Encap
-		switch typ {
-		case nl.LWTUNNEL_ENCAP_MPLS:
-			e = &MPLSEncap{}
-			if err := e.Decode(encap.Value); err != nil {
-				return route, err
-			}
-		case nl.LWTUNNEL_ENCAP_SEG6:
-			e = &SEG6Encap{}
-			if err := e.Decode(encap.Value); err != nil {
-				return route, err
-			}
-		case nl.LWTUNNEL_ENCAP_SEG6_LOCAL:
-			e = &SEG6LocalEncap{}
-			if err := e.Decode(encap.Value); err != nil {
-				return route, err
-			}
-		case nl.LWTUNNEL_ENCAP_BPF:
-			e = &BpfEncap{}
-			if err := e.Decode(encap.Value); err != nil {
-				return route, err
-			}
-		case nl.LWTUNNEL_ENCAP_IP6:
-			e = &IP6tnlEncap{}
-			if err := e.Decode(encap.Value); err != nil {
-				return route, err
-			}
+		e, err := decodeEncap(typ, encap.Value)
+		if err != nil {
+			return route, err
 		}
 		route.Encap = e
 	}
@@ -1603,6 +1579,38 @@ func deserializeRoute(m []byte) (Route, error) {
 	return route, nil
 }
 
+func decodeEncap(typ int, v []byte) (Encap, error) {
+	var e Encap
+	switch typ {
+	case nl.LWTUNNEL_ENCAP_MPLS:
+		e = &MPLSEncap{}
+		if err := e.Decode(v); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	case nl.LWTUNNEL_ENCAP_SEG6:
+		e = &SEG6Encap{}
+		if err := e.Decode(v); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	case nl.LWTUNNEL_ENCAP_SEG6_LOCAL:
+		e = &SEG6LocalEncap{}
+		if err := e.Decode(v); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	case nl.LWTUNNEL_ENCAP_BPF:
+		e = &BpfEncap{}
+		if err := e.Decode(v); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	case nl.LWTUNNEL_ENCAP_IP6:
+		e = &IP6tnlEncap{}
+		if err := e.Decode(v); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+	return e, nil
+}
+
 // RouteGetOptions contains a set of options to use with
 // RouteGetWithOptions
 type RouteGetOptions struct {